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Paring Knife Uses and How to Choose a Paring Knife
Paring knives are important tools in the kitchen. They are needed for more precise and intricate work in food preparations. Their size and the design of the blade allows for better control of the blade as needed in various utility work in the kitchen. Paring knives come in different styles, each one applicable for specific functions. Paring knife uses mostly cover peeling, trimming, coring, and cutting fruits and vegetables.
The length of the blade of most paring knives ranges from 2.75 to 4 inches. Paring knives are shorter as compared to most items in any kitchen cutlery collection. The blade is usually characterized with curved or tapered cutting edges, resembling a small chef’s knife. Popular styles of the paring knife include the Bird’s Beak, Chef’s, Sheep’s Foot, Wavy Edge, Clip Point or Granny, and Paring/Boning.
Common Paring Knife Uses
Sectioning oranges or lemons. Dividing lemons and oranges into sections is one of the most popular paring knife uses. To begin, hold the fruit above a bowl to catch juices dripping down from the fruit. Peel the fruit and then cut between the white membranes to extract each section. Holding the fruit while cutting it allows for a greater amount of control and safety.
Hulling strawberries. The tip of the paring knife is to be used to remove the stem of the strawberry and then carve out the white center core from the stem end of a strawberry.
Deveining shrimp. Removing the dark veins from shrimp is made so much easier if you use a paring knife. Simply cut a shallow slit down the outside curve of each shrimp, remove the vein, and rinse the shrimp in cold water. The shrimp is all set to be cooked.
Peeling potatoes and tomatoes. Peeling potatoes and hard-fleshed fruits and vegetables is potentially dangerous if you use the wrong kind of knife. With a paring knife, peeling potatoes is made quick and easy. Soft-fleshed fruits and vegetables like the tomato can also be quite of a challenge. The sharp blade of a paring knife is great for precision cutting without doing unnecessary damage to the food being cut.
Garnishing. Garnishing is usually an optional part of food preparation. Some think it takes up too much of unnecessary time. This is no longer true if you are aware that it is another of the most popular paring knife uses, as far as professional chefs are concerned. Cutting thin slices of food, precise carving, removing seeds, and fluting are just some of the many things you can do with a good set of paring knives.
Best Places to Buy
There is no doubt that any household can greatly benefit from a good set, or at least a pair, of paring knives. The blade is the first thing you should look at when you go shopping. Most professional cooks use high-carbon steel forged knives with the blade metal running from the tip to the handle to the opposite end. Look for a handle with precise fitting.
The best blades are those made from a mixture of alloys. You may find a lot of good paring knives sets – at great discounts, too – on websites like Amazon.com. Bestsellers include J.A. Henckels International’s 3-Piece Paring Knife Set for $10.99 and 4-Piece Twin Grip Colored Paring Knives for $22.99. Wusthof’s 3-Piece Paring Knife Set looks both elegant and sturdy at $39.99. The 3-Piece Set by Victorinox, for sale at $12.44, looks basic and “sharp.”