There are but two necessary knives. A chef’s knife and a paring knife. Sharpened appropriately. Usually not even a paring knife but sometimes the small size is beneficial.
I definitely need a bread knife to properly cut good bread, if only for the teeth. The bread I eat is more dense and has a hard crust compared to say American wonderbread. I also like to dry out some of it and then double toast slices for that extra crunchiness. No way a smooth edge can deal with that.
Well good for you, i guess you cooking anecdotally in fine dining invalidates my experience entirely. All of a sudden the bread parts itself on my chef knife like the red sea for moses.
Perhaps you just need to learn to use the knife properly. Knives also need a steel which should be used regularly. Blunting a knife on a crust shouldn’t be a thing if you keep your blade sharp. That’s the point.
I’d include a santoku in there, and probably some scissors. Sometimes you just need the straight edge of a santoku, instead of the curved edge of a chef’s knife.
And sometimes serration is necessary. You’ll blunt your chefs knife on certain sourdough crusts, or crush softer breads, but a bread knife will glide right through.
There are but two necessary knives. A chef’s knife and a paring knife. Sharpened appropriately. Usually not even a paring knife but sometimes the small size is beneficial.
Cleavers are really nice to have for chopping and transferring vegetables though.
Bread knife would like a word. Chef knife technically works but bread knives are usually longer and work much better at cutting without smooshing.
Scissors too. A good pair of kitchen scissors makes slicing small vegetables like green onions much easier.
Holy shit I never thought about using the scissors on actual food, I’ve only ever used them to open packages containing food
Also great for cutting a pizza.
Sharpen your knife. If it’s not able to cut bread or tomatoes without smooshing it needs sharpening.
I can cut bread and tomatoes. A bread knife does a better job with bread.
And a filet knife does better with fish. And a boning plus a slicing knife does much better with meat. Not my point but that’s ok.
A butter knife could cut them all too.
Not properly. But a chef’s knife can.
Bread knives are so much nicer to cut bread with though. But yeah, a chef’s knife and a paring knife are all you “need”.
I definitely need a bread knife to properly cut good bread, if only for the teeth. The bread I eat is more dense and has a hard crust compared to say American wonderbread. I also like to dry out some of it and then double toast slices for that extra crunchiness. No way a smooth edge can deal with that.
I was a professional cook (up to sous chef) in fine dining for a decade. Guess I’m just an amateur yet.
Well good for you, i guess you cooking anecdotally in fine dining invalidates my experience entirely. All of a sudden the bread parts itself on my chef knife like the red sea for moses.
Perhaps you just need to learn to use the knife properly. Knives also need a steel which should be used regularly. Blunting a knife on a crust shouldn’t be a thing if you keep your blade sharp. That’s the point.
I’d include a santoku in there, and probably some scissors. Sometimes you just need the straight edge of a santoku, instead of the curved edge of a chef’s knife.
And sometimes serration is necessary. You’ll blunt your chefs knife on certain sourdough crusts, or crush softer breads, but a bread knife will glide right through.