Cheese knives have holes to keep the cheese from sticking to the blade, making sure the cheese slices evenly without breaking. They also come in many different shapes and sizes. There are the blades designed for soft cheeses. Then, there are those for hard cheese.
What is a cheese knife used for?
We also go through how they are used and some cheeses you can pair them with. A soft cheese knife, also known as an open work blade knife, features holes in the blade to keep soft cheeses from sticking due to the minimal surface area. You can also use the holes to push a piece off of the knife.
Why do some knives have holes in them?
With a knife that had holes in them, the juices from the raw potato would not stick as much and, as a result, give lesser friction when cutting mushrooms. Thus, these knives with holes in them are great for people who do a lot of food prep and cannot afford to pause between cutting one item and rinsing the knife blade off before cutting another.
What are the different types of cheese knives?
Types of Cheese Knives. 1 Soft Cheese Knife. A soft cheese knife, also known as an open work blade knife, features holes in the blade to keep soft cheeses from sticking due to ... 2 Cheese Spreader. 3 Gorgonzola Knife. 4 Pronged Cheese Knife. 5 Slim Blade Cheese Knife. More items
What is a cheese spreader knife used for?
A cheese spreader, also known as a spatula knife, is made for applying cheese spreads and creamy, spreadable cheeses onto breads and crackers. Similar to a cheese spreader, a gorgonzola cheese knife is made for spreading creamy cheeses. However, the gorgonzola knife has a sharp blade to cut through cheese rinds.
Why are cheese knives shaped like that?
According to Bos, “The holes ensure less contact with the cheese meaning the blade doesn't stick to the cheese, making it easier to cut and create more presentable pieces.” Bos also added that this knife (and the remaining two basic knives) have a forked tip, which allows you to hand a piece of cheese to someone ...
Why do some kitchen knives have holes?
Holes on the knife are a special feature, which serves various benefits, including minimizing cutting friction, making knives less weighty, ease in storage, anti-stickiness, brand recognition, ease in opening a knife, and beautifying the knife.
Why does my butter knife have holes?
A dedicated larger hole on the top is added to tackle harder butter and peanut butter and thread larger amounts. This stainless steel butter spreader ensures a high quality and long life.
How do you use a cheese knife with holes?
0:171:10Know your Cheese Knives - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipSo when you get the parmesan in a wheel you can actually use this straight down to break off pieces.MoreSo when you get the parmesan in a wheel you can actually use this straight down to break off pieces. And then you can come back and use it like a chef's knife to break it up.
Why are cheese knives curved?
Cheese knives are curved to increase surface area for spreading soft cheeses. Unlike a butter knife, a cheese knife must be somewhat sharp for hard cheeses, as well as the cheese rind. A curved blade is a compromise between usefulness as a cutting and spreading utensil.
What are knives with finger holes called?
Karambit Knives are the ultimate self defense knife. They typically have a curved blade design and a finger hole that is ideal for close combat situations.
What is a Japanese butter knife?
The Ginkgo Japanese Butter Knife is a small piece of stainless steel, made in Japan. The metal is bent at a little more than a 90-degree angle—you hold on to one arm, while the other skims off the butter and spreads it on a piece of toast.
What is the difference between a butter knife and a dinner knife?
Dinner knives are large and semi-serrated with tiny teeth. They can slice through soft food, pick up items, and spread some items. Butter knives have a blunt edge and are much smaller. They can also spread soft items like jams, jellies, dips, and pastes, for example.
What is a lettuce knife?
+ Larger Image. A plastic serrated edge knife that is designed to slice lettuce without causing the edges of the lettuce to turn brown. When cutting lettuce with a metal knife, the edges of the lettuce will turn a light rusty brown after it is stored for a short time.
Why is there a hook on the end of a cheese knife?
The hook on the end of the cheese knife is used to serve cheese slices without touching them with your fingers. While not all cheese knives will have this feature, this particular cheese knife is versatile and suitable for serving many types of cheeses, particularly semi-firm to firm cheeses.
What is the fork for on the end of a cheese knife?
The point of a cheese fork is to hold one piece of hard cheese while you go at it with another cheese knife. You can use it as a knife if you use it to break apart soft crumbly cheeses, like feta. Think of it like an ice pick to break apart a chunk of ice.
What is the end of a cheese knife used for?
The pronged cheese knife, or forked-tipped spear, is a multipurpose tool that allows you to cut a piece of cheese and then pick it up with the prongs at the end for serving or plating. The narrow blade offers a minimal surface area so soft cheeses don't stick.
Why do some knives have dimples?
These depressions, called kullenschliff or a Granton edge, reduce friction and help prevent food from sticking to the blade. As a result of the santoku's popularity, manufacturers have started adding the dimpled edge to other knives, too. Now you can get a kullenschliff edge on all sorts of knives.
Why do Spyderco knives have a hole?
One of the most common questions we get from people new to Spyderco knives is “Why the Round Hole?” The Round Hole allows the blade of a folding knife to be swiftly and easily opened with only one hand.
Which Knife Should I Use for Soft Cheese?
Aptly named, the soft cheese knife comes complete with holes of various shapes and sizes, from small circles to large rectangles. They are colloquially known as “openwork knives,” and the knives with round holes actually look remarkably like slices of Swiss cheese.
Which Knife Should I Use for Hard Cheese?
Named in opposition to its soft cheese slicing counterpart, the hard cheese knife does what it says—it slices hard cheeses. This knife has a unique design with two offset handles meant for two-handed use. It has a sturdy blade that can tackle large blocks, wheels, and wedges of hard cheeses such as fontina.
Conclusion
Hopefully, this guide helped answer your question of why cheese knives have holes, while also exploring the many styles and uses of cheese knives in general.
What the Holes in Cheese Knives Are For
The next time you see holes in cheese knives, they are not just there for the aesthetics.
What Are the Prongs on The End of a Cheese Knife Used For?
Besides having holes, other design elements on cheese knives contribute to how well they are used.
What are some good things about knives?
One of the wonderful things about knives is that there seems to be one for just about any job you might do in a kitchen from shucking an oyster to slicing a wafer thin piece of sashimi, with about a hundred tasks in between.
What do traditionalists use to cut cheese?
For hard cheeses, traditionalists like to use small ‘hatchet’ like knives that prevent them from having to saw an d hack away at a cheese that will crumble all over the place when they do. With semi-hard cheeses, many people like to use the cheese plane, which they drag across the surface of the cheese to get neat and even slices.
What fruit goes well with cheese?
Also, an apple is the most wonderful fruit to accompany a good piece of cheese.
Different Types of Cheese Knives are Meant for Different Cheese
There are a fairly wide variety of cheese knives used for different cuts and types of cheese. The primary differences are in what type of cheese the knife is good at cutting.
Other Cheese Serving Accessories to Use with Cheese Knives
Now that you have a good working knowledge of the different types of cheese knives that are available, we can talk about other ways of serving cheese.
Final Thoughts
There are a variety of specialty cheese knives depending on the type of cheese and whether you want to crumble, slice or spread it. If you’re not a frequent cheese eater then you can also use a utility or paring knife from one of our Chef’s Vision knife sets.
What is a cheese spreader knife?
A cheese spreader, also known as a spatula knife, is made for applying cheese spreads and creamy, spreadable cheeses onto breads and crackers.
What is the ultimate guide to cheese knives?
The Ultimate Guide to Cheese Knives. You may have a cheese knife set in your home but may not exactly know what task each one of those knives was made to perform. Just as a chef will use various types of knives in a day to increase their efficiency, each cheese knife type has a purpose to improve the user experience.
What knife is used to cut cheese?
A flat cheese knife, or a chisel knife, is used to cut slices off of aged cheeses by holding the blade vertically over the cheese and pushing downward. You can then use the sharp end to cut the pieces down even further.
What is a soft cheese knife?
A soft cheese knife, also known as an open work blade knife, features holes in the blade to keep soft cheeses from sticking due to the minimal surface area. You can also use the holes to push a piece off of the knife. Features: Sharp edge, holes in blade. Cheese Hardness: Soft to Semi-Soft.
How to cut a cheese wedge?
For semi-hard to hard cheeses wedges, you'll want to cut these wedges along the width edge until you reach half way up the wedge. The top half of the wedge is then cut along the length edge.
What is a gorgonzola knife?
Gorgonzola Knife. Similar to a cheese spreader, a gorgonzola cheese knife is made for spreading creamy cheeses. However, the gorgonzola knife has a sharp blade to cut through cheese rinds. Features: Rounded blade with one sharp edge. Cheese Hardness: Soft, Semi-Soft, and Crumbly. Ideal Cheeses: Gorgonzola, Bleu Cheese.
What is a prong knife?
The pronged cheese knife, or forked-tipped spear, is a multipurpose tool that allows you to cut a piece of cheese and then pick it up with the prongs at the end for serving or plating. The narrow blade offers a minimal surface area so soft cheeses don’t stick.
Which knife brand has holes in it?
Rockstead is yet another brand that launches knives with holes in them – and they do this to make their stamp.
Why do some foods cause friction when cutting?
Some food items are so starchy that they will naturally cause some friction when you are cutting them.
What is the pivot point of a wire cutter?
If you have a bayonet with a hole in the blade, that’s the pivot point for the wire cutter built into the knife sheath.
What happens if you have a hole in a folding knife?
If you have a folding knife with a hole in the blade, there is a high chance it is there to aid opening.
Why stamp out a chunk of a knife blade?
Thus, to cut down on all that weight, the knife manufacturer could stamp out a chunk of the blade’s body. This reduces the weight of the knife without sacrificing its functionality.
Which knife blade is easier to withdraw from a stab?
Some theories suggest that knife blades with holes are easier to withdraw from a stab than those full blades.
How to clean a knife?
For most knives, you could simply wipe them down or wash them by hand normally. On these knives, you might have to spend extra time to remove debris and dirt from the inner holes, maybe with a Q-tip or something that works similarly.
What kind of knife do you use to cut cheese?
Hard, aged cheeses are more likely to shatter than slice, so for these, use small, pointed sharp knives or knives with a double-pointed blade . "These knives allow you to dig the point in and shatter off pieces," Baker says.
What knife do you use to spread cheese?
For spreading, especially for a soft or runny cheese, a knife with a duller blade and more surface area will do the job. Semi-firm, sliceable cheeses such as Gouda work well with a cheese slicer or a sharp-edged knife that is roughly the length of the cheese you're trying to cut.
What knife do you use to slice brie?
For soft cheeses, such as brie, Baker recommends three types of knives, depending on how you want to serve the soft cheese. If you're slicing, a cheese knife with holes or a knife with a slim blade work best since they have less surface for the cheese to cling to.
What cheeses go well with a cheese platter?
Cheese platter with camembert, walnut cheese, gorgonzola and taleggio . Credit: Westend61 via Getty Images. A well-balanced cheese plate will have drastically different cheeses, and depending on the cheese's texture, your go-to cheese knife may not be the best match.
Can you mix cheese with fruit?
The entire point of a cheese plate is to celebrate individual cheese flavors. Yes, there's an emphasis on pairing slices and globs of cheese with fruit, meat, and crackers, but never cheese mixing. Cheese is potent.
