A Buyer’s Guide to Carving Knife!
If you want to achieve precise and clean cuts on ham, turkey, and roast, the best knife for you will be none other than a carving knife. Wait! Aren’t you aware of this awesome knife? Well, no worries, we have got you.
Carving knives are among the top used knives in professional and home kitchens. Throughout a professional chef's working time, they become quite familiar with various knives that they use every day. This develops a thorough understanding of their functionality, weight, flexibility, balance, and effectiveness.
In this article, we will discuss important information related to carving knives. Whether you want to learn knife skills, or you are a professional or home chef, this piece of writing is useful for you. Let’s begin this article with the history of carving knives.
What is a Carving Knife?
As suggested by the name, a carving knife is used for slicing all types of meat. Whether you have cooked a delicious turkey or a chicken roast, this long and slender knife with a pronounced tip improves maneuverability and precision around fat, bone, and cartilage. No doubt, different types of knives can be used for cutting filets and raw proteins. But, a carving knife is a specific knife that is particularly designed for slicing and serving cooked meat.
What are the Benefits of Carving Knives?
A carving knife is not a must for your knife set. But adding it to your kitchen knife set will entertain you with various benefits. Some benefits of adding a carving knife to your knife set are listed hereunder:
1. The first and foremost benefit of adding a carving knife to your knife set is it gives effortless and clean meat slices. Uneven steak slices or hacked-up holiday turkey are not considered now. All credit goes to carving a knife with a pointed blade along with a long length that works effortlessly through the hardest cuts.
2. When a mouthwatering chicken roast or turkey is served, it increases appetite. Besides the mouthwatering aroma, the unique presentation also increases hunger. A carving knife is perfect for getting clean and even slices. Thus, in short, a carving knife is best for transforming the hacked-off, jagged, or uneven slices into aesthetically appealing presentation.
3. Lastly, no one can wait after seeing a delicious dish with a mouthwatering aroma in front of him. When everything is ready at the table, the dinner is mostly delayed because the meat is too tough to carve on time. Here, the carving knife comes into play. A high-quality carving knife aids in speeding up the process of carving/slicing (even for large roasts or full birds) so you can not waste much of your precious time in cutting.
How to Choose a Carving Knife?
After reading about the above benefits, you must now be wondering about buying a perfect carving knife. Isn't it? Well, there are a few factors that should be considered seriously before investing in a carving knife. Let’s read!
1. Blade Material:
Before buying a carving knife by looking at its appearance, you should investigate which type of material is used in its construction. Mostly, carving knives that are made up of carbon steel or stainless steel are preferred by professionals. Besides carbon steel and stainless steel, other materials including Damascus steel and ceramic are also used in carving knife blade construction.
Pro Tip: If you want a carving knife that does not discolor and is easy to sharpen, invest in one made of high-carbon stainless steel.
2. Blade Length:
The main asset of a carving knife is its blade. Featuring a slightly curved tip and granton edge, a carving knife is almost 1 inch longer than a normal chef knife. Suppose that, if the chef knife is 9 inches long, then the length of the carving knife would be 10 inches and vice versa. A carving knife with an ideal blade length is best for perfect maneuvering along with perfect cuts.
3. Handle Material:
Although the handle material is not as important as the blade itself it plays a vital role in enhancing the overall design of the knife. The material used in making the handle of a carving knife dictates proper maintenance and care. Mostly, a slip-resistant POM (Polyoxymethylene) handle is preferred for carving knives. A carving knife equipped with a POM handle is perfect for a comfortable and ergonomic grip.
What are the Uses of Carving Knives?
No doubt, the ideal use of carving knives is precise slicing. Whether you are carving a roast beef or Thanksgiving turkey, a perfect carving knife will ensure that each slice is perfectly cut with an extremely clean and uniform texture. Besides precise slicing, they are also used for different tasks.
If you deal with meat every day, then you will know that it can be difficult to find a perfect knife that is worth removing the bones from the meat. Here, a carving knife comes into play. Besides slicing, it is a perfect kitchen tool for separating the meat from bones and helps in achieving boneless cuts.
Because a carving knife is perfect for achieving clean, thin, and uniform meat slices, it is also the best tool to use when food presentation is a prime reason. In short, a carving knife is a tool for professional chefs and those who deal with fine dining establishments.
Lastly, you might be surprised when you come to know that carving knives are also used for slicing big vegetables and fruits. Although they are used rarely for this purpose, they are quite helpful in slicing pumpkins, watermelons, squash, etc.
What are the Important Parts of Carving Knives?
Just like other knives, the carving knife consists of standard parts that are listed hereunder:
1. Blade
2. Tang
3. Handle
4. Bolsters
5. Guard/Hilt
As discussed earlier, the blade can be made up of various materials. The part of the blade that extends into the knife’s handle is called the tang. The design of a carving knife can be partial or full tang. Similarly, the carving knife handle is also made up of various materials. Bolsters play an important role in maintaining the balance of a carving knife. Lastly, a guard or hilt is present between the blade and handle and protects your hand from cutting.