Hello guys, I recently started getting into cooking and I think it's about time to start upgrading my kitchen hardware.
Since I don't want to get a hundred specialised knives, which is probably still beyond my skill and knowledge level, I wanted to start with something multi-purposed.
What I'm looking for is something that can cut mainly meat, vegetables and soft stuff in general. For example, I would like to be able to cut chicken breast or chop onions with the same instrument
What kind of knife am I looking for? Can you also suggest me some good names that are available in Europe?
I would also like some tips about sharpening, but I'm mainly concerned about getting a knife first.
>>7335015
You need a chef knife, a smaller one for peeling, and depending on how much bread you consume a bread knife. What knofe depends on your budget, victorinox are usually the staple here for cost effective, personally I just went with the national brand thats common where I live, you can do the same i guess
>>7335019
>a smaller one for peeling
You mean a smaller chef knife or a general small knife?
>>7335015
As for sharpening I haven really invested in that as my brother has a bushcrafting hobby and has one of those spyderco sharpeners. Works pretty nice but its like 50yurus, there are probably better options, like whetstones, but what he has works for me
>>7335024
It's called a paring knife.
>>7335015
Also protip, get a good cutting board, a good cheap option is getting a hotel grade one, got mine for 13 euro and its like 45x30cm wide
>>7335032
Ok, thanks
>>7335027
I really have no idea where to even start looking at sharpening tools.
Right now the closest thing I have to a chef knife is dull as hell, but I suppose it was because it's shit quality rather than misuse on my part, because it took like a couple of months to dull.
Anyway, I'll do some research, thanks.
>>7335043
I have a plastic one, at least I think it's plastic, could it be Teflon or something else? Anyway, you got the idea. I always avoided wooden boards because they look like a pain in the ass to clean
>>7335052
Plastic is fine just get a heavy and thick one that wont warp, but for knifes and boards alike check your local cookware store and get a feel of what is avaliable. A large more professional grade store is best because thats where hotels and restaurants order from
>>7335032
I googled pairing knives and I saw there are at least a couple of variants.
Most of them have the general shape of the blade of a chef knife, but some of them have a concave blade. What's the difference? What's better for peeling? Do I really need a knife for that when I already have pic related?
>>7335078
Its not just for peeling its for anything a smaller knife works best, the chef knife will always be used on the board as its bigger and tough to handle in other positions, lets say you want to peel a tough pumpkin you generally grab it and peel it in your hand, a smaller knife gives you greater control
>>7335094
Got it.
And what about the concave vs convex blade?
>>7335099
Not very important, any will work, your main focus is a good chef knife, no need to shell out a lot on a paring knife, mine has a straight back and a straight blade until the curve in the end, it works for me, get what works for you
>>7335099
A convex grind is more suited to chopping and push cuts..
They are easy to sharpen using sand paper mounted on a mouse mat. Unlike conventional sharpening you drag the blade towards you rather than pushing forward.
It's an easy technique to learn.
OP here, thanks for all the suggestions, guys