When I moved into my first apartment, I did what everyone does. I went to the store and bought one of those massive wooden blocks filled with 18 different knives. It looked impressive on the counter. I felt like a professional chef just looking at it.
Two years later, I found myself confronting a painful truth: only two were in use, while the others were merely there for decoration, accumulating dust and grease on the counter.
Realistically speaking, in home cooking, you do not need a “boning knife” or a “utility knife” to make dinner. Most professional chefs use only one tool for 95% of their work. But if you are getting started, or are tired of suffering with dull, cheap blades from a mega-set, here’s the secret: you need to invest in only three specific knives.
Here is the trio that takes care of everything from pumpkins to strawberries.
1. The Workhorse: 8-Inch Chef’s Knife
If you only buy one knife in your whole life, this is it.
The Chef’s Knife is an extension of your arm. It is designed for chopping, slicing, dicing, and mincing. The blade has a slight curve to it, which allows you to rock it back and forth on the cutting board that is how you get those fast, rhythmic chops you see on TV.
- What to look for: You want an 8-inch blade. Anything smaller feels like a toy; anything larger can be intimidating for a beginner. Look for a “full tang” where the metal goes all of the way through the handle for better balance.
- Where to spend your money: This is where you should spend 60 percent of your budget. A good chef’s knife makes prep work feel effortless, not a chore.
2. The Surgeon: 3-Inch Paring Knife
While the Chef’s knife is for the board, the Paring Knife is for the air.
This little, light blade is what you hold while holding food in your hand. It’s what you use for jobs that take finesse instead of force. Imagine hulling strawberries, peeling an apple, deveining shrimp, or mincing one clove of garlic.
Trying to peel a potato with a giant Chef’s knife is an accident waiting to happen in the form of a cut finger. The paring knife gives you the control needed with tiny details.
Quick Cheat Sheet: The Essential Trio
For a complete and functional kitchen, all a beginner cook should really need are three specific blades: an 8-inch Chef’s Knife to do the lion’s share of chopping and slicing; a 3-4 inch Paring Knife to do some peeling and detail work; and a Serrated Bread Knife to slice crusty loaves or soft-skinned produce like tomatoes without squashing them.
3. The Saw: Serrated Bread Knife
You might think, “I don’t eat much bread, do I need this?” Yes, you do.
A serrated knife acts like a saw. It has teeth that grab onto the surface of the food. Obviously, that’s important to slice through a crusty sourdough loaf without squashing the soft inside.
But the real reason you need this knife is because of tomatoes. Have you ever tried to cut a ripe tomato on a smooth blade, only to have it slide right off the skin and squash the tomato flat? A serrated knife bites through that waxy skin in an instant and slices cleanly without pressure. It’s also fantastic for slippery peppers and citrus fruits.
Why You Shouldn’t Bother with the Block Set
It is very tempting to buy the 12-piece set for $50, but let’s just do the math. If you are getting 12 knives at that price, each knife would cost about $4. At $4, you can’t get quality steel, and those knives go dull in a month; usually impossible to sharpen properly.
Buy these three knives separately, and you have a curated kit that actually works: you can get a high-quality Chef’s knife, a decent bread knife, and a cheap paring knife hey, since paring knives get abused and replaced often anyway. You spend the same amount of money, but your cooking experience improves by a number of factors.
Start with these three. Master them. Your counter space and your fingers will thank you.
