When buying kitchen knives, you need to determine their functionality, since it is convenient to do different actions with knives of various sizes and shapes.
For cutting gastronomy, a knife with a wide long blade ending with a blunt end is suitable, since they can cut large-sized products. With the same knife, it will be convenient to cut vegetables into a salad. With proper dexterity, this can be done quickly without tearing off the end of the blade from the board.
But with a large knife it’s inconvenient to peel onions, garlic and other vegetables. For these purposes, it is better to take a small knife with a narrow short blade. Peeling potatoes, carrots, beets, avocados without cutting too much can be done with the same small knife, or you can, it is also called a potato peeler or housekeeper.
There are also knives for certain groups of products, they have a specific shape and certain sizes. For bread, they usually take a knife with a long serrated blade. The length of the knife allows you to cut large loaves of bread, and the notches on the knife help reduce the number of crumbs and do not crush soft rolls. For shredding cabbage a knife with a double blade is provided. Two parts of one blade - the upper and lower are located with a slight lateral shift relative to each other. It is the size of this shift that determines the width of the chopped straw during shredding.
If the plans include preparing Japanese dishes - sushi and rolls, you should purchase a special knife for cutting rolls - it has a long thin blade, sharpened on one side. For sharpening it is better to immediately purchase a sharpener with one stone in order to properly sharpen a Japanese knife.
Knives differ not only in size and shape, but also in the material of manufacture. In addition to knives with metal blades, ceramic knives are becoming increasingly popular. They are sharp, light, but have one big minus - fragility.
Metal blades are not all the same, they differ in the density of steel, the thickness of the metal.
For thin cutting, a knife with a thin blade, but preferably made of thick metal, will be more convenient. Soft is easier to sharpen, but it also blunts faster, and lasts less.
The handle of the knife can be metal or plastic. Solid metal knives can rightfully be considered the most durable, but they are quite heavy. They are mainly chosen by experienced chefs. A lighter and cheaper option is a knife with a plastic handle. The blade can be inserted into the handle, or attached using rivets.
The second option is more reliable and easier to repair.