Ah, the kitchen knife is an extension of a chef’s hand and the tool is as vital as the ingredients themselves. Over the years, I’ve come to appreciate a kitchen knife’s intricate design and various parts, each serving its unique purpose. Let me walk you through the different parts of this tool I use more than any other.
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Kitchen Knife Parts
1. Point
As the name might have given away, this is the sharpest edge of the knife. There are different types of points depending on where the point is on the blade’s spine. This is an important part of the blade if you are trying to create a hole or hold something in its position.
If a knife doesn’t have a point, it has a swedge. If the point is sharpened, it is called a false edge. Some popular types of points are:
- spear
- tanto
- drop
- trail
2. Blade
This is what we call all of the sharp parts of the knife. Most blades have four parts: the edge, tip, spine and heel. Each of these parts has a specific function; I’ll look into them all in detail.
– Edge
This is the working or the functional part of every knife. Different edges have different profiles, which depend on the intention with which the manufacturer makes the knife.
You will find different edges like flat-ground, convex, serrated, compound, chisel or hollow-ground. Some of them, like half-serrated and hollow-ground knives, come with more than one bevel.
Hollow-ground knives usually have an extremely sharp edge that is very fine. But these knives are not meant for batoning or heavy chopping because they are considered delicate. Many chefs use them.
You will see flat-ground edges if you look at machetes or meat cleavers. If you want something between a flat-ground and a hollow-ground knife, you should pick a convex or compound-ground knife.
If the knife is flat-ground or V-shaped, it is good for batoning and chopping. These knives are usually suitable for multiple household tasks that don’t need a very fine edge.
Those who are looking at kitchen knives will see that many of them have serrated edges. This makes them good for shearing tasks because these knives can make a clean cut even when faced with tough gristle.
– Tip
This part of the blade is typically used for delicate chopping tasks. It’s the part that is home to the blade point and is used for fine or detailed cutting. So, they are typically used to make guide cuts on dense vegetables like squash or melons.
It’s also a good choice to core tomatoes or hull strawberries.
The tip is also used to separate sinew from meat. It’s also a good choice if you need to pierce something. But if you’re dealing with big chunks of meat, you should use the tip of a boning knife to break cartilage from the joint.
– Spine
As the name suggests, this is the back part of the knife that is typically not used for cutting purposes. Of course, that’s not true if you are looking at a double-edged knife. This is usually the part of the knife that is heavy on thickness, and it’s what gives a knife its strength, too.
So, if you want a strong blade, you want to check the thickness of the spine. The thickness of the spine is also what determines the balance of the knife. If you want a knife that’s good for chopping, you want to get one with a heavy blade.
But they are not a good idea if you want to do delicate slicing. Knives that have a heavy handle don’t work well for chopping, either. But you can use them for delicate slicing jobs.
Now, where all this changes is if the spine has a texture. Sometimes, it’s near the knife’s handle where it’s called jimping. It makes it easy to place your thumb at the back of the blade for extra pressure and control. Sometimes, the texture covers the last inch.
– Heel
This is the part of the knife that’s closest to the bolster on the handle.
3. Tang
This part of the metal is not sharp because it goes into the knife’s handle. A knife could have a full tang, meaning the metal goes all the way into the end of the handle. Or it could have a partial tang, meaning it’s only a little bit into the handle.
Knives with a full tang give you the flexibility to apply force on the blade when it’s called for. Most people prefer a full tang. But, of course, that’s not true if you are looking at a folding knife (which is not a kitchen knife) because those cannot have a full tang.
4. Handle
This is the part of the knife you will hold while you’re slicing and dicing.
5. Bolster
This is the piece at the beginning of the handle, which pokes out. It is meant to keep your fingers from slipping onto the knife if it gets slippery. For kitchen knives, it is put in as a safety feature.
Not all kitchen knives have bolsters.
Interestingly, you will also see bolsters on swords.
6. Handle Fasteners
Handle fasteners are the ones to keep the scales of a tang in place. They come in screws or rivets, and the latter are more common. That’s because they are easy to maintain and cheap. But if they become loose, rivets are not easy to remove. So, that’s something to keep in mind.
Screws, however, are easy to remove, clean and replace. You need to check them once in a while to make sure they are tight.
7. Butt
The very end of the handle. Some knives have a rounded or hooked butt to prevent the knife from slipping out of the hand.
Parts Of A Knife: Parting Thoughts
Now, you are completely ready to get yourself the best kitchen knife. And if you’re buying a set, you’ll know exactly which one will be used and when.
