Quels sont les meilleurs couteaux de cuisine ?

It’s a fact: you can’t cook without good knives. Behind the stoves, there are two which are particularly essential: the office knife and the chef knife.
The chief knife Allows you to decide any type of food from net, from vegetables to meat or fish. It is very popular for cutting meat, and is ideal if you need a versatile and very sharp knife.
The knife Mainly serves to cut, mince and peel small and medium -sized foods: stretch strawberries, peel and slice apples, detail vegetables, cut carrots. Its small and sharp blade allows you to detail precisely.

Zoom on our darlings in the matter as well as on the other knives to have on hand for all occasions. Know that these selections were made thanks to the recommendations of chefs, the opinions of cooks and users, as well as on the in -depth study of the characteristics and materials of the best brands of knives.

The best meat knife: Wüsthof chef’s knife

The chief knife is a large knife intended to cut and chop meats, fish and vegetables. It allows you to make cuts like chefs in a continuous and fluid gesture. This type of knife is also used to mince garlic cloves or grind spices thanks to its wide blade. Chef’s knives are rather versatile utensils and adapt to all types of cooking. If you are looking for a knife to decide all your meats, this is the model you need.

To read also: Our selection of the best meat knives

On the side of German brands, Wüsthof offers an excellent chef knife model. This knife is part of the traditional knife series with 3 rivets on the handle. Its strong point: its solidity. Forged in a single room of a special steel soaked and with a high carbon content, it remains resistant over time. For maintenance, you will have to take care to sharpen the blade if necessary, and wash the knife with warm soapy water (avoid the dishwasher if possible to keep its edge longer).

Our opinion:
Wüsthof is a brand of professional quality that offers good value for money. The very wide and rigid blade of this pointed end knife will be perfect for cutting all meats, but it also knows how to be versatile and slice your vegetables. The fact that the blade is honeycombed prevents food from sticking there and ensures a clear, precise and sharp cuts like a razor.

More information on the Wüsthof knife

The best office knife: the Japanese knife Shan Zu

The office knife turns out to be the other essential model to have in your kitchen when you want to concoct good little dishes. It is a utensil that is mainly used for cutting fruits and vegetables. With its short and sharp blade, it allows you to perform the most frequent gestures in the preparation of dishes: peeling, slicing, brunoise and cutting.

To read also: Selecting the best vegetable knives

Our preference goes to a qualitative and lasting brand over time: Shan Zu.
This automatic knife model is perfectly suited to everyday kitchen is designed in stainless steel, which ensures optimal resistance. Perfect for cutting, chopping, peeling and cutting in cubes, this utensil has an HRC 54-56 blade due, an excellent compromise for the cutting of medium-sized food (vegetables, fruit, quiches, pieces of tender meat, etc.). It will also be perfect for cutting net of cakes or making patterns on the fruit.

Our opinion:
Made according to Japanese tradition, also called COUTEAU SANTOKUthis knife has a hammered blade for a perfect cut. The hammering of the blade reduces friction to prevent food from sticking to the blade during cutting. The weight of this model also makes it possible to cut harder foods without tiring the wrist. In addition, its fine and resistant blade is easy to maintain and its waterproof and non-slip handle allows a fairly easy grip (practical when working particularly juicy fruits or vegetables).

More information on the Shan Zu knife

The best set of knives: the complete zwilling block

If you start in the kitchen or want to invest in quality equipment to be ready on all culinary occasions, having a block of knives can be useful. This type of set brings together elementaments for cooking all types of dish: chef and chest knife of course but also universal knife, bread knife, cutting knife. Depending on the models, you can also find compositions with a cut knife, a sharpening rifle, kitchen scissors, a chopper … and as everything is compacted in a block, it is easy to expose it in your kitchen for the ‘have on hand quickly.

The knife block de Zwilling turns out to be our favorite set. It meets all the needs in cooking: from the preparations of everyday life to the precise cutouts of certain foods, this is a safe bet. This Twin Chef 2 series in stainless steel is a perfect choice for those looking for professional quality at correct prices. Designed with all the know-how of the German brand, these models have thicker blades than the average, which makes it possible to cut more rigid food if necessary.

Our opinion:
This block of 8 -piece bamboo knives is rather complete with a knife to be lard and garnish, a universal knife, a knife to cut, a chef knife and a bread knife. A pair of multi-use scissors and a rifle for rapid sharpening of the blades are also included in the natural color block, which will go perfectly in all kitchens.
The knife manufacturing stages are patented, which guarantees a sustainability of the blade wire and extreme resistance to corrosion. These utensils are also particularly sharp so pay attention to manipulation.

More information on the zwilling block

Our selection of the best knives for specific preparations

If these knives are rather classics, certain preparations may require particular equipment: the slicelard (long and thin knife to cut bacon), the butcher leaf (an imposing knife to cut pieces of rabbit, pork, pork, pork, Lamb), the Japanese knife called Santoku (a small versatile knife), the boning knife (butchery knife to slice large pieces of meat), the peeler (ideal for peeling vegetables and fruit), the steak knife , the caneler (a knife that allows you to make pretty cuts to decorate a fruit) or the ham knife. Here are our favorites.

The knife to bonse

The characteristic blade of bonish knife Allows it to work and cut your meats with precision and sharpness. Indeed, with its narrow, long and slightly curved blade, you will be able to separate the bones from the flesh and to ease easily. A boning knife or “butcher knife” makes it possible to effectively decide large parts of meat, game or poultry.

Remember to regularly sharpen the blade of its knife to be boned using a sharpener rifle so that it retains its effectiveness.

The bread knife

Its long and notched blade allows you to cut your hardest breads with ease and sharpness. It can easily be a sponsorship knife and be used in pastry.
The bread knife blade is toothed and half-moon. It is thanks to this shape of teeth that you can cut the crust of bread without risking crushing it. The blade of a bread knife is generally between 19 and 25 cm and have several types of teeth.

There are bread knives with a finely serrated blade that has teeth of different sizes, these are the most effective knives.
Others have blades whose cutting surface is called “saw teeth” which cut firm and solid breads more easily.

Finally, there are knives with reversed teeth, the rounding of the teeth being down and not upwards. Their cut is less penetrating, and it is necessary to exert a greater pressure in order to obtain the same result. The most classic of bread knives has tips down. THE bread knife can also be used to cut braised and roasted meats.

The sharpener rifle

Inseparable from the knives, the sharpening rifle, also sometimes called “sharpening stone”, makes it possible to change the cutting edge of many knives after long use. It is a rod that drives either by abrasion or by fine cut. It can be in ceramic, steel or even “diamond”, with an extension a grip handle.

Note that the steel rifle is recommended on steel blades of a hardness less than 60 HRC and makes it possible to sharpen most French kitchen knives, German kitchen knives and a large choice of other knives.

The abrasion carried out by a ceramic rifle is closest to that made by a sharpening stone. It allows you to sharpen all steels, including the hardest like Japanese steels. The “diamond” rifle allows like the ceramic rifle, use on the hardest steels, like the harsh rifle.

There are many other knives for the rest of the preparations: tomato knives, turning knives, butcher leaves or ham or salmon knives.

Find all our advice here:

For the choice of your knives, you must above all ask yourself what your exact needs are. Depending on your habits, the type of dishes you make, the foods you are cooking regularly and the budget you have, the most suitable knives will not be the same. For everyday and basic cuisine, bet on the basics, namely a chef’s knife and an office knife. If you are several to cook and you appreciate experimenting with new recipes with various foods, it will be better to equip you with a full set.

What are the most sharp blades?

The cutting edge of a blade is determined by its hardness expressed in HRC. We recommend a hardness 58-60, which ensures a clear and powerful slicing, and an interview that remains quite simple. As for the shape of the blade, it is either smooth or honeycomb. Smooth blades are the most common models in the West, and remains much appreciated by chefs and cooks (provided you bet on referent brands). The honeycomb blades are so called due to the hammering of the blade. These air cushions prevent food from sticking and turns out to be particularly sharp. Also called Santoku, these alveolée blade knives are the fruit of Japanese know-how. They are increasingly prized by cooks, beginners and professionals.

What are the best brands of knives?

As for reference brands, many remain sure values ​​of cutlery: Wüsthof, Zwilling, Victorinox, Shan Zu and Kai (Santoku knives), but also Laguiole, Pradel and K.Sabatier in France.