Buy a Kitchen Knife

Do you want to buy a Kitchen Knife?

Knowing what you need and which knife best suits your needs is essential if you want to buy a kitchen knife.

The thickness of a Kitchen Knife

The cutting properties of a kitchen knife are largely determined by the thickness of the knife. The thicker the kitchen knife, the more resistance it shows when cutting.

This is determined by the thickness of the cutting edge (also called the burr) and the shape of the whole blade. For knives with a thick back (top edge of the knife), the thickness of the cutting edge will namely increase quickly when the knife is sharpened. A thin knife is difficult to manufacture and requires steel with high resistance to deformation (=hardness). The thinnest knives are therefore relatively expensive and are often made of stainless steel. This ranges from very thin (razor sharp, therefore handle with care) to normal (universal knife, can also tolerate “wrong” treatment). The properties “thick” and “very thick” are missing, because we do not want to sell such knives. Of course, there are cleavers, but that’s another category.

Forged or not forged Knives?

From time immemorial, many people believe that kitchen knives must be forged. This is NOT TRUE. Forging used to be the way to use steel to make knives. Currently, steel manufacturers are putting steel on the market that already has the desired structure and composition. Another aspect is that by forging certain parts of the knife, a knife can be made from one piece. Other manufacturers, on the other hand, weld the kitchen knives together from different parts. This, if done well, need not result in inferior quality.

Blade Hardness

The hardness of a knife (resistance to permanent deformation) is an indication of the rate at which a knife becomes dull. The hardness of kitchen knives is expressed in Rockwell C (HRC). Generally, the higher the hardness, the longer the knife will stay sharp. However, the steel may also become more susceptible to chipping of the cutting edge (the steel becomes friable) and the development of rust.

Knife Handle

When choosing a kitchen knife, you need to pay good attention to the construction of the handle. Do you often want to clean the knives in the dishwasher (against our recommendation!)? Then select knives with a molded plastic handle or a welded hard handle. Knives with a riveted handle are less suitable for the dishwasher. Wood and dishwasher are not a good combination either, of course.

However, if you know that you handle your knives with care, then a nice wooden handle or a riveted handle is no problem at all.

Sharpen Knives

Every knife must be sharpened from time to time. Knives that do not become blunt, do not exist! From the first cut a knife becomes duller, and for optimal use you need to keep it sharp. Do not wait until it is dull, because then you have sharpened an average half sharp knife!

A knife can be easily kept sharp with a sharpening stone. Small maintenance sharpening is done quickly with a ceramic sharpening rod. We sell sharpening rods if someone really wants one, but in any case, our very fine ceramic sharpening rods are much better.

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