Kitchen Knives Buying Guide - Introduction

Every gourmet chef has his or her own prized collection of kitchen cutlery - using the right knife, and a well-sharpened knife, is key to the success of preparing many dishes. Here is Chef's Outlet guide to buying kitchen knives - everything you need to know to start your own heirloom cutlery collection.

Knife Style

There are basically two styles or philosophies of making kitchen knives. We'll refer to them as Eastern and Western. Eastern style knives such as Japanese made knives like Global are made from harder steel, the blades are significantly thinner, producing a lighter weight knife and the bevel angles are more acute. That means these knives will hold an edge longer (and also take longer to sharpen or steel) and will be sharper, requiring more maintenance. They are wonderful for cutting where accuracy is necessary such as preparing Sushi or making decorative cuts. Western style knives such as European made knives like Wusthof are made from softer steel (less edge holding but easier to maintain) are thicker (heavier) and have more obtuse bevel angles so that they won't get quite as sharp but the edges will be sturdier requiring less maintenance. They are really good for chopping and other jobs where a heavier knife is an advantage.

We have been talking about knives with similar blade profiles and dimensions such as the standard 8" chef knife. The Japanese also make Japanese style knives that incorporate a chisel grind (bevel on one side with the other side flat or even concave) and made from sandwiched steels where a hard steel for edge retention is sandwiched between soft steel or even iron to provide better toughness. These knives have traditional Japanese blade shapes like the Sashimi, Deba and Usuba. It is hard to compare them to Western style knives but they do an excellent job with Japanese style cooking and with some Western style cooking as well.

One key choice you must make is better cutting performance but more required maintenance (Eastern style) or somewhat less performance but easier and less frequent maintenance (Western style.) You must decide between light weight (Eastern style) and heftier, heavier knives (Western style.) Obviously a good cook will be a good cook with either style - it's really a matter of personal preference and priorities.

Knife Blade Materials   Knife Construction   Types of Knives

Sabatier Cutlery  Wusthof Cutlery  Kyocera Ceramic Cutlery Japanese Cutlery