Surfas Los Angeles

This is the year to finally let go of Grandma’s nicked up old paring knife and get good knives!! Good knives are always a welcome gift for a kitchen buddy or even yourself! But if you get a panic attack facing a case full of shiny blades with strange shapes, relax, here are your suggestions from a total “knife nerd”.

Star with the three essentials-

- An 8” or 10” Chef’s or Santoku- This knife is essential! A beautifully designed tool built to slice, chop, dice or rock.  Although the Classic chef’s knife is the standard many chefs prefer a santoku type knife. It performs many of the same tasks just as well as a Chef’s knife, but has a thinner, shorter blade.

- Honing Steel or Ceramic Rod- Honing your knife before each use conditions the blade and keeps it performing at its very best.  But note- honing is not sharpening! Sharpening removes bits of metal to create a new sharp edge and should not be done more that every 3-6 months for home chefs, 1-2 months (or as needed) for commercial chefs.  Honing is very easy and takes just a couple of minutes to learn (and a couple of seconds to do!). Stop in the store and have any of our Smallwares associates walk you through the simple process.

- Paring knife- A small knife for detailed work like cleaning strawberries, peeling potatoes and other tasks where a Chef’s knife or Santoku would be ungainly.

Whether you are a professional chef, serious home cook or just starting a culinary journey these knives (and hone!) are essentials. Stop by the store and any of our Smallwares associates will help you select the right tool for your skill level and budget!

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Are you giving a knife as a gift? An old superstition says to put a penny, nickel or dime in the box so that the recipient can give back the coin, thereby saving the friendship from ever being severed.