Kitchen Knives, Part 3: Specialized Knives & Cutlery

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So far in the kitchen knives series, we’ve talked about what cutlery is made of and which knives are the most important for home cooks to own. Today we’re continuing on about knife selection, looking at a few specialized models – including my personal favorite, the meat cleaver. >=)!

Specialized Knives & Cutlery

You might not need to go out and buy any of these babies, but they’re all fun to use!

The Santoku Knife

Santokus have become super popular lately. Originating in Japan, the word santoku means “three values,” which indicates that it’s a handy, all around good knife to have. Santokus are shorter and generally have a more rounded tip, making them lighter and easier to wield. While they’re not as versatile as a chef’s knife, santoku knives are great for performing a variety of tasks, such as chopping and slicing.

Note: those little divots on the blade’s edge, known as the “Granton edge,” are not part of the traditional design of the knife. They came much later, in the beginning of the 20th century. Many high-quality santokus don’t have them, so don’t let their presence influence your decision when shopping.

Cheese Knives

Almost everyone’s got one of these lying in a drawer somewhere, lost among the rest of their flatware. Cheese knives come in all shapes and sizes, from short, rounded blades to pointy affairs with a big piece missing out of the middle.

Crumbly cheese benefits from small cleaver-like knives that slice easily without complete annihilation. Rounded cheese knives are more for spreadable cheeses, while “skeleton knives” (with an open space in the blade) work great on cheese that is semi-firm. Skeleton knives minimize the amount of friction present when slicing, preventing your slices from stretching or distorting into a weird crumpled shape. Definitely not good eats.

Cleavers

There are two primary kinds of cleavers: one for vegetables and one for meat. What’s the difference? Vegetables cleavers are thinner than their meaty counterparts, with a narrow edge that slices through veggies with ease. Super sharp and very lightweight, these cleavers can be used similarly to a chef’s knife if you know what you’re doing.

Meat cleavers, on the other hand, are hefty, weighty weapons made with one purpose in mind: cutting through meat and bone. As gruesome as it sounds, they do this job amazingly well. Their blades are less tapered, making them extremely durable, and they can be used for chopping right through a chicken carcass or hacking away at a lamb shank. The broad spine and sides can be used for anything from crushing to pounding.

I love cleavers because, well, I’m crazy like that. I love the fact that I can cut through an entire duck in one swift whack – I’ve been known to frighten company by dismantling an entire bird in four second. Word to the wise: DO NOT GET YOUR HAND IN THE WAY OF THIS THING. If you think a cleaver makes short work of beef bones, you don’t want to see what it will do to your fingers. *shiver*

Sushi Knives (aka, the Yanagi)

Japanese sushi knives are long and narrow, easily slicing through fish without shredding the tender flesh. The goal of these knives, which range from 8″-13″, is to allow the chef to cut through fish in a single, backward stroke without having to reposition the knife. The Japanese believe that the way foods are cut have a huge bearing on how they taste, so these knives have been specially designed to maintain the integrity of sushi-quality fish.