In every kitchen, regardless of the number of family members and the level of culinary skills of the hostess, at least several types of knives can be found. Most often, when it comes to their domestic use, they differ only in size and visually. But in fact, the choice of this familiar subject in everyday life is much more important than it seems at first glance. The most important thing is to remember that, taking into account the observance of sanitary standards, there must be a separate option for cutting each type of product, such as, for example, a knife for cutting meat.
The main types of knives and their characteristics
Depending on the purpose, size, shape and material used to make the blade and handle, there are a huge number of them: for bread, peeling and slicing vegetables and, of course, cutting knives for meat. To make the best choice, you need to determine your needs and know at least the basic characteristics and parameters of each model.
For example, for bread it is recommended to choose a device with a serrated blade. It often seems that you can do without such a model in the kitchen, however, everyone knows that the most positive final result is possible only if you observe the little things.
The device for cleaning and slicing vegetables is more often represented by medium-length options. This applies to both the blade and the handle. Thin models, often slightly curved and pointed towards the end, help to remove even the thinnest skin from the processed product and to cut it into desired slices.
A universal option - the so-called cook knife - is slightly wider and longer than the previous model. He copes with the most common types of cutting in the kitchen in everyday life. It can be cheese, sausage, bread, etc.
Gastronomic, or a knife for cutting meat - the largest. Due to its powerful structure, less power and time are required from a person to process meat and fish.
Each product has its own device.
A separate knife for cutting meat must be in every kitchen. Moreover, it should be used only for its intended purpose. No matter how thoroughly the dishes and cutlery are washed after work, including the one under consideration, they may contain microparticles of products that have not been subjected to heat treatment, and because of this they may very well cause very severe poisoning and even lead to death the outcome.
Raw meat and blood, when cutting, leave behind microbes of various etiologies, which can be completely destroyed only by boiling the dishes for several minutes. Of course, not a single person does this after working with raw foods, and if there is only one knife, then after meat, even after washing it, cutting bread or vegetables and fruits is strictly forbidden. Otherwise, unpleasant consequences are guaranteed.
If cutting knives for meat are used only in working with the raw look of the specified product and are not used for anything else, problems are completely eliminated.
Take care of the safety of your family
The ingress of harmful microorganisms, of course, remains entirely possible, especially when it comes to the handle of the knife, but if all the products for which this cutlery was used will undergo full-scale heat treatment in the future, the family will be completely safe. Boning knives can be used to process other food groups, but this is best avoided. But all family members do not use the same toothbrush, and with cutlery - everything that relates to cooking should be individual for each type of product.
Of course, ideally, it would be nice to have not only a separate knife for cutting meat, but also enough for cutting.
If finances allow, you can buy a lot of such devices that differ in size, type of metal, purpose and more, but it’s still more convenient to buy several options that fully satisfy the needs of the owner and perform their functions wonderfully.
Types of Carving Knives
To date, the following meat knives are used, the professional qualities of which are excellent for fulfilling the tasks assigned to them:
- boning;
- veneering;
- axes;
- bill hooks.
If we are talking about a large piece or even cutting an entire carcass of an animal, in such a work an ax-knife for meat will be simply irreplaceable, and if you most often have to separate the fillet from the bones, then in this case a model with a thin, long, slightly curved shape and very sharp blade. Extended at the base and slightly narrowed and curved towards the end, it helps, even without special working skills, to separate the loin from the bones with maximum productivity and at the lowest time and power costs.
Determine the type of purchase in advance
Before you buy meat knives, whether they are professional models or intended for widespread use in everyday life, you need to set yourself up for certain financial expenses. Of normal quality, a tableware of this category is purchased for several decades, therefore, the cost has a corresponding value.
Pay attention to the quality of the blade.
Regardless of the model and the main purpose of this indispensable object in the kitchen, the quality of work performed with it depends primarily on the condition and sharpness of the blade, and knives for boning meat require special attention in this regard. Therefore, the presence of even a home, not to mention catering systems, a tool for sharpening definitely will not be superfluous. During its purchase, you should pay attention to the alloy of metal laid in its foundation, because sharpening leading to the best results in one case, when used for other purposes, can simply spoil the knife blade.
The handle is very important
Very often, choosing carving knives for meat, the consumer absolutely does not pay attention to the handle. And in vain, because it is not only convenience and comfort in work that depends on it, but also safety. The best among numerous models is deservedly considered the one in which the handle is a continuation of the blade and completely eliminates the possibility of it falling out of it.
Laudable work
Chopping knives for meat provide not only separating it from the bones and dividing the resulting pieces into portions. The thinnest cutting with rather large volumes of the processed part of the fillet or ham to obtain the desired result should be performed quickly, but very high quality. Using a device suitable for this in size, basic characteristics and parameters, even beginners achieve amazing results.
Little secrets for beginners
To get the best result, housewives, especially beginners, should take note of the following secrets:
- for slicing frozen foods, the blade must first be dipped in hot water and held there for several seconds;
- if we are talking about fragile friable products, for example, such as very fresh bread or cake, then it will not hurt to hold a knife or a knife in the freezer for a minute or two;
- when slicing onions, it is worth dipping the cutlery in cold running water from time to time.
Popular stories about knives
And also, in order to avoid unnecessary cash expenses, remember:
- There are no self-sharpening knives. Not a single blade, even made from an innovative and high-quality type of steel, can become sharper from slicing bread or vegetables.
- There is no laser sharpening. Modern science and technology has not yet reached such heights that every second can use a laser to sharpen knives.
- There are no models made of damask steel. Once upon a time, this type of metal really existed, but over the years the secret of its production has been lost and is currently unknown. Very often, a modern pattern is applied to modern devices that imitates belonging to antiquity, but very cheap and low-quality products are most often found under it.
Carving knives for meat are important tools for cooking in any kitchen, unless, of course, we are talking about a family of vegetarians. The quality of the finished product primarily depends on its preliminary preparation and processing, and a knife specially created to achieve the best result and providing fast and high-quality cutting and cutting of a raw product helps even a novice to cope with this difficult task.