Knives

Knives

Buying a block set or buying single knives is the first decision, and it comes down to whether you are fitting out a kitchen from scratch or filling a gap. Block sets at 5 and 6 pieces cover the standard spread of cook's knife, bread knife, carving knife, paring knife and utility knife in one purchase, and blocks with an integrated sharpener maintain the edge without a separate steel, which is what most people fail to do otherwise. Single knives make more sense once you know which jobs you actually do. A cook's knife is the workhorse for chopping and slicing and does most of the work in a kitchen, with a small cook's knife for lighter jobs and a paring or peeler knife for anything held in the hand. Serrated blades are for anything with a firm skin and a soft inside, which is why bread knives and tomato knives both use them and why a straight edge crushes both. Carving knives are longer and thinner to take clean slices off a joint in one pass, and a carving set pairs the blade with a fork to hold the meat steady. Stainless steel is the standard throughout and takes a sharpening well, while ceramic peelers hold an edge far longer but chip if dropped. Cutting on a board rather than a worktop is the single biggest thing that extends the life of an edge.

Kitchen Devils is the widest range of single knives, covering French cook's and small cook's knives, bread and serrated kitchen knives, carving knives and a carving set, a roast meat and bread knife, all purpose, vegetable at 16.5cm and tomato knives. Ninja covers block sets with the StaySharp stainless 6 piece set and Foodi StaySharp 5 and 6 piece blocks with integrated sharpeners. Blackmoor supplies a bamboo pro 5 piece block, a 5 piece block in black, a 6 piece set with a ceramic peeler, serrated steak knives in a 6 pack and a chopping board set. Joseph Joseph makes the Elevate 5 piece bamboo block, with Steelex covering bread, all purpose and peeler knives and Kitchencraft a grapefruit knife. This is a sub-collection of Knives & Chopping Boards.