Knives are almost as old as humanity itself. The earliest knives, made of stone and flint, were used mostly as weapons or as a means of self-defense. Prehistoric cave men used them for hunting, craving, making other tools and to cut meat.

Knives were first used as tools in the Bronze Age 4000 years ago. Up until the 18^th century, people carried around knives on the hilt of their belts as a means of self-defense. It was when in Southwest Asia, 3000 BC when metal was harnessed to be used as a metal knife. It was only 500 years ago that knives were used as culinary.

Knives are almost exclusively associated with food now. Knives aren’t used as a weapon as much anymore and are now focused to the kitchen. They have evolved along with the food and today, there are specialized knives such as the flag ship chef’s knife, that are used as tools to prepare dishes in a way that was never before capable.

Now we’ll be discussing the different types of kitchen knives used today:

1. The Chef’s Knife

A chef’s knife is about 8 to 10 inches that features an elegant, smooth blade that can cut through effortlessly through most vegetables, fruits and herbs. A chef’s knife is the perfect tool to cut through your average vegetables and fruit such as apples, potatoes and onions.  There can be different types of handles for every knife such as plastic, stainless steel, and wood handles. Finding the right length, size and handle improves the experience of cooking tenfold.

2. The Steak Knife

Steak knives are the sharp, serrated, full tang blades. Steak knives are built to be durable and hand sturdy one body handles with three rivets. They are similar to the shape of a butter knife, being 4-5 inches big, but are much denser and have a certain weight to them. Steak knives come in smooth, un-serrated blades too.

3. The Butcher’s Knife

The butcher’s knife, as the name suggests, is a large, wide faced blade used for cutting triangular or shaped pieces of meat in an effortless way. Butcher’s knives are also used to cut tougher fruits such as watermelons and antelopes.

4. The Bread Knife

Bread knives are an 8-12 inch, thin blade that are mostly used to slice bread. The phrase “best thing since sliced bread” owes its existence to the bread knife. The bread knife can be used to slice through other baked goods as well. The serrations of the knife can be at different lengths depending on the type.

5. The Carving Knife

The carving knife is a thin, sharp 9-inch blade used to slice even pieces of meat. Sliced ham, turkey and chicken, the carving knife can cut through meat like butter. The carving knife can be safely used to cut through fruit and vegetables, make sure you don’t damage the blade though. The carving knife comes in three variants, the normal 9 inch carver, the petite carver and the santoku style.

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