Which Kitchen Knife Should You Use? A Quick Guide to Our Knives
Here at Gastrotools you'll find a wide range of kitchen knives – each designed with a specific purpose in mind. But when should you reach for a utility knife rather than a paring knife? And can a vegetable knife really only be used for chopping vegetables?
In this guide, you'll find the answers to those questions – and plenty more besides.
Chef's Knife – the knife you'll use for 90% of all your daily kitchen work
The chef's knife is the kitchen's answer to a Swiss Army knife. You can use it for almost any task you'll come across at the cutting board. Depending on which chef's knife you choose, the blade will be somewhere between 15 and 30 centimetres long, with a relatively straight spine. What most chef's knives have in common is a sturdy handle that stays comfortable in your hand even during longer prep sessions.
At Gastrotools, we stock two different chef's knives: the classic Gyuto Chef's Knife and the Asian-style Santoku Chef's Knife.
A chef's knife will cover around 90% of your kitchen tasks – but where it really shines is in slicing. You let the tip rest on the cutting board and use a gentle rocking motion, guiding the broad blade against your knuckles for clean, controlled cuts.
If you're looking to take your kitchen kit a step up from what you have today, the chef's knife is the very first knife worth investing in.
Utility Knife – the hybrid between paring and chef's knife
The utility knife is a slightly unusual character – best described as a hybrid between a paring knife and a chef's knife.
Our model features a 12-centimetre blade, which makes it perfectly suited to chopping onions and slicing vegetables, but also up to more delicate jobs like boning poultry, filleting fish or working with ingredients held in the hand – much like you'd use a paring knife.
Because it's smaller and lighter than a chef's knife, many people find it easier to handle in the kitchen – making it a great alternative if you'd like something a little more compact than the all-rounder chef's knife.
Paring Knife – your best friend when working with vegetables
A paring knife is designed for work done in your hand. With a 9 cm blade, it's wonderfully easy to manoeuvre. Hold a herb, a clove of garlic or a small piece of fruit in one hand, and use the paring knife to trim, slice or turn it with precision.
That said, it's just as comfortable to use on a cutting board when you need a small, agile blade for delicate work.
Vegetable Knife – perfect for slicing tasks
If you've never held a vegetable knife before, its striking shape might take you by surprise. But despite its bold appearance, it's actually one of the safest knives you can work with – simply because it has no pointed tip.
The vegetable knife features a wide blade measuring 18 centimetres, which makes slicing tasks effortless. A small rocking motion is all you need to keep the blade in contact with the cutting board, while your knuckles guide the cut.
And one more thing worth mentioning: that broad, generous blade also makes the vegetable knife particularly easy to use for less experienced home cooks.
Carving Knife – a versatile knife that does far more than just carve
A carving knife is usually associated with just one job: making clean cuts of roasted meats. But that really doesn't do it justice.
With its long, narrow blade and gentle rocking motion, a carving knife is just as capable of slicing vegetables as a chef's knife – and a real pleasure to work with when you want precise, even slices.
Boning Knife – for boning fish, poultry and meat
We touched on it briefly with the utility knife, but if you want the proper tool for boning poultry and fish, you'll want a boning knife.
It's made with one purpose in mind – to bone and fillet ingredients. The blade is narrow and curved, and unlike the utility knife, it's completely rigid. That rigidity gives you a reassuring sense of control whenever you're working close to the bone.
Bread Knife – a household staple
Last but not least, the bread knife hardly needs much of an introduction. It typically has a serrated blade between 15 and 22 cm long (ours measures 21 cm), and is the go-to tool for slicing through baked goods. The serrated edge glides effortlessly through tough crusts while keeping the soft interior of your bread or cake beautifully intact.
Finding the right combination
As you've probably noticed by now, many of these knives overlap in function and can comfortably handle more than one task. That's exactly why we've put together a range of knife sets to suit different needs – whether you're just starting out or building a fully equipped kitchen.
Discover all our knife sets here
