We don’t have a lot of “stuff” in our kitchen.

This is first and foremost because we have a teeny-tiny kitchen in our apartment, that really does not allow us much room to have a lot of kitchen stuff. In fact, our last 3 apartments have all had smallish kitchens. On some level this has really been good for us, as we both have some “pack rat” tendencies, that have HAD to be stopped, as a result of these small spaces.

The result: we have a small, but VERY useful collection of basic kitchen equipment, that we use frequently or actually use on a daily basis.

So we wanted to share with everyone the 3 Must Have knives that every kitchen or Chef needs.

1. Furi 7 inch East/West Knife

This knife we first saw while watching “Rachel Ray’s 30 Minute Meals” waaayyyyyy back in 2004. Eeks! such a long time ago. We liked the thick blade, to help your fingers guide the knife while cutting. We also liked the shorter, 7 inch length of the blade. When I went to Culinary School (really far back in the 1990’s) we only used 8 or 10 inch long “chefs knives”. These knives were hard for me to manage with many cutting projects, because the blade was so long. I would have to grip the knife so hard to keep it steady that I would get a cramp in my hand.

Well, when I saw this orange knife that has think-width with a shorter length blade, I jumped at the chance to purchase it. Another wonderful feature of this knife is the “Gusto-Grip”. This has a sorta “rubbery” feel so you can really grab the knife, and this also means that the knife will not slip around in your hand (even your wet hand).

Additional bonus: This Furi knife has a FANTASTIC knife sharpening system, that is SO easy to use. *Note… a sharper blade means less accidents.

2. Serrated Edge Paring knife:

We love our serrated edge paring knife, as they are always SHARP. This one has a short blade and also has that rubbery grip handle to keep the knife from slipping when you use it. This kind of paring knife makes easy work of slicing soft (bagels, tomatoes) or hard items (hard cheeses, chocolate), with ease. And becuase of the serrated (every-sharp) edge, this knife will stay sharp for years.

3. Slicing knife:

We use this long, thin bladed slicing knife for all those wonderful artisan breads from Trader Joe’s. All the teeth make easy work of those hard-crusted breads. We have also used this knife to slice large fruits (like Pineapples and those big melons)

In our kitchen, we use knives #1 and #2 every day.

Caring for knives:

With the proper care, these quality knives will work for you for many years. Our Furi is 5 years old, and still looks and cuts like a dream with an occasional sharpening day (once or twice a month) at home.

Note: These knives last the longest and stay the sharpest when washed by hand, and allowed to dry. Dishwashers dull knifes, so we recommend washing all of your knives by hand. Use hot soapy water and a sponge or dish cloth to carefully wipe the blade starting at the handle, then wiping away from you to the edge of the blade. Then rinse under hot water and leave to air dry.

Tips for using knives:

Always use a cutting board when using a knife. Not only will this save your counter top or table, but it is the best way for your knife blade to stay sharp.

Store knives blade-side down in a drawer, with all the handles closest to the bottom of the drawer.

* Note use baby-locks on your drawers that contain knives if you have kids.

Uses:
Like we previously said, we use the 7 inch East-West Knife for the majority of our cutting needs. This knife is wonderful for cutting up meats, all kinds of vegetables and for cutting fruit. Our second choice that we turn to for our cutting needs, is the paring knife. This knife is great for smaller fruits (such as taking the tops of strawberries) or cutting up an orange or an apple. We even use this knife when we set out a block of cheese for snacking. The slicer knife is the one we use least of all, and then for slicing up sourdough or Italian artisan breads, and sometimes for large fruits such as Pineapples or melons.

These three knives will form a great foundation for your kitchen collection. With these three knifes, you can really cook just about anything. I know that for many of you, the 7 inch East-West knife will seem to be “to big” for you- almost scary really for some of you.

BUT we urge you to try it and see what you think after a few weeks/months of using it. By using the thicker blade, you have some protection for your hands. And the sharpening system that you can purchase, will keep your knifes SHARP and that will prevent accidents (but do use caution when you first start, as you may not be used to having a SHARP blade in your hand).

On the flip-side, we are really scared when we go to someone’s house and see them trying to cook with small, dull, thin-bladed knifes. Thin and dull knives make cutting harder and can be dangerous as well.

Purchase:
We left the link for these knives in this post(below) , so that you see what we are talking about with the FURI knife and sharpening system. We were pleasantly surprised at the prices of these items at Amazon. Amazon is not the first place we think of when we need to buy a knife, but WOW we paid a LOT more for the Furi knife/ sharpener when we bought ours almost 5 years ago.

Another great place to purchase quality knifes is a department store. One more place to try: A knife sharpening store OR a restaurant supply store. These last two suggested knife places will have better prices than the department store and the people who work there, in our opinion, will be more informed about your cutting needs.

These knifes will be a great investment in you kitchen and yourself! Think of how much quicker you will be able to chop up ingredients for salads, fruit and meals.

We love these knives and hope you will too!