Let's talk about knives!
I have a fairly standard Knife Block, which contains every kind of knife I will reasonably need. I can and do use each one regularly. Later in this post I'll go over what you need as an absolute minimum (You can get by with 2: Big And Small)
I recommend getting a knife block like this. It has almost everything you could possibly need. This one normally retails for $24, but I picked it because it was half off at the time.
I found this one for $20 which is very similar.
Are they going to be nice knives? No. Will they be good enough for everyone except a professional? Yeah, for the most part. I use them for nearly everything.
You can get ceramic knives which are INCREDIBLY sharp. However, you can't sharpen them at home, so they aren't worth it. I was gifted a set, and now that they've started to chip, they're darn near worthless, which is a shame.
I do also have two VERY nice knives, I received as gifts.
This Chef's Knife:
And this Santoku:
Are the nicer ones worth it? Personally, no. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE having them. I'm thinking about getting a whetstone for when it's time to sharpen them (they are used less and hold an edge longer) rather than taking them in to have them sharpened. They are amazing, well balanced, incredibly sharp, and also $30 each. Idk about you, but I am not in the "I spent $30 on a single knife" income bracket.
So! What are your knives used for?
The Chef's Knife is an all-purpose knife. There is a reason it is the go-to knife seen a chef wielding in media. You can use it to cut, chop, or dice nearly ingredient. This is your most important knife. Rapid chopping uses kind of a rocking motion, but if you are reading this post you probably don't need to worry about that. I sure don't. We aren't on Chopped, we can take our time.
Use the very tip of your knives for small and precise work, and the middle all the way down to the grip end for cutting, slicing, chopping, etc.
How do you grip a Chef's Knife? For maximum control, it is recommended you pinch the blade right about here
Such that most of your hand is on the handle proper, but you are in fact pinching down on the blade. If that makes you uncomfortable, I used to do this grip:
Which still gives you a fair degree of control and strength, but not quite as much control. It feels less scary, though.
The Santoku is another general purpose knife. Instead of a rocking motion, it uses more of a chopping motion. I use it mostly when I only need to cut vegetables. Less pointy.
The Bread Knife has it in the name. The reason you want one of these is for bread is because the gentle serration allows you to cut through tougher crust without mushing the soft bread. I use it for Ciabatta pretty often, but unless you cut a lot of bread, you really honestly don't need one of these. Least used knife in my block.
The Utility Knife used to be my most used knife when I was intimidated by the Chef's knife and it felt like a waste to use such a big knife for small things. It is another all-purpose knife, and is my second most used knife. It's excellent for anything fiat-sized and smaller. Because you can't grip the blade, you have less control than a Chef's knife, so I don't recommend it for precision cuts on tough materials, I.e. if you are trying to cut a carrot in half lengthwise.
The Paring Knife seems like a smaller utility knife, and it more or less is. Best used for small delicate cuts on things like garlic cloves, fresh herbs, shallots, etc.
Kitchen shears are mostly used to open packages, let's be real. They can be used to cut through tough bits, like if you have to separate bones from each other. I only use it for packaging though. And tape sometimes. I am not nice to my shears. The opposite of Fabric Scissors.
But what about that weird metal rod, Liz? We'll get to that when we cover--
Maintenance
How do you take care of these things, you may ask. The answer is a little bit variable, but I'll assume you have the cheaper knives.
First things first, if you DO have the nicer knives, do not sharpen them with anything but a whetstone, please I beg you.
You should sharpen your knives whenever you think they are getting dull. Have you ever seen that thing people do where they try to cut a piece of paper with a knife while the paper is not laying on a surface, or just by pulling the paper into the knife? Give her a go. You can learn to tell be looking at the blade up close or by feel, but I have absolutely no idea how to explain that. Consider doing it once a month or once every two weeks or something.
You should Hone the knife every 1-3 times you use it.
So, for sharpening, first thing you're going to want to do is get one of these bad bois:
Hold it like this on the corner of your countertop or a table (I am using the stove because my counters have rounded edges). Place the back/bottom of the blade in the section that reads coarse, and pull it towards you. This is not cutting towards you, but please be careful. Do this 5 times, then do it 5 more times on the side that says Fine. The knife should be parallel to the flat surface, and please please please do not cut yourself.
When you are done, clean the blade because there will be some metal filings on it and you don't want that in your Tikka Masala. You should instantly notice it cuts smoother. Sharper knives are actually safer, because you are less likely to cut yourself. Oh, also, consider reading on what to do if you cut yourself now instead of googling it when it happens like I did. (Tw: blood, cuts, etc)
On to Honing!
You see a lot of flashy honing methods on cooking shows, but here is how you should actually do it at home.
Press the tip of your honing rod (no jokes allowed) against a flat surface. I use my cutting board so that if I fuck it up, I only cut the cutting board. Place the rear of the knife towards the top of the honing rod, and bring it downwards while also pulling back. It was a weird motion to get used to, but there are tons of videos on it if my .gif isn't sufficient.
The angle here is very important. My cheaper knives need a 30° angle, but my nicer ones need a 15°. You will get a sense for it. What this is basically doing is straightening out the tiny warps and abrasions a knife gets from use. (You can double the life of a razor by running it backwards across a towel or jeans, which does the same thing to your 5 razor blades as this honing rod does to the knife).
Washing
Ideally, hand wash your knives the same day you use them. I use a sponge, hot water, and Dawn. Do not put it in the dishwasher. Yes, the serrated ones will fuck up your sponge. It's OK. The dishwasher can ruin your knives.
When you wash them, make sure to keep the sharp edge facing away from your body. I place the spine of the knife on the sponge, and fold the sponge over, so that the actual cutting edge isn't slicing the sponge.
Final Note: Cutting Boards. Don't get glass, that messes up your knives. You want plastic or wood. Plastic has to be replaced more often, but cheaper and can be machine washed. Wood looks nicer, but is more expensive and you can't cut meat on it (Bacteria can get all up in it more so than with plastic. Plus, wood can't be machine washed.
Ideally, you want to get the biggest cutting board your counter tops will fit. I promise that a bigger board is better.
I hope this helps. Go forth and cut well. Be safe, have fun, eat good food, impress your friends and loved ones.
