The Ultimate Guide To Kitchen Knives: When And Why To Use Each Type

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Imagine, for a moment, your kitchen without any knives. Without this crucial tool, you can't de-bone a chicken, slice an avocado, dice an onion, or even spread out a smear of butter on a piece of toast. There's little a cook can accomplish without the aid of a sharp blade. It could be the most crucial piece of equipment in your kitchen, and yet it can be easily misunderstood and misused by the casual chef. 

Whatever the job is, from slicing a wedge of cheese to carving a Thanksgiving turkey, there's a specific knife you should be using. Yes, even the tomato and oyster have their very own knives for slicing and opening. So what knives do you actually need, and which ones are just a nice-to-have tool? In the following list, we're spotlighting each type of knife you need to know about and what you should use it for — plus product recommendations with the current price as of this writing.

If you've bought or received a silverware set, you have table knives. Housed in the silverware drawer with matching forks and spoons, these basic knives are used with a traditional place setting. With mild cutting power and some serration, they are run-of-the-mill instruments used for getting food to mouth after it's been placed on the table. It'll slice through a moist cut of chicken and help slice through a juicy portion of lasagna, but not much else. 

For a versatile option, Oneida offers a good, sturdy set of dinner knives on Amazon for an affordable price. As a brand, Oneida has been a pioneer of stainless steel flatware since launching its first line in the 1960s. If you're looking for quality and numerous styles to choose from (the brand has over 2,000 styles out there), Oneida is a good bet for dinner knives. 

You can purchase the Oneida Flight Everyday Flatware Dinner Knives for $12.26 on Amazon.

These oddly shaped blades aren't used for cutting. More of a hard spatula than a knife, these non-essential but nice-to-have tools are great for different kinds of butter, jam, cream cheese, and anything else of similar consistency and softness. They perform better than table knives for such things because they often have shorter blades — perfect for spreading butter without destroying your bread. As an added bonus, the angle of the blade allows it to be rested on the table without dirtying the surface. 

For a set that looks like an elegant accompaniment to a formal tea service, take a look at ErCrysto's affordable butter knife set. Sporting a wide, flat blade and a smooth handle all set in stainless steel, these can get the job done in style. It rates at 4.4 stars out of 5 on Amazon, so it has a solid reputation as well.  

You can purchase a set of four Ercrysto Stainless Steel Butter Knives for $8.99 on Amazon. 

Sure, some people like to use a cheese knife that has a wide, flat blade with dull serration. But let's be real: You're using the wrong type of knife. Those are glorified butter knives masquerading as a cheese knife. Instead, consider investing in a true cheese knife — one with a slight serration, holes in the blade, and a pronged tip. The most sophisticated cheese knives sport distinct gaps in the blade to prevent them from sticking to the softer cheeses out there, like Brie or Camembert. This will also help prevent the knife from squashing down on these creamy cheeses as well. Why the pronged tip? All the better for skewering cheese cubes. 

If you're ready to invest in your own professional cheese knife, consider the Prodyne Multi-Use Cheese Knife. As mentioned in the product description, this knife, with its 5.5-inch blade, also works well with fruit and vegetables. Plus, this rates an overall 4.7 out of 5 stars from thousands of reviews on Amazon. That's a solid recommendation. 

You can purchase the Prodyne CK-300 Multi-Use Cheese Knife for $12.08 on Amazon. 

If you love steak, you know the regular-old table knife isn't going to cut it (pun alert). When you need something a bit more powerful to handle your table-side meat-cutting needs, you use a steak knife. Often serrated but not always, this type of knife ensures an easier cut so as not to frustrate you while meat-eating. The whole point is for this blade to be sharper than your average table knife to get through the tougher cuts, even if it isn't serrated. They're perfect for steaks, chops, chicken breasts, and anything else that requires a little extra cutting power.

For a sophisticated and flashy set of steak knives, turn to a set of Caesna Mirror steak knives (9.75 inches long); utensils so shiny you can see your own reflection in them. The set also has over 1,700 5-star reviews on Crate & Barrel's website, which attests to the brand's quality. 

You can purchase the Caesna Mirror Steak Knives in a set of four for $44.95 at Crate & Barrel.

Around the holidays, turkeys, hams, and roasts are ultra-popular. In order to properly serve meal-sized portions to your guests, you'll need to slice up the meat. To do this well requires being up to the challenge of slicing even, thin, long pieces. Your best bet is to use a slicing or carving knife with a carving fork. Their long, non-serrated blades are perfect for churning out perfect slices of turkey or pork roast, while the fork is necessary to help hold the roast still during the cutting process.

The Carving Knife & Fork Set from Hammer Stahl is a nice option for those shopping for a blade that blends sleek steel with warm wood handles. Featuring an 8-inch carving blade paired with a 6-inch carving fork, the set would be a handsome addition to anyone's kitchen. With a 4.81 out of 5 star average, it also has pleased purchasers with its quality. 

You can purchase the Hammer Stahl Carving Knife & Fork Set for $89.95 from Heritage Steel.

There aren't many carbs that hit the spot better than fresh-baked bread, and the fastest way to make that fresh-baked bread unappetizing is to smoosh the piece you're trying to cut. With a hard outer crust and warm, soft inside, you'll need a knife that can handle its versatile cutting needs. Bread knives appear similar in size and shape to carving knives, but they differ in their serrated edges. This serration allows you to easily cut through the crust without crushing the loaf, thus preserving the airy quality and volume of a perfect slice.

With a 10-inch long blade and a non-slip handle, the Mercer Millennia Bread Knife is lengthy enough to satisfy any of your bread-slicing needs. On Amazon, 87% of buyers awarded this product a 5-star review, with many calling out its comfortable handle and sturdy blade. 

You can purchase the Mercer 10" M23210WBH Millennia Bread Knife for $18.50 from Action Sales.

A chef's knife is typically pretty large — usually around an 8-inch blade or larger. If you see a knife in your set that looks like it could be used in a slasher film, that's likely your chef's knife. These blades can get a ton of use. They're great for chopping and mincing, and they can even slice wonderfully if you don't have a carving knife handy — particularly for something like a pork or beef tenderloin.

With a distinctive Damascus finish on the blade, the Shun Classic 8-Inch Chef's Knife is a striking addition to your chopping block. This Japanese-made blade is rust and stain-proof and, according to reviews, wickedly sharp. Scoring 50 5-star reviews on Crate & Barrel, it's backed up by plenty of happy customers. Though it isn't the cheapest option out there, this is a knife worth splurging on. 

You can purchase the Shun Classic 8-Inch Chef's Knife for $169.95 from Crate & Barrel.

As the name suggests, these are pure utility. This versatile knife can slice and chop quite well. Obviously, this is the one that gets the most use in the average household kitchen. It's not as large as the chef's knife, and it might not have the same balance and rock for chopping or dicing that a chef's knife has, but it's great for slicing up a small roast, cutting up a cucumber, or halving that monster sub you just made.

For a pop of color, turn to Misen for a proper assortment of 5.5-inch blade utility knives with handles that come in shades of blue and red, plus the ubiquitous grey and black. Though utility knives can get a bad rap for being a duller imitation of chef's knives, positive reviews on Misen's website call out the blades' quality and sharpness.  

You can purchase the 5.5-Inch Utility Knife for $69 from Misen.

If you ever need to do some prep work involving the removal of meat from a bone (think deboning a ribeye steak prior to cooking it for fajitas), you should be using a boning knife. These shorter, thinner, curved blades help you get the appropriate control, angles, and cuts that a larger knife simply can't achieve. The narrow, tapered blade also effortlessly removes cartilage, tendons, and fat from the meat you're preparing.

Wüsthof, one of our favorite knife brands, makes an elegantly designed boning knife with a 5-inch blade and ergonomic synthetic black handle. Made in Solingen, Germany, also known as the city of knives, Wüsthof is a venerable knife brand with over 200 years of history. On Williams Sonoma's website, the blade enjoys a 4.8 out of 5-star average rating, with many reviews swearing by the quality of Wüsthof knives. 

You can purchase the Wüsthof Classic Boning Knife for $115 from Williams Sonoma.

Another helpful tool for detail work in the kitchen is the paring knife. Shaped like a utility knife but with a shorter blade, utility knives are great for precise tasks, like peeling a zucchini, as well as intricate work like deveining shrimp or removing seeds from cherries, olives, and more. In essence, this type of kitchen knife is extremely handy for small slicing or dicing jobs that require careful control. 

All-Clad is a well-respected brand, and its Forged 3.5-Inch Paring Knife is a testament to its craftsmanship. Its use of forged German steel that's been treated with liquid nitrogen is the reason for its superior sharpness and resistance to chipping and rusting. On the All-Clad website, the product features over 175 5-star reviews, with many customers mentioning it's the best, sharpest knife in their entire kitchen. 

You can purchase the Forged 3.5-Inch Paring Knife for $49.99 from All-Clad.

If you're a fan of fresh-from-the-sea oysters, you've probably seen or used an oyster knife to pry open the tight-lipped shell to get to the tender morsel. As oyster harvesting and eating is an ancient art, you may not be surprised to learn that there are numerous different styles of knives available out there just for the job. Designs hailing from New Haven, Boston, Danbury, and Providence all have a distinct shape. Despite the discrepancy in style and look, the purpose of the blade is all the same: Open up the oyster shell and cleanly cut the muscle from the base and top. For that reason, most oyster knives have a sharp, curved tip meant for wedging into the shell and rocking back and forth until the shell pops open. 

The New Haven-style oyster knife from Dexter-Russel is a great place for people to start out their oyster-shucking journey. Equipped with a super grippy, bulbous handle and a 2.75-inch blade with a curved tip, it has a 4.8 out of 5-star average rating on Amazon; a promising endorsement.   

You can purchase the Dexter-Russell New Haven-Style Oyster Knife for $19.35 on Amazon. 

Slicing tomatoes can be a nightmare. Their skin is tough, yet their flesh is tender, which means that you're more likely to crush the tomato rather than slice it. The same can be said for peaches and plums. Using any of the knives above could mash the fruit on the way to an unappetizing slice. Luckily, there are tomato knives up to the task. These oddly shaped blades are often given away by their twin-horned-looking tips, but not all tomato knives share this feature. It's the long, thin blade, along with the serrated edges, that makes cutting through the tough skin and soft fruit a breeze.

Rada's Tomato Slicer features a dual-edged, serrated 5-inch blade paired with a comfortable black resin handle. It also boasts a 5-star rating from over 1,000 reviews on the Rada website, with one customer claiming that the tomato knife gets the most use in their kitchen. 

You can purchase the Tomato Slicer for $15.60 from Rada.

These massive, heavy, semi-scary-looking things are surprisingly versatile. If you're dealing with large, bone-in cuts of meat you need to cut down before cooking, the meat cleaver will be your best friend. These are great for vertically halving ribs or cutting up a bone-in prime rib, for instance. Your other knives aren't made for cutting through large bones, and using them could be unsafe and damaging to the blades. Additionally, because of their weight and varied non-cutting edges, meat cleavers work as great makeshift meat tenderizers, too.

For a meat cleaver that can truly hack it, try out the Original Dry Ager Cleaver, complete with a 9-inch blade and handsome wooden handle. Dry Ager, the brand, is focused on all equipment needed for dry aging meat, from specialized meat refrigerators to heavy-duty bone saws. Its professional cleaver is just one more attractive tool of the trade.  

You can purchase the Original Dry Ager Cleaver for $249 from Wine Cooler Planet.

Honestly, this may be the single most underrated tool in your kitchen. You may be making the mistake of using these like a household pair of scissors, slitting open packages and cutting open flour bags. However, if you work with dough, especially thinner dough, for pizzas and pies, kitchen shears come in handy. Additionally, cutting up basil, or something like it, is a snap with these. They'll even help you dice canned tomatoes in the can without making a mess. 

Wüsthof is a German brand known for making high-quality knives, and its kitchen shears are no exception to the rule. Featuring a serrated keyhole for stripping herbs, these scissors can come apart into two pieces, making them much easier to clean. The scissors also boast a 4.5 out of 5-star average rating on the website, with fans mentioning that they're so loyal to the brand they've replaced their old Wüsthof shears with the exact same ones.  

You can purchase the Pull-Apart Kitchen Shears for $25 from Wüsthof.