Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, April 6, 1994 TAG: 9404060091
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By JOE CREA ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
My second knife came from a downtown department store. At the time I bought it, fresh out of college and hardly what you'd call "financially flush," that fancy French blade set me back the lordly sum of 15 bucks.
I still slice roasts with my old Ekco. I haven't the faintest clue where the Sabatier disappeared and couldn't care less. It never held an edge worth a darn, and the handle featured uncomfortably squared-off plastic edges that irritated my palms minutes into any chopping task.
One of the best knives I own came from a secondhand shop in Petaluma, Calif. It only cost me a quarter, but its Solingen steel blade keeps an edge you could use to shave. There's an All-American-brand bread knife, weighing in at around $5.95, that could saw through tin cans and still cut a feathery slice of babka. On the other hand, I use beautiful knives from Hoffritz, Chef's Choice, J.A. Henckels and Lamson - all of them decidedly pricier than my two-bit parer - and use them with a sense of confidence and pleasure. Each is worth every dime.
It takes no special wisdom to discern any parable in all this: Fanciness and quality don't necessarily equate.
Yes, you get what you pay for. But only when you know what you're looking for.
So as I recently visited top-end cookware shops, discount and department stores shopping for knives, one thing became clear - clear as mud. If I ever thought it was complicated choosing between the hundreds of bottles in a good wine shop, shopping for a good knife makes that process look like a piece of cake.
In order to settle on those better blades, the ones that required a big investment, I first read a great deal. While it doesn't hurt to have a look over the manufacturers' brochures (usually available in specialty shops), it's far more important to learn a little about quality of steel, how and why good knives are constructed the way they are, and the specific purposes that drive the design of specialty blades.
But there's something more you need to use: your senses.
Forget the macho routine about the bigger the better. Shop where you can remove the knife from its packaging. Lift it. Heft it. Feel the handle in your hand. Pretend you're using it, and imagine using it for a variety of jobs.
How does it feel? How does it seem to handle? Do you like the construction?
I wouldn't waste my money on "never needs sharpening" blades. They often come with serration, which simply doesn't serve a variety of cutting purposes: even fine teeth can grab onto tissue of meat, provide less control for clean slicing, and result in uneven, less refined cuts. Despite their claims, I've yet to find one that truly keeps sharp forever. Consider them disposables.
Instead, look at the quality you'll get for your money. Properly handled, a $20 knife may serve you for years, just as a poorly maintained professional blade may nick or lose its edge.
Chosen thoughtfully, a well-selected and intelligently maintained knife may pass through generations - making time in the kitchen all the more pleasurable.
Whether you cook a little or a lot, most cooks need at least three types of knives:
Paring knives are devised for small jobs: trimming vegetables, peeling, mincing small quantities and fine or detail work such as decorative cutting (what professional chefs call "turning") and removing tiny flaws (such as eyes in potatoes).
Although paring knives are available in 3- to 5-inch sizes (measurements refer to the length of the exposed blade), the 4-inch is standard.
Utility knives are the "cleanup batter" of the knife leagues - they can be pressed into service for small or large jobs. With blades averaging 6 inches, though, they're usually reserved for intermediate-size tasks. If you can afford only one good knife, however, it should be a finely crafted utility knife.
(Because some manufacturers do not specifically label a "utility" knife, look for a small "chefs" or "French" knife for utility jobs.)
Chefs or French knives are those hefty, wide-bladed knives that look so threatening but come in so handy. Properly wielded, a chefs knife handles big cutting jobs: chopping or cubing large quantities of food, cutting raw meat and so on.
Once you've made those investments, see how well they serve your purposes. Then you can consider other knives.
For example, if you cut and cook large pieces of frozen meats and other foods, you need kitchen cleavers. Their heft helps hack through dense, hard foods without damage to blade or handle. Ideal for cutting through bone.
If you bake your own bread, or frequently cut up fresh tomatoes and fibrous foods like celery, you need serrated knives. They are constructed with tiny teeth that more easily break through tough and/or elastic surfaces and textures.
If you cut apart chickens, fillet meat, poultry and fish, or remove tendon from cuts of meat, you need boning knives. Designed with a narrow, thin blade that makes it easy to work the cutting edge between the meat and bone.
If you dislike food choppers and machines like processors, preferring a large, all-purpose chopping device, you need Chinese cleavers. Lighter weight than kitchen cleavers, they have a slightly curved blade that facilitates easy, rocking-chopping motion.
If you cook large cuts of meat and birds such as turkeys, carve for dinner parties, cut through melons, you need carver/slicers. Long, fairly narrow blades make even cuts through meat and produce with minimal resistance or "drag."
If you hate cutting with dull blades, don't own "never needs sharpening," yet can't be bothered with lengthy sharpening processes, you need sharpening steels. Though it doesn't replace thorough sharpening of dull knives, a few strokes will hone and retain the edge of blades.
Typically, here's how to use a steel:
Hold the knife in your dominant hand. Hold the steel by its handle, with the metal held straight up.
With the edge of the blade at a very slight angle, draw the knife down along the steel, pulling your arm in an arc, so that the blade draws against the steel beginning at the butt end and stopping with the tip. A knife professional in a retail shop easily can demonstrate the technique.
Experts say that most of the people who come in for sharpening don't necessarily need it, They say you can tell your blades need sharpening when they quickly lose their edge, despite use of a steel.
When you believe it's really time for a complete sharpening, either take the knife to a professional or use a high-quality machine - but only after you've read instructions thoroughly and have mastered the technique.
"Remember, every knife has its own edge, and each one is ground with its own angle," said Sam Weiner, president of EdgeCraft Corp., manufacturer of Chef's Choice knife sharpeners. "You have to sharpen it at its proper angle."
"There's absolutely nothing worse for a knife than a can opener/knife sharpener combination," said Patrick Menzies, a representative for J.A. Henckels, knife manufacturers of Germany.
Although some opener/sharpener models may have updated, they customarily pair two metal wheels. With those old-fashioned jobs, all you're really doing is pulling the metal through, removing the metal and creating a jagged edge.
"So when you make the first couple of slices, you're getting a smooth cut - but you lose that edge very quickly," Menzies said.
What's worse, the high temperature that the old-generation machines create may eventually cause a problem with the tempering of a fine metal.
by CNB