A set of sharp knives is essential for anyone with an interest in cooking. When choosing knives for your kitchen, you'll need to keep in mind sharpness, handling, comfort and the materials used, and apply these qualities to the type of cooking you intend to do. In this article we'll run through the basics of choosing knives for your kitchen setup.

Which Knives Do I Need?

Different knives have different roles in a properly set-up kitchen. Having the right knives for the right jobs will make your life a lot easier - indeed, using the wrong knife in certain situations can even put you in danger of cutting yourself.

Experts generally agree that these basic sorts of knives are essential in a properly equipped kitchen.

• A small peeling knife  (around 6cm-8cm)
• A paring knife for dicing vegetables (around 8cm - 10cm)
• A general workhorse knife for a wide variety of tasks (around 13cm-15cm)
• A cook's knife for dicing and slicing (around 20cm)
• A bread knife (also around 20cm)
• A carving knife and sharpener.

What Type of Blade Should I Choose?

Knife blades come in a wide variety of materials. Stainless steel is a popular choice - highly resistant to corrosion and able to take on a relatively sharp edge. Carbon steel knives are easier to sharpen and retain their edge better than stainless steel  knives, but carbon steel is prone to corrosion.

High-carbon stainless steel is the most popular type used in high-quality knives. It combines elements from both types of steel to produce a knife that is both sharp and resistant to corrosion.

Ceramic blades are an excellent choice for knives. Lightweight and very hard, they are so durable that usually they won't need sharpening for a number of years. A drawback with ceramic blade knives is that diamond-sharpening tools or something similar are required when they actually do need sharpening. They are also more expensive than steel blades and tend to be more brittle.

What Type of Handle Should I Choose?

A number of materials are used for kitchen knife handles and each has its own benefits and disadvantages. Plastic handles are very popular as they are easy to care for and cheap, but they are not particularly durable. Wooden handles feel great in the hand and last for a long time, but they are harder to care for and soak up water, which can crack them through expansion over time. However, more modern wooden handles have laminates and other treatments to counter this.

Rubber kitchen knife handles are another good choice as they cushion the hand, have good grip and are durable. Some stainless steel knives also have stainless steel handles - these are easy to clean and durable, but can be slippery when they become wet. To counter this, stainless steel kitchen knife handles will generally have ridges or some other kind of design feature to provide extra grip for users.