Serious Cheese: All About Cheese Knives
Photograph from Balakov on Flickr
For some reason the American kitchen is a breeding ground for useless gadgets, tools, and knickknacks. Do we really need a separate tool to make balls out of melons? (Actually, melon ballers are quite useful for many different tasks, but that's a subject for another post.)
Living in New York City, where most apartments have tiny kitchens with only a handful of cabinets, I am forced to be ruthlessly Spartan with my gadgetry. This is why I am generally opposed to cheese knives. I tend to follow Alton Brown's golden rule: never own a kitchen gadget that has only one use. So what kinds of knives do work well with cheese? My suggestions, after the jump.
Soft, Spreadable Cheeses
I simply use a butter knife or a spoon.
Soft and Semi-Soft Cheeses
This is the one case where I would recommend getting a knife made specifically for cheese. I own this Swissmar Soft Cheese Knife. The holes help prevent soft cheeses from sticking to the blade thereby maintaining the structural integrity of each slice. At $13.95, I think it's worth getting if you eat lots of soft cheeses such as Brie, Reblochon, and Fontina.
Firm Cheeses
What about that venerable staple of 1980s party hosting, the Swissmar Cheese Plane? There are times when I like using it, especially for firm cheeses that taste good sliced really thin (like Gruyère), but it's certainly not a necessity when kitchen space is tight.
Semi-Firm and Hard Cheeses
I use my Wüsthof Classic 3.5" Paring Knife. It's small enough to fit on a cheese plate, yet sturdy enough to work well with lots of different cheeses.
The Rest
The rest of the lot are pretty useless. Like this Swissmar Cleaver that is supposedly only for cheddar—a major violation of Alton Brown's rule. Or how about this Wüsthof Parmesan Cheese Knife for $80? You could do just fine with a regular chef's knife, which you could buy for only $20 more.
What about you? What kinds of knives do you keep around for cutting and serving cheese?
About the author: Jamie Forrest publishes Curdnerds.com from his apartment in Brooklyn, New York, where he lives with his wife, his daughter, and his cheese.
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16 Comments:
I use my cheese grater that has a slicer on one side or a paring knife for harder cheeses. As for the softer types, I usually just dig right in with the cracker :)
galoshes at 2:07PM on 06/02/09
I recently got a gift set of Chicago cheese knives and some teeny spreaders, also a gift. They will soon see the Goodwill box. I prefer to use my regular knives too. Most of the specialty cheese knives are either so small that they're awkward for the men to use, like a tiny demitasse with one of those precious little handles, or they cost a fortune. I also live by AB's no unitaskers rule. It's great for simplifying your kitchen, and who couldn't use more room in the cabinets?
runrgrrl at 2:21PM on 06/02/09
We have cheese knife someone gave us for a gift. I would never buys sucha thing but it does work quite well.
bobbob at 2:22PM on 06/02/09
My wife came with one when she moved in. It's from Pampered Chef: http://www.kaboodle.com/hi/img/c/0/0/10/7/AAAADNAoMh4AAAAAABB5sQ.jpg
It's got two sides - a serrated part and a cheese plane. It's ok. I find it hard to use on curved plates because ours has a much straighter handle than the one pictured.
pbelardo at 2:53PM on 06/02/09
I bought that exact cheese knife pictured in Brighton, England last year- I love it! It works really well, in addition to being silly and adorable.
RachelDP at 3:56PM on 06/02/09
I generally despise single use items, but I do have a cheese knife with a hollowed out center and it is handy with sticky cheeses like brie. I bring it out when company is over. I also have a cute, but ridiculous knife that has a mouse as its handle - it's silly and doesn't cut that well, but when Mom is over, I put it out for a giggle.
potroast at 3:59PM on 06/02/09
We have a cheese plane and use it all the time. We went for awhile without one when we moved into our new place (tiny apartment!), but really missed having one (we each grew up with cheese planes in the house). When we finally splurged (well, $12) on a nice one at WS with an olivewood handle, I felt guilty for about ten minutes. We use it maybe three times a week and it makes such a nice difference in getting the cheese thin. Especially critical since my sweetie's Norwegian. That gjetost (which I can never spell) is strong-tasting stuff!
littlestcapy at 4:34PM on 06/02/09
I have a set of Williams-Sonoma cheese knives that I take out for dinners and parties, but if it's just me, I use either a butter knife or my all-purpose serrated kitchen knife.
mncheese at 5:32PM on 06/02/09
My dad gave me a set of Dubost Laguiole Cheese Knives fro christmas and I love them. I don't think they are by any means a kitchen neccesity but like any other serving dish, or things you use for presentation purposes for gatherings or special meals, cheese knives are great.
They add a little fun to any boring cheese plate in my opinion :-)
biabiaboiler at 5:49PM on 06/02/09
Dental floss works well for some semisoft cheeses, if you want your slices pretty, cut them while the cheese is still cold. But usually I just use a steak knife.
camelton at 10:09AM on 06/03/09
the best cheese cutter i have is the tensioned-wire style. Technically not a knife, but it is great for cutting uniform slices of cheddar and other semi-soft cheeses. (this one: http://tinyurl.com/oxbzrs )
jumpyfroggy at 10:51AM on 06/04/09
This will sound funny but for cutting blocks of cheddar, swiss, colby I use my cleaver. It works great! For harder cheeses like parma and romano, we just use a steak knife or even a butter knife, coz we drop it in the grater and grate away...
valgalpal at 10:23AM on 06/08/09
The only cheese I eat is English its the best in the world it comes in all varieties. You cant beat Leicester cheese with a bit of onion, good old east midlands grub. Get it down Ya!
dape1 at 3:49AM on 06/09/09
I agree with "jumpyfroggy" on the wire slicer ! I had an adjustable wire slicer years ago it was the greatest thing since sliced bread and the wire snapped after years of faithful use, but my ex threw it out before I could repair it [an easy fix] so I got a divorce.
I have not been able to find another adjustable wire slicer since but I found my new wife of twenty years . If anyone comes across one please post it on SE.
With all other cheeses I use various blade widths of the knives depending upon the cheese, but I'll use my wire if I can gives me consistent 1/4" slices . I use my peeler for a cheese shaver, another multi-tasker.
shipwreck at 1:34PM on 06/09/09
I saw a knife like the one pictured in a Marshall's store, but I resisted the temptation to buy it.
dmcavanagh at 7:58PM on 06/09/09
I personally think that a good serrated knife, particularly a tomato knife like this one featured on amazon http://tinyurl.com/mgteoy work great for hard cheeses.
I like to use the one-handed test - if you can't cut and dispense the cheese onto your handy cracker, you don't have the correct tool.
stinemasterj at 10:30AM on 06/17/09