Knowing Three of the Most Popular Kitchen Knives

The Deba

This is a thick  and it typically used for filleting and cutting fish. Here in the U.S.A, a deba knife is commonly associated as being used as a cleaver, which is mainly used for butchering chicken.A thing to remember before buying a Deba: Thickness of each Deba is different from each maker or manufacturer.

 The Yanagiba
The Yanagiba is also called the Sashimi Knife. This knife is the typical long thin, narrow blade that most people call a “sushi knife.” It is strictly designed for the cutting of fish, but for the most part in the modern sushi house or Western style kitchen the Yanagiba can be used for most slicing and cutting chores for just about any kind of food whether meat or vegetable.




The Santoku

This knife is I think the most popular Japanese kitchen knife in the world. The versatility of santoku makes it the most used kitchen knife ideal for just about everything these days. Many chefs may feel that the French knife style is more geared toward versatility, they still cannot say no to a Japanese-style santoku.

5 Utensils We Thought Are Not Important

 Easy Twist Jar Opener

The rubber grips onto the lid as the soft, non-slip handle cushions your hand and absorbs pressure. Great for children, elderly, or arthritis sufferers. Find it here.

Coop Egg Caddy

 

 This egg handles extend to safely lower your eggs into boiling water and remove them once they’re cooked. Poaching pod attaches to the caddy so you can easily poach up to six eggs. Handle contracts so you can store the entire unit, eggs included, in your refrigerator. Very convenient! You'll find it here.- 

 

 Pot Handle Grips

This style is made for short handled pots and its universal design will fit most. The waffle-like pattern creates air pocket insulation for added protection. Plus the enhanced rigidity on the sides allows for a better grip and further insulation. Where to buy.

Herb Mill 

Place mint, oregano, sage and other fresh green leafy herbs in this mill, then just twist the handle – the ultra-sharp scissoring blades quickly mince even large quantities of herbs for flavorful salad dressings, sauces and more. Here's the link for this item.

Onion Holder & Odor Remover

No uneven slices or wasted ends. With this handy, little “pitchfork,” you'll be able to create straight, even slices from one end of the onion to the other. The cushy santoprene handle makes it easy to keep the onion stable, while the long stainless steel tines make it easy to create even slices. Here's the store link.

Thinking of Mandolins and Graters

I have heared several talks about mandolin slicers that most often claims performance that were easy to use. Here are other people's opinion on the best mandolin slicers on the market today.

Shun Pro Mandolin. We found this unit smooth and almost effortless to operate, super sharp and safe. The blade on the unit is a single bevel blade made from VG-10 stainless steel and can be removed and resharpened on a whetstone. This is a big advantage since a dull blade causes a myriad of problems. It's has an adjustable deck which allows you to custom adjust the thickness of your slice. The downside of this slicer is price. At a whopping $380 this is by far the most expensive unit. It is also large which allows to slice an entire potato into fries without trimming it to size but this large size also makes it a storage issue with those that have smaller kitchens. We think this unit would be ideal for commercial kitchens and catering operations.

 Paderno Stainless Pro-Series. This world cuisine professional mandolin is a versatile vegetable/fruit slicer. By combining and/or switching blades and by adjusting the thickness of each cut, it produces many cut sytles, including the waffle cut, which cannot be done with any other culinary tool. Designed for the professional chef our mandolin is super safe. 

Folding feet are rubberized to prevent sliding. It easily slices vegetables and fruit and can also be used to cut cheese. 5 different stainless steel blades allow you to produce perfect slices -1 straight blade,1 serrated blade, 3 julienne blades,1 container for slices and 1 pusher. The ergonomic pusher secures the food and protects the fingers. All will create paper-thin slices, make perfect french fries or carrot sticks, and produce beautiful crinkle cuts. Previously $239 now at $199.  

Weston Professional Stainless Vegetable Slicer. Slice all your fruits and vegetables quickly and easily with this stainless steel mandoline slicer. Use it for parmesan cheese as well as apples, onions, tomatoes and much more. Cuts fruits and vegetables from paper thin to 3/8 inch thick. This comes with 5 interchangeable blades that are 4” wide in a storage box. Slicer is very portable and folds for compact storage (16” long x 5” wide x 3-1/2” high) and is top-rack dishwasher safe. Quality stainless steel construction. 1 food pusher, 3 julienne blades – 3/16”,5/16” and 7/16”, 1 slicing blade and 1 waffle blade for a variety of cuts. Get it at $266 from original $320 price.

Overall, any of the inexpensive slicers are a good choice and is certainly the best value of those reviewed.

Why Buy Knife By Fissler

What could have been the difference?

Fissler Knives

In almost every restaurant kitchen that I visited, I noticed that most of the cooks handled their knives like a precious gem. Many of them even had their very own set of knives intended for their use only. 

As someone so intrigued, I asked one of the cooks what makes all of them so "possessive" of their knives making them more of a cooking theoretician. Even in our travels, I am not likely to skip a good restaurant we are near that I don't take a peep in the kitchens.

Finally I got an answer, it's Fissler functionality!

Fissler believes in functionality as a significant role for its knives. How have you been able to link your credo "Form follows emotion" with Fissler’s standards of functionality? This is actually a very simple matter as people will not buy an item that does not work. This means that the discussion regarding design versus functionality is no longer necessary.

People to whom prestige is important like to be surrounded with products that demonstrate an upscale lifestyle. They want everything to be as "perfect" as possible. The perfection line with its pure aesthetics is thus perfect, and Fissler has it.

A Fissler Profession Knife

Profession is for the intrinsically creative individuals, who care about having fine things in their life and examine the product very carefully. A profession knife comes very close to an archetypal knife. It is unconventional, always present in the user’s hand, very striking due to its high material density, and can be more precisely controlled when cutting. Its subtle aesthetics paired with the highest of quality appeal especially to purists and, of course, professionals. 

One thing must be absolutely clear for every new product development: The product must be perfect, otherwise we are in danger of damaging the brand - in the case of Fissler, a very valuable brand - as a whole. An additional prerequisite for Fissler was that the design concept of the knife lines had to work all over the world.

How Much Better Are Expensive Knives

Knowing how useful a certain kitchen knife is can be justifiable if you buy an expensive one. But how much better are expensive knives really are, and is it worth  the buy.

Great Knives

More expensive knives, in theory, have a number of advantages over cheaper ones. Quality of steel (which affects how sharp the knife can get, how long it keeps an edge, how strong it is and how resistant to corrosion it is, the blade coating, the strength of lock (in the case of folding kitchen knives), fit and finish, durability, ergonomics, quality and effectivness of the handle material. Whew! All those are worth the price, I guess.

Fissler Perfection Knife

In some cases expensive kitchen knives will also have more advanced blade shapes and various 'extras' like glass breakers or pocket clips.

However, a word of warning as some expensive knives are fantastic and worth every penny. Others however, are woefully over -priced and just not worth the money. Whether you need an expensive knife really comes down to what you do with it. If you use it for any serious task then I'd spend a fair amount of money.

I know it's surprising to many, but world knives are not the cream of the crop! As there are those suggesting, why not buy the cheapest when it does the same task as an expensive one? What's the difference between a cheap kitchen knife and a really good one? Same with other cutlery, if you want a knife with excellent steel and heat treat, made and fitted by hand - well that really costs more but yes it's that worth it.

The World of Great Kitchen Knives

Japan is where one of the best knives in the world are made from. It is famous for producing high quality Japanese knives. The unique way of making these knives is anealing base steel and blade steel, which the Portuguese introduced to Japan which has lead to the invention of a special knife in Sakai, Japan. After that, the
reputation of the knives in Sakai spread throughout Japan, and eventually the world market. In the middle of Edo era, many different types of knives began to be produced.

Here is a good site for the list of Japanese knives that you should know about.
 http://www.chefknivestogo.com/knives1.html

Many Uses of a Hand Blender

Do you enjoy fruit blends?

Stick blenders are ideal for blending hot liquids like soups because you can cook and blend all of the ingredients in the same pot. Plus there’s no need to transfer hot, boiling liquids back and forth as you would have to do with a standard jug blender. 

A stick blender is fairly convenient. They are very small and take up very little space, and can be easily stored in a draw, or cupboard, or mounted on the wall. It's the handy but terrible gadget that come with a variety of attachments which make them suitable for many tasks in the kitchen.

As with any kitchen appliance, a stick blender should be properly cared for and you should pay attention to safety. Always use the shield on the machine and make sure that you start out blending at a slow speed to prevent splattering. Also, care should be taken when trying to blend ice or other hard substances like nuts. Why not use a standard jug blender for this task?

Use it to make quick smoothies

Using soft fruits, such as banana and defrosted berries, or canned peaches or pears would be great. Simply put what you want in a glass and use the stick blender to mix it up!

Use it to mix soups in the pot

To make creamy and foamy coffee!

 Just put the stick blender in your latte and watch the foam rise. My husband enjoys using his stick blender to make foamy coffee for midnight.