Chef's Knife

Belly is the name for the curved section of edge between the heel, where the blade meets the handle, and the tip. That curve is the whole design, because a curved edge touches the board at one moving point rather than along its full length. Plant the tip, lift the handle and drop it, and the contact point travels through a pile of parsley without the blade leaving the wood. Eight inches suits most adults: long enough to halve a cabbage, short enough to steer around a shallot.

Height counts for as much as length. From edge to spine at the heel, a real chef's knife measures close to 2 inches. That depth keeps your curled knuckles above the board while the edge works below them. Weight of 6 to 9 ounces suits an 8 inch blade, though where it balances decides how tired your wrist gets. Pinch the steel between thumb and forefinger just ahead of the handle. It should hang level there, since weight sitting behind your fingers turns a long prep into work.

Four knives crowd in close enough to confuse. A santoku runs 5 to 7 inches on an almost flat edge, so it wants a push straight down instead of a rock, and its blunt tip cannot pierce, leaving jointing a chicken to this blade. Utility knives at 5 to 6 inches are too shallow to keep knuckles off the board. Paring knives work in the air. Serrated blades saw rather than press. Reach, height and a point together is what none of the others offers.

Counters 24 inches deep and boards of 15 inches or more give a full 8 inch blade room. Drop to 6 or 7 inches when hands are small or the board is short, since a blade that overhangs cannot be controlled. Anyone breaking down whole birds wants softer Western steel near 56 on the Rockwell hardness scale, because it bends at a joint where harder steel chips. Spend unevenly across the drawer and spend here, as 60 to 150 dollars buys nearly all the performance on offer.

Rock the blade along a flat counter before paying and watch the contact point, since a well ground edge stays in touch through the whole arc while a poor one teeters on a high spot. Feel the spine and the choil, the blunt corner where the edge stops at the heel, then put back anything left square, as both press into your hand for hours. Honing weekly on a rod straightens an edge that has folded over. Dry it the moment you finish, and keep it off glass and stone.