All About Kitchen Knives - Which Knives Do What and How to Sharpen

If you've ever wondered which knife is supposed to do what, how to quickly sharpen a knife and some of my favorite knife brands, then you've come to the right place!

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My 5 Favorite Chef Knives:

My 5 Favorite Pairing Knives:

My 5 Favorite Boning Knives:

My 5 Favorite Serrated Knives:

My 5 Favorite Slicing Knives:

[herweirdoo]

Never take knife advice from a man who thinks that whetstones are ruining his knives

[LDSW]

Honing a knife is not the same as sharpening a knife. The difference is that you're realigning or straightening the blade with honing. The honing process does not remove steel from the blade. With sharpening, you're removing steel from the edge to sharpen the knife's blade. You'll only need to sharpening the blade if you can no longer safely cut through the food with the knife's edge. Sharpening should be used less frequently than honing.

[einundsiebenziger]

DO NOT "let it (your knife) sit out to dry" (6:20). No matter if carbon or stainless steel, do not let any liquids rest on them. Dry and store them immediately. Also: DO NOT use a drag-through sharpener for such delicate hard-steel Japanese knives like the ones in the video! DTSs are only good for cheap, soft-steel beater knives. Would not eve use it for the thick-bladed, softer-steel German Wüsthof knife that is shown in the demonstration. For the Shuns featured in the beginning, use a ceramic honig rod for touch-ups and whetstones for proper sharpening.

[stevenhaas]

That knife sharpener is a good way to ensure your knives don't last very long. Those things remove a crap ton of material each time you use them. Also most japanese knives have asymmetrical edges. If you use that sharpener (it's symmetrical) you will absolutely destroy that. also looking at how poorly that knife went through that paper I can tell it's not vey sharp.

[christiantaboada]

A lot of Chefs I've seem to discourage those kind of shapreners in favor of whetstones.

[MrDangerous]

You're running your Shun's through one of those sharpeners? You must be sponsored by Shun and they keep giving you new equipment. WOW!

[tessleye_]

The honing steel doesn’t sharpen the knife; it simply straightens the blade, which prolongs the sharpness

[canamrider]

Those coarse/fine sharpening systems are fine for the "good enough" people. A truly fine nearly mirror finish edge is only accomplished with a progression of stones. Takes some time, but in the end you'll have a spooky sharp edge that will effortlessly slice thru nearly everything. Perhaps way more then anybody really needs, but once you experience the next level sharpness, nothing else will do. I will use my knives till I need to sharpen them. Typically the dull edge develops slowly over time and largely goes unnoticed. Until you have to slice or carve a large roast or turkey or glazed ham, or need to make up some jerky, then I'll get out the stones.

[heathernelson]

Go cards! Thanks for making this video, learning knife skills was the most important thing I’ve ever done to improve my cooking and get over that barrier of feeling like it was “too hard.” I use my Shun chef’s knife for pretty much everything, nothing beats it.

[cougersclaw]

Here I am standing in my kitchen listening to knife facts and this dude goes "get your pull through knife sharpener" oh lord. Please for the love of good steel don't use one of these on anything worth money. You are literally scrapping dollars into the trashcan. Yes it makes a sharp edge. But you will go though knives faster and when a average quality knife is about $100 I like to make them last. No shame I own one for my farberware cheap knives but it will never touch my Whustof or my Global knives.

[evamichellehenry]

Butchered that turkey breast. Probably because your sharpener is weak but other than that, great video. Very informative. Thank you

[stanborg]

Carbon steel, German steel, Japanese steel. Oh brother. But out of respect, I watched the video.

[samanthabentley]

Really terrific. Knives are so sharp. Works much better than I expected

[Unehru]

When I saw that sharpener, I realised why you were struggling so hard with that chicken breast. Those Shuns are suffering... Otherwise nice video

[eleanorhunt]

Mr Parisi;
Thank you for the time and effort you have allocated to this subject matter. It has become an invaluable form of reference. And your choice of a sharpening tool. Is one I have also chosen. Inadvertently, I hasten to add. However, it is very beneficial. And ensures the sharpness, of the blade.

[mortalfoolproductions]

I have a vintage kitchen knife (from the 60s?) stainless steel, non-serrated, wavy, 10" blade with red plastic handle. I have no idea what it's purpose is. Bread? Carving birds? No clue. Love your videos. Appreciate your expertise.

[StoryLif-]

Thanks for the information, in the near future i want to become a chef and am trying to learn things about knives, techniques and stuff

[emilycs]

I think its also good to become skilled at sharpening whatever knives you have first and then you might be surprised how well the knives you already have work.

[sbalget]

Good video, very informative for what the different knives do. One bit of feedback, with those sharpeners make sure that the abrasive is still intact. I used to use one and didn't realise that mine wasn't and the knife was just going right up agains the plastic, making it more dull. I moved onto whetstones, as i felt that they are more reliable, despite being a bit more challenging to get the hang of, and have never looked back. One recommendation if you do get one of the sharpeners he talked about, get one with a replaceable sharpening element.

[Deanthebean]

Thank you so much!!! This was very simple and a great video.