I quickly knew I would fail my way out of culinary school if I didn’t have a great paring knife between the first and second day of class. A paring knife is a multipurpose kitchen tool that makes tasks such as peeling oranges, chopping garlic, deveining shrimp, coring tomatoes, and determining whether cooked vegetables are done a breeze.
You could perhaps just hope that the standard paring knife included in your $12 reduced knife block will work. Or, you could get a top-notch paring knife separately and then thank us. Purchasing high-quality kitchen appliances, such as cutting boards and ceramic pans, can be a game-changer if you’re not in your dorm room anymore. When you purchase knives that are poorly manufactured, the blade may become dull soon, the tip may not be sharp enough for detail work, and/or the knife may rust within a few months.
All set to start your purchasing and cutting? Read on.
WHAT TO THINK ABOUT:
There are a few important factors to think about when purchasing a paring knife. First, the blade should be about 3.5 inches in length and have a comfortable, slightly longer handle. Typically, paring knives cost between $10 and $60. It’s crucial to remember that most knife sets include paring knives as standard equipment.
We advise purchasing blades produced from high carbon stainless steel since they keep an excellent edge and are recommended because sharper knives are easier to work with. In addition to being excellent, carbon steel is also slightly less expensive (say, $10 as compared to $15 or more for high-carbon stainless steel). While the longevity of paring knives depends on how frequently you use them, if you take proper care of your paring knife, it can survive for years. Speaking of which, you should indeed regularly hone and sharpen your paring knife (we recommend this sharpener from Mercer with two grit levels).
OUR CHOICES
We’ve spent countless hours in our own kitchens cooking over the years, learning what our preferred paring knife is for preparing potato gaufrettes and mincing garlic. But we went above and beyond for this rough task. With the greatest paring knives, we spent hours making beautiful garnishes like strawberry fans, chili “flowers,” and radish rosettes. Along with lots of peeling, slicing, and poking, we also read consumer evaluations online and combed the web for reliable reviews on websites like Cook’s Illustrated and Wirecutter.
During our product testing, we also checked the doneness of baked salmon with the tip of numerous paring knives to make sure it wasn’t a dull, rounded flop, and we rehearsed making lemon curl garnishes more times than we’d like to confess. Last but not least, in order to provide you with only the greatest paring knives, we through the laborious process known as concassé-ing a tomato (chef jargon for peeling, seeding, and chopping the beloved red fruit).
1 a single Wusthof Classic Paring Knife
Yes, it costs $60. First, let’s get that out of the way. But in all your culinary explorations, you will never come across a paring knife that is more proficient than this one. The full-tang knife is expertly constructed, with an ergonomic handle, and a finger guard to help keep you safe while you listen to NPR podcasts while cooking. These features will keep you happy cooking for many years to come.
“This is the first thing I have bought for my wife that sparked unquestionable excitement and passion,” said one pleased Amazon buyer. I hear you!
2 3.5-inch paring knives from Mercer Culinary Genesis
This paring knife was vital in helping me pass the culinary school’s scary knife-skills exam. With a firm handle, it’s simple to get into a routine of quickly mincing garlic or peeling various components.
I’m happy to inform that, six years after finishing culinary school, the paring knife is still free of rust thanks to the high-carbon stainless steel, and the taper-ground edge keeps you working quickly and superbly steadily.
3 Straight Paring Knives from Victorinox Swiss Army Cutlery
After 45+ hours of evaluating 20 various paring knives, we can see why Wirecutter gave this knife top marks, describing it as “comfortable” and “sharp.” Although we personally don’t think it’s possible to argue against a paring knife that costs less than $8, we do think its weight should be a little bit heavier to provide us better control over our cuts.
4 Santoku and Pare
You shouldn’t worry about regularly sharpening your knives if you know you cook at home frequently. We adore this subscription service because it delivers you two sharp knives, a Santoku (the Japanese equivalent of a chef’s knife) and a paring knife, and changes them out every eight weeks for a new set that has been sharpened and polished.
This paring knife peels ginger with ease and is skilled at performing delicate jobs like creating the aforementioned radish bud. The knives are long-lasting because they are made of high-carbon stainless steel, and while hand washing is preferred, it’s acceptable to put them in the dishwasher when you’re performing a little brunoise activity for the evening.
5 Kuhn Rikon straight paring knife
The 4-inch blade from Kuhn Rikon is a great option if you have large hands or simply like a little larger paring knife. The stainless steel blade is made to last for many years, and we particularly appreciate the nonstick coating that prevents garlic from getting on the blade.
Bonus: The sheath makes this paring knife a great choice for a camping trip when you need a knife on hand for whittling wood or cutting rope in addition to safer storage.
6 TUO Handy Peeling Knife, Bird-Beak Paring Knife
A bird-beak paring knife is something you should have in your toolbox if you enjoy dressing up your dishes with Instagram-worthy decorative flourishes. This razor-sharp blade, which is made of high-carbon stainless steel, produces accurate cuts when you want to create food art for children or fancy radish buds for dinner parties (remember those?). Hallelujah!).
For example, a bruised patch on a fresh peach or nectarine can be removed from fruits and vegetables using a bird-beak technique.
7 Fully serrated WÜSTHOF Paring Knife
Good luck finding a serrated paring knife with tooth-like prongs that is better than this if you need one for tasks like smoothing out cake edges or tearing into a fresh loaf of pandemic-perfected sourdough bread.
It may be more expensive, but we appreciate the clean cuts the serrated blade makes on bread or soft fruits and vegetables, the long-lasting full tang construction, and the comfortable handle.
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