Archive for the ‘Cutlery’ Category
Tramontina Cookware and Kitchen Products
Tramontina is a 100 year old Brazilian company and they’ve been operating in the United States for over 25 years. Much of their cookware is made in Manitowoc, Wisconsinwhile other pieces are made in many factories around the world. They have a strong heritage of quality and affordable cookware. I’ve found quite a bit of value in their offerings and you will too. Honestly, some of their offerings do not meet some professional standards, but none of their products are poor. Have a look at their specifications for value that matches your needs. It pays to compare.
Tramontina knives are high carbon drop forged chrome molybdenum stainless steel that is ice hardened to produce a long lasting sharp edge. The resulting quality is an acceptable product and they price range on these knives are reasonable. The Tramontina professional series knives are their best line of cutlery. Compare the prices to other high quality chef’s knives and it’s easy to make a decision about what knives suit your needs. If an inexpensive knife is required due to new chef’s, budget constraints, or other reasons, Tramontina is a good choice. They’re tangs, blades, and handles are forged together, so they won’t fall apart and they are constructed well enough for safe handling. The Tramontina Porterhouse steak knives are excellent for table settings.
The Tramontina trash can is a great product. It’s stainless steel construction makes an eye catching piece for any kitchen. It is so much better than an ugly and stained plastic can in the work area. A quick occasional cleaning on the stainless steel gives off a great shine. When guests and health inspectors visit and see this type of attention to detail instead of a nasty old plastic can, it’s impressive. Tramontina excels with cookware of all types. Their dutch oven is a serious competitor in comparison with any other brand, but they offer different lines for many other types of cookware.
- Stockpots
- Steamers
- Cast Iron Cookware
- Fondue Set
- Stainless Cookware Set
- Saute Pans
- Nonstick
- Roasting Pan
- Pressure Cooker
- Frying Pans
- Enameled Cast Iron
- Pasta Pot
Tramontina cookware may not be the best in quality, but chef’s do not always require the highest price to meet their needs. When you buy Tramontina, it’s value and budget concerns that would make you want to choose their offerings.
Commercial Kitchen Mandolin
Commercial Grade Kitchen Mandolin
Unlike many of the newer cheap food mandolins, this Shun Pro model has been in production for a long time. No corners are cut in it’s production. Japanese chefs have been depending on this model for a while. Many other brands are just cheap knock-offs that quickly turn into a utensil that is more hassle than it’s worth. The process for making the blade is the same process used for the past 700 years!
The Shun Pro is strong too! A chef can take a giant 2 pound potato and slice the entire potato with no prep work involved.
Improve Slicing With a Kitchen Mandolin
Make Plank Fries With A Kitchen MandolinImage by fritish via Flickr
A kitchen mandolin, sometimes referred to as a food mandolin, is the perfect kitchen tool for slicing firm fruits and vegetables. Any commercial kitchen can find a huge value in a quality mandolin. Some new choices can be added to the menu as chefs gain experience with it too.
The most frequent use for the kitchen mandolin is for slicing produce, but it also is useful for making julienne, French fry, and plank fry cuts. It does it so quickly that it can save money by allowing the chef to only slice what is needed quickly and many times restaurants who were using frozen alternatives can switch to much better tasting fresh cut ingredients.
The drawback of the mandolin is the difficult in cleaning and the possibility of injury. Chef’s can easily get severely cut if their not using it correct with safety as a priority. It’s worth the expense to buy better models that clean easy and have the necessary guards in place to make them safe.
The key to a mandolin is keeping the blade sharp. When the blade goes dull, it’s as useless as a paperweight. Do not buy cheap models that have a fixed blade! A higher quality model with a removable blade that’s made with quality steel will allow for the blade to be sharpened many times. Some even have a lifetime warranty. NSF certification is a good sign that the mandolin is a quality piece.
Here is a video of how a mandolin is used. I wouldn’t recommend the one in the video, but it’s close enough to show what types of things they’re capable of. Notice the, “Watch your hands.” warning. If she was using a quality mandolin, they provide better guards that reduce the temptation to work without a guard.
How to Use a Chef’s Knife
This video is a good tutorial on the basic use of a Chef’s knife. Most experienced chefs have already had the lesson, but a quick refresher and practice session can reveal some bad habits picked up over the years.
The most important part of this lesson is that the chef’s knife’s only real purpose is for forward and back cutting. Any other use can dull the blade and create a safety hazard. Using your kitchen tools only for the purposes that they are designed is always best. Save your creativity for your dishes, but use your tools correctly.
The most common problems that chef’s have is maintaining the correct stance and holding the fingers of the left hand in the right position. With the left hand’s fingers curved in like this to guide the blade and the perfect stance and right hand grip, accurate cutting is much, much easier. These principles make for more accurate cuts on the product and save your back with more natural motions. This looks simple in the video, but it’s easy to fall out of posture and unknowingly get a back cutting technique over time.
Another side benefit of getting the right habit is that it’s just impressive when done right. Employers notice perfection and attention to detail. When a chef has a practiced set of techniques, they all start to flow together in an impressive show when others watch you work. Sure, some of it may be unnecessary, but it impresses others and makes the chef more focused on the task at hand.
Watch the video and get some practice. Take a video of yourself and watch it for comparison or have a friend look for errors that you may not notice. Don’t be surprised if this little exercise in perfection turns out to be fun.
Related Posts About Chef’s Knives
- Cutlery Choices For Chefs
- Henckels Basic 4 Knives
- Victorinox Kitchen Knives Are Bargains And High Quality
- Wüsthof Basic 4 Kitchen Knives
Henckels Basic 4 Knives
Image via Wikipedia
Henckels is an old German company that started in 1791. Their knives are of very high quality stainless steel, with the exception of specialty knives created in Japan and made with microcarbide powder steel. They are well known for the innovation with specialty materials. Their high carbon, ice hardened , stainless steel and unique forging techniques combine high quality with innovative processes to create fine kitchen cutlery.
All of Henckels knives are high quality, but there is a broad range of prices available. When deciding on a purchase, consider what is really required. Some of their high end exotic metals are expensive, but less time is required for sharpening because they will hold an edge so well. The lower cost traditional blades are still great options for many kitchens.
Henckels Chef’s Knives
Henckels Paring Knives
Henckels Utility Knives
Henckels Carving Knives
Victorinox Kitchen Knives Are Bargains and High Quality
Victorinox is a the famous maker of The Swiss Army Knife. They also make many other things, like watches. The company has always been well known for innovation and quality. The knives for chefs are no exception. These knives are very reasonably priced with quality that compares to their competition. The knives have a lifetime warranty against defects, but damages do to misuse or neglect are not covered.
Many chefs buy Victorinox knives when they start the trade due to their price, but keep buying them after they compare the quality to much higher priced knives. If you’re not convinced, just try one. The quality that made their innovative pocket knives famous carries over to all of their products, including fine kitchen cutlery. Victorinox has one of the few kitchen knife sets that I would recommend
as it includes 3 or the 4 basic knives at a discounted price for buying the set.
Victorinox Chef’s Knives
Victorinox Carving Knives
Victorinox Paring Knives
Victorinox Utility Knives
WüSthof Basic 4 Kitchen Knives
Wüsthof Logo
Many chefs come to rely on 4 basic knives. They master their skills with these knives and it reduces the number of cutlery pieces required in a professional kitchen. One may see the large knife sets available and assume that these are what professional chef’s require, but the truth is, less is more when it comes to knives. When a chef only needs a few, they can afford to buy the best knives that last a lifetime.
One company with a stellar reputation is Wusthof. The company has been making quality cutlery in Germany since 1814. They are based in Solingen, Germany. The Wusthof company is under the 7th generation of management by the Wusthof family. They are one of the most commonly favored knives for professional chefs and home cooking enthusiasts.
Wusthof uses a special fine tuned carbon stainless steel alloy in all of their knives. This alloy contains
- Stainless Steel
- Carbon
- Chromium
- Molybdenum
- Vanadium
This combination produces the optimum properties for strength, sharpness, hardness, and stain resistance. It’s common for these knives to last a lifetime when used and sharpened properly. Compared to the cost of much lower quality knives, they are a bargain. Here are the most common chef’s knives, commonly referred to as “The Basic 4″.
The Wüsthof Chef’s Knife
The Wüsthof Carving Knife
The Wüsthof Paring Knife
The Wüsthof Utility Knife
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Cutlery Choices for Chefs
Popular 8-inch Henckel's Chef KnifeImage via Wikipedia
Cutlery is one of the easiest choices for a chef to make when compared to other commercial cookware. There are only 4 main knifes that are used the most and only a few companies that create the best knives in a reasonable price range. For centuries Europeans have been known for making the finest steel cutlery. There may be a few exceptions in the orient, but those are highly specialized knives. For the common kitchen, a few good European knives will work.
A common mistake is to buy an expensive set that contains knives you’ll rarely use. Another error is to buy a large cheap set of laser sharpened knives. These work well until they need resharpened. When that happens, the steel is so cheap that it’s impossible and the knives are thrown away, usually leaving you with a bunch from the set that are rarely used. Don’t fall for these mistakes. Stick to the 4 common best kitchen knives until a definite need is required for other types. These 4 common knives(known as “the basic 4″) are -
- An 8″ or 10″ chef’s knife
- A meat knife for slicing
- A 5″ or 6″ inch utility knife
- A 3″ paring knife.
The most common quality manufacturers are -
- Wusthof-Trident
- Victorinox - one of the least expensive and highest quality knives
- Henckels
- Sabatier
Any of these brands are sure to give you excellent quality and it’s a sure bet that finding a style to suit individual preferences will not be a problem.
These four brands have reputations for lasting a lifetime when used and sharpened properly. The surprising fact is that they really don’t cost that much more that lesser quality knives. Compared to the cost of other cooking utensils and wares, some much less important, good sharp knives are inexpensive, so why skimp here? It’s wise to skimp in other areas of less importance if you need to make good knives fit in a budget.