Specialty Commercial Kitchen Knives: Beyond the Basics

Kitchen knives are tools of the trade for any chef. While having the basics is important, specialty knives can enhance operational efficiency and the quality of food produced. Luckily, a plethora of these tools are specifically designed to handle various kitchen tasks, from boning meat to peeling and slicing. In this post, we’ll explain how to ensure precision, speed, and safety of cooking operations with these tools. With that, let’s take a look at some of the must-have specialty knives for your restaurant.

Boning Knives

Boning knives have a special shape that allows them to separate meat from bones and trim fat easily. Boning knives have five- to seven-inch-long blades that can be either rigid or flexible, straight or curved.

Fillet Knives

A fillet knife is an incredibly useful tool for cutting and cleaning fish. Fillet knives feature thin, flexible blades that range from four to nine inches in length. While similar to boning knives, fillet knives aren’t suitable for deboning hard pieces of meat.

Cleavers

Cleavers are used for heavy-duty butchering tasks, such as separating the primary parts of meat and bones. Cleavers have broad, square blades six to 12 inches long and up to four inches wide.

Chef Knives

A chef knife, or a cook’s knife, is a multi-purpose tool designed to do it all: cut, slice, chop, and mince anything from vegetables to chicken. The blades of these multi-functional professional kitchen knives have a curved edge and can vary from five to 12 inches in length.

Santoku Knife

Taking its name from Japan, Santoku knives are perfect for a variety of slicing, dicing, and mincing tasks. Compared to chef knives, Santoku knives have broader and shorter blades with blunter tips, which makes them ideal for scooping chopped items up.

Paring Knives

A paring knife closely resembles a chef knife, albeit it is considerably smaller. With their two- to four-inch-long blades, paring knives are ideal for tasks that require a lot of hand control, ranging from peeling to slicing and trimming fruits and vegetables.

Other Specialty Knives

In the culinary world, specialty knives are designed for tasks requiring a unique touch. Imagine trying to delicately slice sushi with a bulky chef's knife or attempting to carve intricate fruit decorations with a basic utility knife—it just wouldn't work. Some options to consider, alongside the ones we’ve listed above, include:

• Bird’s beak knives
• Rabbit knives
• Boning hooks
• Peeling knives

Maintenance and Care of Professional Kitchen Knives

To maintain production quality and ensure efficient kitchen operations, sharpening and honing must be performed regularly, especially for commercial kitchen knives. Consider adding a sharpening stone or more traditional sharpening steel to your kitchen arsenal to complete these tasks. While sharpening removes tiny bits of steel from the blade’s edge, honing involves straightening an already sharp knife’s edge.

Find the Right Knives for Your Kitchen

Without a doubt, having a rich selection of different types of professional kitchen knives is vital for any chef or restaurant owner looking to optimize food preparation. Whether you are looking to purchase a chef, boning, fillet, paring, or any other type of specialty knife, contact Zanduco today for all your specialty knife needs.