Types of Knives

Kinds of Knives

• Chef's knife is for general chopping, slicing, and dicing, with a wide blade at the heel that tapers to a point.
• Santoku is a wide-bladed knife increasing in popularity as a substitute for a chef's knife.
• Utility or Salad knife is for pantry work, cutting lettuce ,and carving roast duck or chicken
• Pairing knife has a small, pointed blade 2-4 inches (50-100mm) long for trimming vegetables and fruits.
• Boning knife has a thin, pointed blade about 6 inches (160mm) long for boning raw meats and poultry. Stiff blades are for heavier work, while flexible blades are for lighter work and filleting fish.
• Slicer has a long, slender, flexible blade up to 14 inches (360mm) long for carving and slicing cooked meats.
• Serrated slicer is similar to a slicer but with a serrated edge, used for cutting bread, cakes, and similar items.
• Butcher knife has a heavy, broad, slightly curved blade, used for cutting, sectioning, and trimming raw meats in a butcher shop.
• Scimitar or steak knife has a curved pointed blade for accurate cutting of steak.
• Cleaver knife has a heavy, board blade for cutting through bones and is not to be confused with a lighter, similarly shaped Chinese cook's knife.

Additional tools

• Vegetable peeler is a short tool with a slotted, swiveling blade for peeling vegetables and fruits.
• Steel is not a knife but is essential for truing and maintaining a knife-edge.
• Cutting board is an important partner to the knife.

Types of Cooking Methods

• Moist heat cooking relies on the presence of liquid or steam to cook foods, making healthy dishes without added fat or oil.

Moist Heat Cooking Methods

• Sous Vide is a French term for "under vacuum," placing vacuum-sealed food in a hot water bath to slow-cook, reducing food waste, energy consumption, prep time, and contamination risk.
• Poaching is a gentle cooking method that submerges food in hot liquid between 140 and 180 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Simmering is a gentle method of cooking food that uses higher temperatures than poaching, typically between 180 and 205 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Steaming involves boiling water continuously to produce a steady steam cloud that surrounds food, cooking it evenly while retaining moisture.
• Boiling involves submerging food in water heated to the boiling point of 212 degrees Fahrenheit, producing large bubbles that keep foods in motion while they cook.

Dry Heat Cooking

• Dry heat cooking works without moisture, broth, or water, relying on circulating hot air or contact with fat to transfer heat.
• Temperatures of 300 degrees or more create browning.

Dry Heat Cooking Methods

• Baking and roasting use indirect heat to surround foods and cook from all sides, with baking using lower temperatures than roasting.
• Grilling is similar to broiling, using radiant heat to cook food quickly.
• Roasting is performed inside an oven using indirect heat that cooks from all sides for even browning.
• Sautéing originated from a French word for "to jump," performed over a burner in a hot, shallow pan with a small amount of oil or fat to coat food for even browning.
• Frying involves immersing food in hot oil or fat, cooking the food quickly and creating a crisp exterior while retaining moisture.
• Broiling cooks food by transferring extremely high heat onto food items, usually directed from a radiant above that cooks on one side at a time.

Combination Cooking

• Combination cooking uses both dry and moist cooking methods, cooking foods in liquids at low heat for an extended period to create fork-tender meat and vegetables.

Combination Cooking Examples

• Braising involves searing foods in a hot oiled pan, then transferring them to a larger pot to cook in hot liquid, partially submerging the food in simmering water, broth, or stock.
• Stewing completely submerges small cuts of meat in hot liquid, slow-cooking them at low heat.