A knife for every cutting task 

One of the most important tools in your kitchen is your knife collection. There are many different types of kitchen knives, each designed for a specific purpose. Read more about the different types of knives and their uses, and find your perfect partner for chopping, slicing and dicing!

Paring knife

A paring knife can be described as a small, lightweight knife with a straight cutting edge. It usually measures between 6 and 10 cm (2 ½ and 4 inches). This all-purpose knife is ideal for peeling and other small tasks.

Chef’s knife

A chef’s knife is usually 15 and 30 cm or 6 and 12 inches long. The chef’s knife is the most commonly used knife in the kitchen for all kinds of tasks. The upward curved tip allows the knife to be tilted for easy cutting on the cutting board. The wide, heavy blade can make a chef’s knife also suitable as a cleaver or chopper.

Santoku knife

An Asian-style knife of about 12 to 18 cm long (5 to 7 inches) with a straighter edge than a chef’s knife, it’s an all-rounder for a variety of tasks. The wide blade allows for some typical activities such as  crushing garlic and scooping up the chopped ingredients on the blade. 

Utility knife

With a size between a paring knife and a chef’s knife, between 10 and 18 cm (4 and 7 inches), combined with a straight cutting edge, the utility knife is suitable for all general cutting tasks.

Carving knife

The carving knife is a large knife between 20 and 38 cm (8 and 15 inches), and is used to cut thin slices of meat. They are generally shorter and wider than the so called slicing knives. You can combine the carving knife with a carving fork to hold the roast, for example.

Chopper

This 15 to 18 cm (6 to 7 inches) long knife has a wide, rectangular, thick blade. It’s made for cutting large pieces of meat and chopping its bones. Some of these choppers have a hole at the end for hanging on the rack. 

Boning knife

The opposite of a cleaver or chopper, the boning knife has a thin, flexible blade of 12 to 15 cm (5 or 6 inches). It’s used to remove the bones from cuts of meat. The thin blade allows it to get into small spaces. It is often available in a flexible or inflexible version. The flexible version is ideal for poultry and fish, while the inflexible version is good for beef and pork.

Bread knife

A bread knife is a fairly large knife between 15 and 25 cm (6 and 10 inches) with a serrated blade. It is used for food that is hard on the outside and soft in the middle, such as bread and other bakery goods.

Cheese knife

Characteristic of the cheese knife is the upwardly curved tip, which makes serving easier. For soft cheeses the knife has a serrated blade with holes to prevent the cheese from sticking to the blade. Hard cheeses require a firm blade to cut through the toughest varieties.

Steak knife

While other knives are used in the kitchen to prepare your meal, the steak knives are designed to be used at the table when steak or other meats is being served.

Poultry shears

Poultry shears are specially designed to be able to cut through bone, chicken skin and other tough materials. These shears can be used as general purpose kitchen shears, suited for a wide variety of heavy duty kitchen tasks.