Finding the Best Custom Kitchen Knives for Your Culinary Needs

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April 27, 2021

If you’ve been cooking for years, you would know how important it is to have the best set of blades available in your kitchen cabinets. Not all knives are crafted for the same purpose, usage, and outcome. Just by glossing through the quality of kitchen knives in your nearest retail outlet, you would learn that some blades are not always reliable. There are sections in the shop that offer plastic handles and low-grade steel, which will make your cutting procedure rather rigorous, and others, maybe in another aisle, are of better quality but come at such a high cost.

For those of you who are particular about meeting your own needs in the kitchen, custom chef knives are certainly an excellent choice. Unfortunately, specialized knives and personalized designs tend to be more expensive than your average store-bought kitchen knife. But if you know where to look, there’s a good chance you’ll find excellent knife options, perfect for all conscious cooking enthusiasts.

Not all cooks have the same needs; some want a lower price range, others want better lacerating power and a slip-proof grip. Custom kitchen knives are just around the corner to satisfy numerous kitchen needs and offer a wide price range for all types of budgets. This article will closely look into how you can find the best custom kitchen knives for your culinary needs.

Get to Know Your Knives

Before you dive into the realm of custom kitchen knives, it is important to give yourself a refresher of their many different uses, types, and parts. Knives have varied manufacturing components and classifications, each fulfilling a different function for a specific task (e.g. cutlery, sandwich spreading, bone removal, etc.)

Parts of a Kitchen Knife

To satisfy your needs, you need to take note of the thirteen primary parts of a standard kitchen knife. These parts are subdivided into three groupings: the blade area, the handle portion, and the midsection, which connects the blade to its handle.

Taking a closer look at the blade area, we have:

  1. The point or the sharp end, which is most often used for piercing
  2. The tip or the “belly,” which is slightly below the sharp point, is where most of the delicate tasks are done
  3. The edge or the whole cutting surface extending from the point to the heel
  4. The heel or the bottom and rearmost part of the knife that requires the most force for you to cut through with it
  5. The spine or the top part of the blade, which provides you additional weight to cut

Concerning the handle, we have:

  1. The tang or the stable area, where your blade is extending towards the handle
  2. The scales or the composite, wooden, or plastic material attached to both sides of the tang for hand protection
  3. The rivets or the metal pins that keep the scales attached
  4. The handle guard or the slanted lip beneath the handle’s butt to provide you a comfy grip and avoid slipping
  5. The butt or the flat end of the handle

Finally, the mid-section area consists of:

  1. The bolster or the metal that joins the handle with the blade 
  2. The finger guard or the metallic portion that prevents your hand from slipping onto the blade
  3. The choil or the corner where the heel and the bolster meets

Now that you have this much background on kitchen knives, requesting custom-made kitchen knives would not be as difficult for you to explore. In the next few paragraphs, you will learn how to request custom kitchen knives based on your culinary needs and where these preferences should be anchored on.

Custom Kitchen Knives

Deciding on how you would like your kitchen knives to be designed is not as perplexing as you would imagine it. Finding the perfect knife for you isn’t that hard; you can explore from one knife brand to another, such as Damascus, Santoku, Gyuto, and Serbian. Custom knives often range from 500 to 1000 USD, but there are relatively cheaper or more affordable options online or near you. 

We’ve enumerated three specific steps that can guide you in selecting knives most suited to your taste and style of cooking.

Know the Types of Kitchen Knives

As mentioned earlier, kitchen knives are largely different from each other. The first thing you need to do is familiarize yourself with the types of kitchen knives that you can modify and purchase for your convenience. Getting the best set of knives involves comprehending its types. These knives are sorted based on the following factors: their size, their specialty (e.g. chestnut, deveiner, mincing), their country of origin, their utility, and the types of food they can cut.

Determine What You Are Making

When choosing your custom kitchen knives, consider what you plan to achieve at the end of your food preparation. Are you setting up a banquet with your friends and family? Are you compelled to arrange a mouth-watering grazing table garnished with fruits, biscuits, cold cuts, and sliced cheese? Are you planning to cook a Salisbury steak on the evening of Valentine’s Day? Maybe an English breakfast on the morning of your best friend’s 23rd birthday? Having a clear perspective of what you want to organize and cook will help you lay out other matters such as your plating techniques and the necessary accessories that should come with them (e.g. chopping boards, cut-resistant gloves, carving fork, honing steel, etc.)

Integrate Your Skills and Lifestyle

Now that you have a good knowledge of what a good set of knives are, their anatomy, the types of kitchen knives, and your objective for purchasing custom ones, you also need to consider your lifestyle and your existing knife cutting techniques. For instance, how often would you like to use your set of bread knives? What kind of products do you buy in the grocery; are you a vegetarian? A meat lover? Are you just in it for the appetizers? Do you know how to execute a cross chop, brunoise dice, julienne cut, or a pont-neuf? Are you an experienced cook, or are you just starting to learn? These are important questions you’ll need to ask yourself as you explore your custom kitchen knife options. When this is done, simply visit a knife maker who would willingly work on your specifications. Their typical queries encompass your preferred blade size, set pieces, material, and your aesthetics.

Finally decided what you want for a custom kitchen knife? Here are your next few steps:

  1. Research your knife company options and list them down.
  2. Contact your options and book a one-on-one meeting with them.
  3. Inquire about their prices, bundle, and current offerings.
  4. Compare and contrast the product descriptions of your options.
  5. Confirm with the knife company that you decided on.
  6. Submit details of the kind of kitchen knife you want to order.
  7. Receive feedback about your custom kitchen knife, then pay.
  8. Wait for the product to arrive. 
  9. Finally, have some fun in the kitchen!

Did you enjoy reading about custom kitchen knives? Let us know what you think about this article by commenting below!

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