For many amateur cooks, it may not even cross their minds that the design of the knives they use in the kitchen could be hindering their ability to create stunning dishes.
Whether you’re a chef of convenience, or you enjoy creating amazing dishes for your friends and family, here are five ways that considering your knife design could enable you to make subtle but vastly impactful changes to the way you cook.
1. Improved Efficiency, Fewer Mistakes
Using the correct knife for your cooking technique can enable you to master an efficient cooking technique that will let you chop, dice or fillet quickly.
When you’re wielding a sharp knife, the last thing you want to do is accidentally chop the wrong item, or cut to the wrong size! Using higher quality knives can prevent mistakes and help you get your ingredients from board to pan in no time.
2. Safety First
Keeping your knives sharp and high quality will also prevent accidents in the kitchen. You are much more likely to cause yourself an injury when using knives that are blunt or an inappropriate design (you wouldn’t use a meat cleaver to fillet a small fish!).
To combat this, ensure you’re using the right knife for the job, and keep them sharp using a whetstone or sharpening stone regularly to keep your knives in top condition.
3. Match Your Knife To Your Cuisine for Authenticity
If you’re a fan of international cuisines, using the tools of the trade will enable you to recreate an authentic dining experience for you and your guests or family.
For fans of Japanese cooking, using the best quality Japanese chef knives from companies like Cutting Edge Knives will enable you to authentically recreate some of the oldest and most traditional forms of cooking.
Choose from a range of the finest knives made from carbon steel for a durable and lasting sharp edge. Select all rounder knives like the Bunka, Santoku or Gyoto for beginner purchases, and progress onto more specialist knives such as the Nakiri for tasks such as vegetable preparation.
4. Encourages Creativity in the Kitchen
Using a wide variety of knives can also encourage creativity in the kitchen for food carving projects or food art presentations.
Whether you’re interested in creating table centrepieces, or simply experimenting with food to make gorgeous shapes, textures and tastes, practicing with different knives and other tools can inspire you in different ways when you’re cooking.
If you’re interested in learning more about food art, you can find excellent food art tutorials on YouTube to help you master the basics followed by the more intricate details.
5. Better Presentation
Although presentation is not essential for fundamental cooking for your family, once in a while it’s nice to make an effort.
If you like to play around with artistic presentations (or just have fussy children), being creative with your knifework can create some visionary masterpieces.
Additionally, using high quality knife designs can also improve the default presentation of certain foods like sliced tomatoes and chopped herbs (no one likes a smashed tomato for their dinner).
Do you have any tips for using different knife designs during your cooking? Share your thoughts in the comments section below!
