If you are anywhere into cooking, you’d probably understand how important quality kitchen knives are to make your work go smoother. Having one with the right weight, balance, and sharpness ensures safer and faster chopping—while prepping up for the delicacies.
Even if sites like Knivesshipfree.com offers a wide variety of kitchen knives, varying from serrated to carving and chef knives. It’s not always easy to pick on the right one for your needs.
Hence, pay heed to the following factors while purchasing kitchen knives. Although knives are not much of a great tool or investment, they’re worth to be examined before buying.
1. Cost
If you spend maximum hours in the kitchen, frequently working with the knives, it’s worth spending on the quality ones. Determining the tops and types, look out for what works for you the best.
Nonetheless, avoid spending on all the varied types available in the market—as they’re probably not brought much into use. Dive into a little bit of research, and you’d be able to find the bests under $100 to get your job done.
2. Design
The knives are mainly designed in two ways:
- Stamped Knives: These are punched out of a piece of steel using a machine. Once the blade is formed, the edges are sharpened, keeping the thickness the same throughout the course.
- Forged knives: These are made by applying extreme heat to a piece of steel and molding it into the desired shape. Undergoing the forging process makes the blades robust and more durable. Hence they’re comparatively costlier than stamped knives.
While at it, remember that if you’re going for forged knives, you’d often find the need to sharpen them. Or even replace them shortly.
3. Weight
There’s no correct weight ticking off the right knife to choose. Some people find it convenient to work with lightweight knives, while some like to get their control over the heavier ones.
You can either experiment with both types or play safe with the light ones. In the end, it’s all about what makes cooking less of a hassle for you.
4. Balance
Balance is yet another factor determining the ease of working with a knife. If the weight of a knife falls too much to either of the sides, then you’re likely to struggle with chopping. High-quality knives tend to have the right balance with not much weight on the handle or the blades.
A balanced knife contributes in effortless cutting action. You might find it hard to find the perfect balance without actually picking and holding the knife. In that case, you can refer to the reviews and check what other people have to report.
5. Maintenance
If you are willing to invest in quality knives, make sure to be on top of cleaning and proper maintenance. For this, avoid using your knife on stone, glass, steel or any ceramic surfaces as this can damage your knife and may even cause injuries.
Besides, know that some knives are more prone to rusting or corrosion. Hence, ensure drying your knives completely after every wash and storing them correctly.
Adding on to this, many knives come to have a nice cutting edge but lose their sharpness sooner than others. Therefore it is advised to invest in a steel and sharpening stone to restore the edge or improve the one in the course and timely keep a check.
6. Storage
Any new item in the kitchen needs to go somewhere taking in space. And if you are more of a ‘chef-head’ you’d probably have much in your kitchen to store. So before walking to the store, decide where you will be storing your knives in the kitchen.
Concerning this, you can consider buying a complete set of knives that come with a convenient block to hold your knives. Or can opt for a knife roll which is basically a cloth pouch to store your knives. But be mindful of storing them where they don’t knock out and fall off.
7. Avoid falling for the brands
Focus on the quality of the knives and not the brands that they are set to promote. Aim for decent products with cheaper rates. Be it from a popular brand or the one that you don’t often shop around with, because at the end it’s you who got to make the payments!
Nonetheless, if you are into a specific brand for your purchase, check in for latest offers and deals. Being a loyal customer might benefit you with big discounts.
8. Sharpness
Knives are all about those sharp, clean edges which determine how well it works. However, the best knives are the ones that remain sharp for a prolonged period and don’t require a regular tune-up.
This one factor might be challenging to assess, especially when you’re making an online purchase. Herein, reviews can assist you best. Check what the buyers got to say about their experience with the purchase.
9. Material
Most of the knives that you’ll come across will be made of stainless steel, which is strong and durable. Some higher-end knives instead use carbon steel, which is stronger but less durable.
Next comes high-carbon stainless steel, which falls between the other two categories—relatively stronger than stainless less but more durable than carbon steel.
Some brands also deal with ceramic knives that are very sharp and lightweight. But once they start to dull in, it’s hard to re-sharpen them.
Therefore, choose wisely working with your preferences.
10. Ease of Use
The ease of using a knife comes with how comfortably you can handle it. And this primarily depends on its shape, size, weight, and material used.
Alongside this, it’s more of your personal preference that brings in a convenient tool. However, ensure you’re choosing the right knife for the right job.
Investing in a high-quality will help you learn all the differences in your chopping to prepping food and the whole cooking experience. Not only will it make cooking easier, but enjoyable for you. While at it, make sure you deal with reliable sources only for any of your purchases.
