How to Choose Quality High-End Chef Knives & Cutlery for Your Modern Kitchen

Any home chef knows that high-end knives and cutlery are quintessential to a modern kitchen, elegant dinner settings, and excellent recipes. Choosing the best accessories is not an easy feat, however. Knives and cutlery require attention to detail when you purchase them. They should also meet your chef needs and exceed your expectations. Today, we will talk about how to choose high-end chef’s knives and cutlery to turn cooking and eating into art.

Knowing Your Knives and Cutlery

If you are a beginner in the gourmet field and still need to learn about knives and cutlery, you should begin your research by learning about several types of chef’s knives. We recommend that you take a look at the Chef Knives Expert resources. There you will find extensive presentations, reviews, top 10 lists, analyses, and comparisons of the best professional knives to give you a clearer picture of chef’s knives and their most sought-after features. Moreover, you will also find their price rankings, as we all need quality knives that do not damage our budgets.

Many chef enthusiasts and professionals in the field also know what type of knives they should buy for their modern kitchen. Beginners, on the other hand, should do more research on the indispensable home chef knives. Some experts list a handful of chef knives to have, but in truth, you will probably enjoy working (and do your job A to Z) with only one of these seven essential chef knives any home or professional chef should own.

Now that we covered the basics regarding chef knives let us delve into the purchase details!

How to Choose the Best Knives and Cutlery

Material

One of the first aspects you should look at when it comes to picking high-end chef knives and cutlery is the material. Whether you want to buy a high-end paring knife or meat cleaver, here are the things you should know about the knives and cutlery building:

• Stainless steel – the most frequent material, stainless steel is durable and sharp, but you will need to sharpen the blades when they become dull;
• Carbon and steel alloys – if you have read the resources mentioned above, you probably have learned that most signature Japanese chef knives mix stainless with carbon for durability and sharpness;
• Ceramic knives – excellent choices regarding sharpness, but you risk chipping them away if you are not careful;
• Carbon steel blades – they hold their edge better than steel, and you can sharpen them swiftly, but you have to be careful to avoid them getting rusty;
• Silver – silver makes cutlery last for years and turning your dinner table into a refined work of art; however, you have to clean and maintain silver cutlery (same as jewelry), so that it keeps its shine and sharpness over years.

Knowing the features and downsides of each type of knife, you will be able to make an educated and responsible choice.

Design

Some of the best hunting knives, survival knives, and Japanese swords feature a full tang. It is logical to think that some of the best chef knives and cutlery also feature a full tang or at least a three-quarter tang. Full tang accessories are durable and make the perfect choices for slicing and dicing for many years.

• You should opt for single piece design; while you will see bolts in many chef knives (except for many Japanese ones), they do not guarantee reliability;
• Always check the hilt of the knife – it will take the most stress and pressure, so make sure it does not show any gaps and is well joint; same goes for cutlery;
• Check out the handle well – composite and stainless-steel handles offer you durability and a good grip; the best quality chef’s knives come with ergonomic handles and non-slip textured grips for safe and comfortable handling.

Cutting Edge

When talking about high-end chef knives, the cutting edge of the blade is of the essence. It should run through the hilt to the tip, seamlessly. It will allow you a wide variety of cutting moves and techniques. Make sure the knives do not present any nicks, dents, chips, or rust spots.

• When you buy high-end cutlery sets, make sure the forks are pointy enough to pierce through the food; dull forks may look nice, but they will not be of much help to you.

Sharpening

You may have heard some commercials about knives that will never need sharpening. It is not true, as all blades become dull sooner or later. The no-sharpen advertisement usually refers to ceramic blades that require a particular type of sharpening. However, you can keep your knives as good as new if you sharpen them regularly.

Brand and Price

Buying brand name chef’s knives alone may come with unpleasant surprises. The same goes for the price: if something is expensive, it does not mean it is good as well. Matching brand name, quality, and price is not always stress-free. To help you make the best decision, here are some tips:

• Some high-end chef’s knife sets can go up to $1,000; if they interest you, make sure they follow the standards we mentioned above and come together with quality warranties, certifications, and decent return policies;
• Most quality chef’s knife and cutlery sets fall in the $200 – $700 price range; if you cannot decide among the several brands offering the same price, decide based upon the criteria we have mentioned above and factor in the brand’s reputation and customers’ reviews;
• You can find some good chef’s knives under $100, but you need to pay attention to our criteria, design, warranties, brand, and so on.

If all these selection methods fail, you can always try using your favorite chef’s knives. Many famous and professional chefs have their favorite knife brands and types so that you can start from there in your search for the best modern kitchen accessories.

We hope this guide will be useful to you! Do not feel shy to share your own opinions on chef’s knives and cutlery and make personal recommendations!