Quality Kitchen Cutlery

The tip ends of kitchen knives vary .  Some are pointed, some cut off with a straight end, some are rounded or with a slant.  The point of the knife is at the opposite end of the handle and typically used for cutting small items or food into thin strips.  It can also be used for making slits in foods, i.e., preparing a pork chop to stuff.  The cutting edge is the bottom of the blade and runs along the length of the blade.  The cutting edge of knives can be serrated or straight.  The serrated edges never need sharpening and the straight edged knives must be kept sharp by regularly using a sharpening steel or sharpener of some type.  The spine of the blade is the side opposite the cutting edge.  It’s usually thicker than the cutting edge so as to add strength to the blade.  It has a smooth, blunt edge to allow gripping with the thumb and forefinger or apply pressure with fingers or palm of hand which adds control to the cutting task.  The bolster, if the knife has one, is a thick piece of metal at the end of the blade and just before the handle.    The bolster along with the tang gives the knife balance and with good balance, it provides better control.  The bolster provides protection from the blade.  If the knife has a bolster, it’s an indication that the knife was formed using the forged process rather than stamped.  The handle of the kitchen knife if the part of the knife that holds the blade.  The tang of the blade extends down in the handle to attach the blade to the handle material.  On a strong kitchen knife, the tang is usually riveted to the handle.  When purchasing a knife, it’s important that the handle fits your hand properly.  It shouldn’t be too big or too small.  Chicago Cutlery and Ginsu offers quality kitchen knives.

The paring knife is a common and useful knife and probably used more often than any other knife in the preparation of food in your kitchen.  It is a small knife usually with a plain edged blade.  The blade is usually      2 1/2 - 4 inches in length and is ideal for peeling vegetables and fruit.  It is also used by some for deveining shrimp, removing seeds from peppers of various sorts, and cutting garnishes.  It’s more or less an all purpose knife for your varied kitchen tasks.

Recently I observed a few new gagetry ideas that were somewhat unique. How about sizzors for cutting Pizza slices or some tongs that help you lift your turkey?

There are numerous new electronic gadgets such as an electronic pepper mill that grinds your pepper and then monitors the remaining peppercorns you have left.  I found a hand held electronic mixer/blender and a refrigerator air purifier. I found a voice alert thermometor and even a cleaver cutter.

I saw some gadget that monitors your recipies and even gives you access to internet recipies mounted conveniently to your kitchen cabinets to observe while you cook. You could place something like this close to your beautiful knife block or lovely knife block set.

Don’t hesitate to tell me about your discovery of some new gadget that interests you. I welcome your comments.