➊ careful workmanship: blade and handle of the knife merge directly into one another
➋ seamless texture prevents contamination and accumulation of bacteria
➌ Surface of the blade is finely ground, shiny and polished
➍ the handle of the knife lies firmly in the hand and does not slip
➎ The knife’s low weight enables high ergonomics and comfortable working
➏ The right size: good kitchen knives are available in different sizes and designs
➐ Durability: finely ground and polished blades are resistant to moisture and rust
➑ the perfect balance: the blade and handle of the knife should be the same weight
8 quality features of high-quality kitchen knives:
The right knife for every need:
Chef's knife:
One of the most important knives for preparing delicious food is the chef's knife . The blade is about 20 cm long and around 5 cm high. The wide heel allows heavy cutting tasks to be carried out quickly and easily, while the tip is suitable for precise cuts and for chopping herbs. With its special properties, the chef's knife is a real all-rounder that is ideal for preparing meat, vegetables, fish and herbs!
Filleting knife:
The filleting knife is ideal for cutting fish or meat wafer-thinly!
The secret lies in the shape: the extra thin blade makes the knife easy to control and doesn't remove too much of the meat. The special flexibility of the knife also allows you to cut close to bones or fish bones. Fat, skin and scales can also be removed effortlessly with the filleting knife, making the knife perfect for all fish lovers!
Santoku knife:
Santoku knives are versatile and should not be missing in any kitchen! The blade shape, which originally comes from Japan, offers the advantage that the high blade back can be guided directly along the knuckles. At the same time,
The knife can be used as a palette on which you can transport the food directly into the pot. Due to its special properties, the Santoku is universally applicable and is equally suitable for processing meat, fish and vegetables!
Carving knife:
The carving knife is characterized by its curved blade and the curvature on the underside. The blade is tapered in shape and has a length of 10 to 30 cm. The knife
is ideal for cutting large pieces of meat
and fish, as well as for cutting wafer-thin slices of roast beef, ham and cold cuts. The special blade shape even allows poultry and vegetables to be processed to the highest degree of perfection !
Manufacturing, material and proper care
The knife handle is also an important element: it should be safe and non-slip
lie comfortably in the hand and also have a balanced weight compared to the blade!
It all depends on the material:
One of the most important criteria for kitchen knives is the quality and strength of the material: different knife steels can be used in their manufacture, but there are big differences in quality! Knives made of high-quality steels are often expensive investments, but they have excellently crafted blades with optimal hardness and wear resistance, while cheaper alternatives often come with inferior material. Good quality kitchen knives are also very easy to resharpen and can retain their sharpness for a long time.
Different manufacturing processes:
The knife blades can be either punched or forged during production. To produce a punched blade, the blank is punched out of a sheet of metal and only ground at the cutting edge. However, there is also the fully ground version, where
the blade is treated over its entire surface. The advantage of this is that the resulting wedge makes cutting much easier.
When forged blades are manufactured, they are made freehand or in a die. By forging at temperatures of up to 1200°C, the material is compressed, which contributes enormously to the durability and resistance of the knives.
The right care:
Even the best kitchen knife needs the right care to last a long time. To ensure that the knife stays sharp for a long time, it should always be cleaned by hand under warm water with a little detergent instead of putting it in the dishwasher. However, since even the highest quality knives become blunt at some point, it is advisable to sharpen the blade again every 7-14 days. The cutting edge should be drawn along the sharpening steel around five to ten times. There is now a wide range of different grinding tools that are easy and safe to use even for beginners. Such as Elmar's FIRE&FOOD roller grinder.
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Noble whetstone: Original Belgian chunk
The Belgian Brocken is a whetstone like no other. Even the ancient Romans knew and appreciated its unique quality and razor-sharp results. To this day, the Belgian Brocken is considered the finest whetstone in the world. It has been proven that it has been mined exclusively in a small region in the Ardennes since 1625. The deposit there is around 480 million years old and unique. The Belgian Brocken consists of volcanic ash, dense slate and lots of the finest garnets. The interaction of these materials ensures the highest quality and precision when sharpening.
Cutting boards: functionality, design, versatility!
Traditional wooden cutting boards are not only trendy but can also take a lot of punishment! The boards are primarily used as cutting boards, but are available in a wide range of sizes and models depending on the purpose.
The chopping block is a particularly robust and thick cutting board, which ensures high durability. The high weight also ensures that the board is securely positioned when cutting and chopping meat, vegetables or herbs.
A carving board is a large wooden board with a special groove that catches the juices that run out of the meat when it is carved. Crisp salads and juicy fruit can also be prepared on a carving board.
Steak boards are perfect for serving the food afterwards. Due to the special hardness of the wood, roasting juices and meaty smells cannot penetrate the material, which is why the boards are considered durable and robust . After use, the surface can be rinsed under warm water.
The right wood for every cut!
Wooden cutting boards are exposed to a wide range of stresses. In order to ensure long durability and high dimensional stability, you should therefore pay attention to choosing the right type of wood.
Oak wood - the robust classic:
If you have a lot of cutting to do, an oak cutting board is ideal! The material is particularly strong and is therefore very robust against all types of dirt. The clearly visible annual rings make the structure of the oak particularly decorative and it is often used to make furniture. The positive environmental impact of the wood also offers ecological advantages.
Walnut wood - decorative beauties:
Walnut wood, such as walnut, not only looks very noble
but also has advantageous cutting properties.
The cutting boards also have antibacterial properties
which are due to the high tannic acid content. The fine pores of the wood also contribute to the cutting boards being very smooth and hygienic.
Maple wood - the shining favorite:
Cutting boards made of maple wood are real all-rounders! For this reason, the fine-pored and smooth wood was previously used exclusively for kitchen utensils such as cutting boards. The material is popular primarily because of its strikingly light color and fine, even texture. Since maple is a medium-heavy wood, it is also very hard and dimensionally stable. Cutting boards made of maple wood are very resistant to cutting marks and also have very good antibacterial properties.
