Have Knives, Will Travel

Happy Chef was kind enough to send me a sample to review.  I was sent a set of nine chef knives plus a nylon case for travel.

The set begins with a 9″ chef knife and at the other end of the spectrum is a 12″ sharpening steel, carving fork and kitchen scissors. I liked the look of the knives but more importantly, they felt good in my hand with a proper balance and a tang i.e. the blade goes all the way through to the handle. That’s important for the best wear and stability.

A chef’s knife can be used for most cutting chores like slicing, chopping, dicing, mincing, julienne, breaking down large cuts of meat or just smashing garlic. The next most used knife will likely be the 7″ Santoku knife, meaning “three virtues” in Japanese, ideal for chopping, dicing and mincing. The Santoku is known for its sharp edges, the scalloped pattern on the side of the blade which helps release thin slices and sticky vegetables after slicing.

I like buying whole chickens, trimming my own cuts of meat and sometimes filleting my own fish. To do all this you need a sharp and flexible boning knife. The pointed, slim knife allows you to accurately cut around curves and jagged edges and when it comes to meat and fish, spending some money on a good boning knife will mean throwing out less meat attached to bones.

The set also includes a paring and vegetable knife. The paring knife looks like a mini chef knife and can be used for peeling both fruits and veggies, slicing shallots or a clove of garlic. Detailed cutting, scoring designs and patterns can all be done with the paring knife. The vegetable knife is the same length as the paring knife and it too can be used for peeling but it is usually reserved for decorative cuts, a simple zig-zag, rosettes or fluted mushrooms. This is the knife you want to use to make a tourné cut.

The carving fork comes handy when you have a Prime Rib or a Leg of Lamb or carving a Roast Turkey – keeping the meat steady as you carve the meat. Last but not least the serrated bread knife is reserved for slicing bread…be it homemade sandwich bread or good crusty bread. The serrated knife cuts through the crust cleanly, ensuring that beautiful bread you baked doesn’t turn to crumbs.

I’ll be doing alot of cooking away from my kitchen and the chef’s knife’s bag comes in handy for the cook or chef on the go! All the knives are made of forged carbon stainless steel, full bolster and full tang blades that are laser polished and black phenolic handles with 3-rivot fasteners. It’s been a pleasure cooking with Chefs Sharp Professional knives and its kinda cool knowing I can carry my knife set with me wherever I may cook!