Types Of Kitchen Knives

The Tomato Knife

Introduction

Tomatoes are pretty versatile being a main ingredient in all sorts of delicacies. With tomatoes, the ways to enjoy them go on and on–salsa, pasta sauce, BLTs, bruschetta, fried green—to name a few. Tomatoes can even be used for non-culinary purposes, like getting rid of skunk smells, skincare, and sunburn relief. Tomatoes are so important to so many recipes that they get their own type of kitchen knife. But don’t think that the use of this type of kitchen knife is intended solely for tomatoes. It can work great for slicing up citrus fruits from lemons to limes to oranges and everything in between.

Description

Tomato knives have a serrated blade that lets you slice and dice without any tearing. Because what’s worse than a BLT with torn-up sides? Tomato knives also have a forked tip that allows for picking up food after cutting it. Pretty handy.

Do I Need it

I was skeptical about needing a tomato knife before I tried one. Now? I’ll never go back to not having one. I kind of figured it would work better for the task of cutting up specialized foods than any other knife I’ve tried, but I didn’t think it would be that big of a difference. I was wrong. And, as is the case with so many other types of kitchen knives, it’s nice to have the right tool for the job. Tomato? Tomahto? Don’t call this one off.

Specifications

Length: 4 to 6 inches.
Blade: Serrated.
Knife Uses.
Cutting up tomatoes.
Slicking citrus fruits.

The Boning Knife

Introduction

Of all the types of kitchen knives, this is the one that makes my wife giggle a little every time I say “boning knife”. She’s got a lot of growing up to do. Despite her adolescent sense of humor, the boning knife didn’t get its name from, uh, that. Boning knives are the types of kitchen knives that are used to clean up the work you did with a carving or slicing knife.

Description

The boning knife just looks cool. It has a thinner blade than most of the other types of kitchen knives. It is semi-flexible so that you can bend it around the bones you are separating from the meat.

Do I Need It?

I don’t use this one as much as some other types of kitchen knives, but it does live up to its billing. It allows for a smooth cut when you want to remove the meat from the bone and lets you avoid the sawing motion that can tear the meat up.

Specifications

Length: 5 to 6 inches.
Blade: Straight.

Knife Uses

Removing rib meat from ribs.
Separating any meat from the bone.

The Carving Knife

Introduction

This is the knife Clark Griswold slices into the dry turkey during Christmas Vacation. In addition to carving dry turkeys, this kitchen knife can be used to carve other birds, beef, or fish.

Description

This type of kitchen knife has a long thin blade with a pointed tip. It is commonly found in knife sets. It is often used with a carving fork, and it is pointed tip helps to separate meat from the bone. It’s a little more flexible than the Chef’s knife so you can make more precise cuts, especially around the bones. The blade is also less tall than a Chef’s knife, so meat is less likely to stick to it.

Do I Need it?

If you don’t do a ton of carving you can probably get by with the Chefs knife so long as it is sharp. On the other hand, the carving knife is a type of kitchen knife that adds some elegance. And if you are buying expensive cuts of meat, it may improve the presentation.