Paragon Life

Life as a Competitive Chef: Knife Selection

Posted on 11. Mar, 2010 by Michael Gibson in Dining, Other, Paragon Neighborhoods

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While I cannot speak for every chef, I have found a blend of knives and tools that every chef, competitive or otherwise, should have within easy reach at all times. I should point out that quality kitchen gear is costly, and I will try to estimate cost for you as well. Trust me when I say that it’s worth spending the money up front and care for your products, rather than replacing low quality gear over and over again. Today we will discuss knives, specifically.

The most important tools to a chef are the chef’s knives. Knives in the kitchen are an extension of the hand and arm, and good knives are key to great food prep and great cooking. A dull or low quality knife can rip apart even the tenderest scallop or shred a simple basil chiffonade into confetti. But where to start? The sheer number of knife types, metals, handles, brands, and other tools are daunting to people beginning to explore expanding their culinary skills.

There are conflicting opinions as to what types of knives are essential to have in a kitchen or knife set. Some chefs swear by Asian style sets with many scalloped edges and santoku style pieces. Others prefer German engineering or American ergonomics. All I can say is that every chef has their preference, and the only way to really know what to use is to try and try and try and try different knives.

My own set of knives has only recently truly come together. I have, in the past used a set of Chicago Cutlery knives out of a block. You know the kind. The Target or Corningware Store sets that you see on bridal registries. Usually these kits include about 15-20 knives, including steak knives. Not bad. Chicago Cutlery is as widespread as it is for a reason. They are cost effective, and the quality isn’t terrible, but they need near constant upkeep and sharpening and honing, and often need to be replaced every couple years. Those things add up.
My current set, and a set that I recommend to anyone starting to expand their skills and experimenting in the kitchen includes the following:

• 8” Chefs knife (most slicing, dicing, and other knife work)
• 6” Chefs knife (more detailed work or smaller cutting surfaces)
• 8” Slicing knife (carving roasts or meats, slicing tenderloin or other raw meats)
• 6 1/4” Narrow Boning knife –Rigid- (utility, butchering raw meats, fish prep)
• 5” Narrow Boning knife –Flexible- (fillets, scaling fish, “fancy” prep cuts)
• 8” Serrated Bread knife (bread…duh? Ribs, gourds, harder veggies)
• 3 1/5” Paring knife (utility, detailed work, skinning, cleaning fruits/veggies)
• 5” Nakiri cleaver (ribs, butchering, crushing harder foods for prep, splitting)

Wrap it all up in a knife bag, or store on a magnetic strip. Try to stay away from knife blocks.

You can, of course add utility knives, or use a semi-flex boning knife instead of having two separate knives, but I’ve found that this set provides full coverage of necessary tasks.
My set is as follows, and keep in mind, that I do this on a regular basis, so you CAN skimp a bit on cost and look for bargains. I recommend Amazon to find them.

• Ergo Chef Guy Fieri Chef’s Knife 8-in. $75
• J.A. Henckels International 6-Inch Chef’s Knife $70
• Calphalon LX Series Cutlery 8″ Slicer $45
• Wenger Swibo 6-Inch Boning Knife, Narrow Rigid $25
• Wenger Swibo 5-Inch Boning Knife, Narrow Flex $20
• Mundial 5100 Series 8-Inch Bread Knife $35
• Calphalon LX Series Cutlery 3.5″ Parer $30
• Calphalon LX Series Cutlery 5″ Nakiri $40
• I use an Ultimate Edge knife roll bag $35

A little spendy, no? Quality is worth the cost. As I said, you can probably find quality sets for about $250. I recommend the Calphalon sets. The Katana series is great, but the LX, which I use several pieces of, is utterly fantastic for their cost.

Join me next time for more guides to tools, and more great recipes as I strive to continue working as a competition chef!

Eat Well!

Tags: cooking tools knives selection guide