Category: Kitchen Tips

All About Cooking Knives

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Knives play an important role in the kitchen, and you can bet Chef Jodi has a variety of them in her arsenal!  From paring knives to cleavers, find out her most-used knives below that help her create the unique recipes for the awesome team building activities enjoyed at Lajollacooks4u:

Chef’s Knife

The chef’s knife is the centerpiece of the kitchen knives – the most important item in a set.  It is an all-purpose knife – rigid and usually designed with a straight blade ending in a point.  It can range from 6 to 12 inches long, and the shape of the blade makes is easy to rock back and forth for fast mincing.  Use this knife for almost anything: cutting meats and nuts, dicing veggies and slicing up herbs.  An absolute must for any kitchen!

The Cleaver

The cleaver is usually the bulkiest and most weighted knife in the kitchen.  With a thick spine and a strong, wide blade, this knife is ideal for pulverizing all types of meat, chopping veggies and crushing herbs.

Santoku Knife

This knife is the Japanese version of the Western-style chef’s knife.  Due to its flat blade, a Santoku knife is typically used to cut through meat and other sticky materials when more precision and minimal tearing is needed.  Great for slicing, dicing and mincing.

Utility Knife/Trimmer

A utility knife is a mid-sized knife, usually around 4-7” long with a serrated (wavy) cutting edge.  Treated as a mini chef’s knife, it’s ideal for cutting soft and hard veggies, as well as some types of meats.

Paring Knife

A paring knife is a rigid, short, roughly 3” – 4” long knife with a pointy tip that you can use for all your detailed cutting work.  Use it to peel fruits, cut smaller veggies, create garnishes for food/drink and slice slippery things like garlic cloves and grapes.

From top to bottom:
Cleaver
Chef’s Knife
Santoku Knife
Utility Knife/Trimmer
Paring Knife

Other Utensils:

Bread Knife

Long serrated knives – starting at 6” up to around 14” – are generally known as “bread knives.”  As their name suggests, these knives are excellent for cutting bread and cakes.  However, they also work well when carving meats and cutting into hard produce, like pineapples.

Kitchen Shears

These are basically a pair of scissors, yet have a variety of uses in the kitchen! From snipping herbs to cutting veggies, these shears usually come with extremely strong and sharp blades.

Boning Knife

This special knife is used for separating meat from bone, making filet fish and cutting up meat.  It is typically about 3 to 8 inches in length and can come with varying widths of blades.

Steak Knives

Sometimes used as table knives, steak knives are small knives that are used for not only cutting meat and fish, but also cutting salads and spreading butter.

Every knife has its purpose just like every member of a company has a vital role they perform. Through Lajollacooks4u’s unique approach to team building, each member of your team will be as sharp as Chef Jodi’s kitchen knives. To learn more about the many team building opportunities, visit www.lajollacooks4u.com.

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