Knives

The one kitchen tool that will change the way your food delivers.

Let’s talk about knives.

Firstly, the knives that I and other chefs like me use in a professional kitchen are designed for daily use, are robust and are likely very expensive!

Do you really need this level of knife at home? YES!

The food and dishes you see on social media and in top quality restaurants that have a finish that looks untouchable, or like they’re made by AI, is mainly down to razor sharp knives, and more importantly knowing which knife is right for the job at hand.

So let’s unpick this:

There are a few bits of kit I recommend you have in your armoury. If you need space at home for these, take that oversized utensil kit that came with the gas BBQ and pop that in the local Oxfam shop. That’s for the birds.

What you actually need is this:

Basic Armoury

Cake Tester

5kg Scales

Small Baby Whisk

Small Sieve

Pastry Card

Peeler

Chopping Board (More on this one below)

Fish Scaler - Looks cooler than the BBQ scraper!

Spatula (heatproof)

Therma Probe

Small Pallet Knife

Now The Small Kit

Pairing Knife

Turning Knife

These picks from Victorinox are cheap and very effective. Little work horse knives. Don’t bother with the serrated ones, and stick to black. You’ll look like you know what you’re doing.

Sharpening

For me it’s a traditional steel rod. If a stone is your preference get some training first- would recommend Kitchen Provisions for this. You can kill a good knife with a stone.

Side note - Anything that sticks to the bench, and requires you to drag the knife through - forget!

Using a Steel Rod is simple (if you want to keep your thumb, cover it).

Equal pressure each side, equal angle each side.

Firstly, place a damp cloth on the work surface. Holding onto the handle with a firm grip - stand upward with the metal end on the cloth for stability.

Stroke the heel of the knife from the bolster end (thick bit!) to the tip of the knife in long strokes with equal pressure along the blade. Ten times is plenty. Make sure to clean the knife after sharpening to remove any metal fragments - not tasty.

Now The Knives You Actually Need

A Pastry Knife / serrated ‘off set’ knife - always helpful for bread and pastry. Victorinox is great for this and great value too.

A Chopping Knife - 10” will be fine for home. You won’t be cutting bones with this one and do buy a guard to keep it sharp and safe. Spend the money here - it’s worth it.

Slicing Knife - here you are carving your steak, chicken or pork for that ultimate finish. Spend money here also - never throw in the dishwasher…

I prefer carbon steel here. The look can be dirty and annoy people but for me the sharpness outweighs that issue. I love carbon steel knives - just don’t drop them!

Thin Bladed Filleting Knife. I swear by these for slicing onions and filleting fish. Precision cutting tomatoes and vegetables.

Chopping Boards

Apex Cutting Board - I am obsessed with this. I’ve always said - sharp knives, Apex chopping board, and the restaurant is easy…

This will cost you but you won’t go back. They last a lifetime and make cutting into a joy.

Happy cooking,

Adam