There are many different types of culinary knives on the market.
Choosing the right culinary knives can make or break your time in the kitchen, whether you have been cooking for years or just starting out.
We have gathered these knife information to help you choose the perfect knife to enhance your cooking experience.
Different Types Of Kitchen Knives
Boning Knife
Serrated Knife / Bread Knife / Tomato Knife
Deba Knife
Carving Knife
Cheese Knife
Chef's Knife
Clam / Oyster Knife
Deli Knife
Fillet Knife
Fruit knife / Peeling Knife
Granton Slicer Knife
Meat Cleaver / Chopper
Mincing Knife
Paring Knife
Santoku Knife
Steak Knife
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Boning Knife
5- to 7-inch blade, very thin with a short point. Remove bones from meat, poultry and fish. -
Serrated Knife / Bread Knife / Tomato Knife
A serrated, long and strong blade that allows for cutting of bread with clean slices. Can also be used for slicing many types of soft foods such as tomatoes. -
Deba Knife
Japanese deba knives are perfect for ultra-thin slices that require a delicate touch. Slices can be thin without destroying delicate membranes. It's a perfect knife for fish filleter and sashimi slicer. -
Carving Knife
A carving knife is a large knife that is used to slice thin cuts of meat, including poultry, roasts, hams, and other large cooked meats. -
Cheese Knife
Traditionally a 5- to 7-inch blade with perforations on the edge and holes in the center of the blade. Best for Slicing hard and soft cheeses. -
Chef's Knife
8- to 10-inch blade with the widest part closest to the handle. All-purpose knife that is the go-to blade for many professionals. -
Clam / Oyster Knife
2- to 3-inch blade, dull on the sides but with a point. An oyster knife has a short, thick blade that is used to pry open oysters and separate their meat from the shell. Some models have a shield built into the handle that prevents the knife (and hand) from slipping and going too far into the shell. The handle is normally thick and short, with a bulbous end. -
Deli Knife
8- to 9-inch blade with a scalloped edge designed to cut sandwiches without compressing them. Cut sandwiches and sandwich ingredients. -
Fillet Knife
Similar to a boning knife but slightly longer. Slice fillets off fish. -
Fruit knife / Peeling Knife
2- to 3-inch blade with a curved edge. A curved blade perfect for peeling fruit and vegetables and with a short, sturdy handle, thin cutting blade and firm tip ideal for removing the eyes from potatoes. -
Granton Slicer Knife
A granton knife has air pockets along the cutting edge of the blade to prevent food from sticking to it. Ideal for slicing wafer-thin harm, fruit, vegetables, pastries and cakes. -
Meat Cleaver / Chopper
A generally rectangular sturdy bladed knife used for splitting large cuts of meat and spare ribs. -
Mincing Knife
Curved blade, usually with two handles or a bar running the length of the blade. Mince vegetables, fruits, meat and other foods. -
Paring Knife
Small utility knife, often with a 3-inch blade. Peeling fruits and vegetables and other tasks for which a chef's knife would be too large. -
Santoku Knife
7-inch blade with a wide body, sometimes referred to as a Japanese Chef's Knife. All-purpose knife suitable for chopping, dicing and mincing. -
Steak Knife
The Steak Knife is well known for its slim and strong characteristics, and has a straight cutting edge. As you can tell from its name, it's widely used for cutting and chopping steak.
Knives for Cutting Meat
Breaking Knife
Butcher Knife
Boning Knife
Cimeter Knife
Cleaver
Deba Knife
Flank and Shoulder Knife
Meat Carving Knife
Slicing Knife
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Breaking Knife
Breaking knives are similar to butcher knives and are primarily used to break down large pieces of meat into smaller cuts. Their blades are usually around 10” and are curved to create leverage to break through tough skin, cartilage, and small bones. They are also excellent knives for trimming fat off of meat. -
Butcher Knife
Butcher knives usually have heavy, wide, and slightly curved blades that are useful for cutting, sectioning, and trimming large pieces of meat. -
Boning Knife
Boning knives, another type of meat knife, are available with flexible, semi-fleixble (semi-stiff), or stiff blades ranging from 3" to 8" in length and are used to separate meat from bone. Flexible blades are great for shaping, denuding, and seaming and are typically used by experienced butchers for boning roasts, whole hams, lamb legs, veal legs, and filleting fish. Semi-flexible or semi-stiff blades allow for enough bend to keep the edge close to the bone or table and are great for jointing. Stiff blades are perfect for making precise, straight cuts without fear of wandering and are also great for jointing. -
Cimeter Knife
A cimeter knife is a cousin of the classic butcher knife. Its upward curving blade makes it well suited for cutting and trimming steaks. -
Cleaver
A cleaver features a long, wide blade that is used to chop and cut through thick meat and bone. Cleavers are also ideal for opening lobsters. -
Deba Knife
Often used as a light to medium duty cleaver, the Deba knife is ideal for cutting fish, meat, and hard vegetables, as well as for chopping. -
Flank and Shoulder Knife
Flank and shoulder knives are a type of boning knife that are excellent for creating flank steaks. Their straight, stiff blades are perfect for generating precise cuts while boning, trimming, and jointing. -
Meat Carving Knife
A meat carving knife is used to slice thin cuts of meat, including poultry, roasts, hams, and other large cooked meats. Carving knives are much thinner than a chef's knives, enabling them to carve thinner, more precise slices. Additionally, the pointed tip is perfect for cutting along a board, and it can be utilized in more ways than rounded blades. -
Slicing Knife
The meat slicing knife features a long, straight blade that's designed for slicing cooked meats, sushi, and sashimi, as well as, breaking down large fish. Slicers are generally longer than a carving knife and often feature a Granton Edge and a round blunt tip. Ham slicers feature a narrower, more flexible blade that makes cutting cold meat more efficient. A slicer should be long enough to permit smooth slicing action.
Knives for Cutting Vegetables and Fruits
Utility Knife
Petty Knife
Sheep's foot paring knives
Bird's Beak Knives
Deba Knife
Nakiri Knife
Spear Point Paring Knives
Usuba Knife
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Utility Knife
Utility knives often have a scalloped edge, and can be considered a cross between a paring knife and a slicing knife. A sharp utility knife is very efficient for slicing softer fruits and vegetables, such as tomatoes or squash. Utility knives are also great for cutting large melon rings, cutting heads of lettuce into wedges, preparing cabbage for shredding, and halving citrus fruits. -
Petty Knife
Comparable to a utility knife, the petty knife's thin, light construction allows for ultimate precision while dicing, slicing, or cutting small items, particularly softer fruits and vegetables. -
Sheep's foot paring knives
A rounded tip with a straight edge. These knives are perfect for chopping and julienning fruits and vegetables on a cutting board. -
Bird's Beak Knives
Feature a downward arching blade that makes peeling round fruit and garnishing a breeze. -
Deba Knife
Often used as a light to medium duty cleaver, the Deba knife is ideal for cutting fish, meat, and hard vegetables, as well as for chopping. -
Nakiri Knife
Nakiri knives enable you to cut vegetables paper-thin in just seconds! Its razor sharp taper edges are best for seedless vegetables. -
Spear Point Paring Knives
Great for removing corn from the cob, breaking up heads of lettuce, peeling fruits and vegetables, cutting beans, and other similar tasks. -
Usuba Knife
This knife is designed to quickly slice produce paper-thin, especially vegetables without hard seeds. Try a produce knife for similar peeling and cutting tasks.
Knives for Cutting Fish
Boning Knife
Deba knife
Sashimi Knife
Slicing Knife
Boston Oyster Knife
Galveston Oyster Knife
New Haven Oyster Knife
Providence Oyster Knife
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Boning Knife
Flexible boning knives are great for filleting fish. -
Deba knife
The Deba knife is ideal for cutting fish as well as for chopping. -
Sashimi Knife
Eastern slicer knife, the Sashimi knife is perfect for everyday slicing and for cutting large pieces of fish. -
Slicing Knife
It's designed for slicing sushi, sashimi, and breaking down large fish. -
Boston Oyster Knife
The Boston style oyster knife features a long, narrow blade and is extremely versatile and very effective at opening just about any type or size of oyster. -
Galveston Oyster Knife
With its long, wide blade the Galveston style oyster knife is excellent for commercial use. This style is often used in processing medium and large Eastern oysters for meat gain. -
New Haven Oyster Knife
The New Haven oyster knife features a short wide blade with a curved tip and is ideal for use on small to medium sized oysters, for half shell consumption. -
Providence Oyster Knife
Features a shorter, wide, straight blade. This serves the same function as the New Haven style, but does not have a curved tip.