Knives by Type

The most popular sizes of the most popular style. Also known in Japan as the gyuto, the chef's knife is a jack of all trades that can chop, slice, and much more.

Just as versatile as a smaller chef's knife, larger sizes trade some agility for extra chopping power.

Essentially a hybrid between the Western-style gyuto and the nakiri, the Japanese vegetable knife, the santoku performs the same functions as a standard chef's knife but is better tuned for chopping than for slicing.

The nakiri, "knife for cutting greens," owes its superb and evenly distributed chopping power to its rectangular shape and gently curved edge. Although similar in appearance to a cleaver, the nakiri has a thin, hard blade that cuts cleanly and requires little maintenance—as long as it isn't used as a cleaver!

Slicers and carving knives have long, narrow blades that glide through meat with ease. Slicers are typically thinner to minimize resistance while carvers are a bit thicker to maneuver around bones.

The utility knife is a small all-purpose knife that can be used for any task that requires a bit more finesse than a full-sized chef's knife. The petty knife is its Japanese counterpart. While the petty knife is typically a bit smaller and harder, the two names are often used interchangeably. Utility knives are sometimes offered with a serrated blade to facilitate cutting difficult items like bread and tomatoes.

The smallest knife commonly found in home kitchens, the paring knife is perfect for paring fruits and vegetables, as well as for other handheld cutting tasks that require some precision.

Known by many names—the tourné knife, bird's beak parer, reverse peeler, turning knife—the peeling knife is a somewhat specialized variant of the paring knife that is used for peeling as well as for fine garnish work, especially in French cuisine.

Because they don't rely on pressure, serrated knives are perfect for anything hard on the outside but soft on the inside. A long bread knife will easily saw through a loaf of crusty bread without crushing the interior.

The large, thin blade of the Chinese cleaver makes it a versatile chopper of just about everything and the preferred culinary tool throughout much of Asia.