Kitchen Knives

Three or four. A chef's knife takes most of the chopping, a paring knife handles what you do in your hand, and a serrated blade deals with bread and tomatoes. Add a utility knife and you have covered nearly everything a home kitchen asks for. Our guide to the different types of kitchen knives walks through the rest of the drawer.

Shape, more than anything. The chef's knife has a curved belly that rocks against the board, which suits mincing garlic and herbs. A santoku is flatter and a little shorter, made for a straight downward cut. If you chop more than you rock, the santoku will probably suit you better. Pair sharp knives with our mise en place planner to get prep done faster.

Please keep them out. Detergent and heat pull the edge off a blade, and knocking against the rack chips steel and works handles loose over time. Thirty seconds at the sink with warm water and a towel adds years to a knife you paid good money for.

Less often than you would think, as long as you hone. Most home cooks do well running a blade along a 10 inch sharpening steel once a week and doing a proper sharpening once or twice a year. The tomato settles the question: when the skin slides away from the edge instead of giving, it is time.

Each forged Professional blade comes from a single solid piece of high-carbon stainless steel rather than being stamped out of a sheet. The carbon lets the edge get properly sharp and hold there, and the chromium keeps rust and staining away. That construction runs through the Professional line, from the small paring knives up to the 10 inch cook's knife.

Depends on whether you are filling a gap or starting from nothing. Buying one at a time puts the money into the blade you use daily and skips the ones that would sit untouched. A block set makes more sense for a first kitchen or a wedding gift, and the professional cutlery range covers both routes.

Anywhere except loose in a drawer. Blades knocking into each other and into utensils is the quickest way to dull and chip an edge. A block, a magnetic strip, or in-drawer guards all solve it, and a wood cutting and serving board handles the other half, since wood is far kinder to steel than glass or stone.

The chef's knife, almost every time. One good one teaches you more about what you actually want than a block of eight ever will, and our guide to choosing the right knife covers what comes next.