A chef's knife is often considered the quintessential all-purpose tool for slicing, dicing, chopping and cutting. A quality chef's knife is forged from high-carbon stainless steel, with a handle constructed of a durable and easy-to-clean material such as impregnated wood, plastic, rubber or stainless steel. There should be a full tang extending the length of the knife to balance the weight, giving you more control and accuracy. Every cook should own at least two chef’s knives - one with a 6"–8" blade and a larger one with a 9" or larger blade.

Paring Knives

A paring knife should be a "mini" version of your standard chef"s knife with a blade extending between 2.75 and 4" long. If the blade is longer than 5", it is considered a utility knife. Some utility knives may be erroneously marked as parers although their design is clearly more adept and handling other tasks.

Paring knives may be used for light chopping, but are designed for peeling, cutting and shaping. A quality paring knife is forged from high-carbon stainless steel, with a handle constructed of a durable and easy-to-clean material such as impregnated wood, plastic, rubber or stainless steel. There should be a full tang to balance the knife’s weight, which also gives you more control over the task at hand.

In addition to the standard paring knife (sometimes referred to as a spearpoint parer), you can also purchase parers specifically designed for more intricate cutting and detailing of food. Some of these feature a sharper point or differently shaped blade. Examples of specifically designed paring knives include sheep’s foot parers, bird’s beak parers, fluting parers, miniature boning knives and clip point parers.

Carving Knives

A carving knife is used for slicing cooked meats, fish and poultry. Carving knives with a pointed tip are designed to free meat from the bone. Ones with a more rounded tip are more suitable for boned meats and fish. A rigid blade works best when slicing cooked meats, but different characteristics of carving knives make the more suitable for some foods and not others. Carving knives should always be constructed of high-carbon stainless steel but in some cases, a stamped knife can be better than a forged knife. A stamped knife means a more flexible blade, which are preferred for carving poultry, cured ham and fish. A sharp edge yields cleaner cut slices, but some beveled blades feature ovals ground into one or both sides to get the thinnest cuts. This is called a Granton Edge.

Many carving knives come with carving forks. A carving fork is two-pronged fork used to hold the meat steady while slicing. Many carving sets are created for basic carving, with an 8" carving knife and straight-pronged carving fork. These sets should get you through general carving tasks, such as cutting steak or chicken, but you may eventually need a more specialized carving knife.

Serrated Knives

Serrated knives used to cut bread should have a blade between 8 and 10" long in order to cut bread in a single, even stroke with minimal crumbs. Smaller serrated knives, with blades between 5 and 6", are used to cut fruits and vegetables. A serrated knife of this side featuring a pointed, two-pronged tip is referred to as a tomato knife.

For a serrated knife to be of good quality, it does not need a forged construction or a full-length tang because it is only used on softer foods like breads and vegetables. A serrated knife, however, should still be made of high-carbon stainless steel. Serrated knives have both straight and offset handles. An offset handle is considered more ergonomically designed than straight handles, preventing you from smashing your hand into the cutting board after bringing the knife down in a swift, fluid motion.