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This Week in America's Test Kitchen: Best Slicing Knives
The cooks at America's Test Kitchen knew what their ideal slicing knife would have: an extra-long blade that could slice through large cuts of meat in one easy glide, enough sturdiness to ensure a straight cutting path, and a round tip that wouldn't get caught in the meat mid slice. They narrowed the field to nine models for testing and sliced through fish and multiple cuts of meat. In the end, the three knives jockeying for the top spot all had something in common that the poorer performers didn't. Watch this video for more about their top picks, or read the full comparison on America's Test Kitchen (free registration required).Equipment: The New Shape of Paring Knives
At first glance, the shape of the classic paring knife seems to make sense. A great big curved chef's knife is for cutting, hacking, and chopping large things, so to cut, hack, and chop small things, I'd want to use a small version of a chef's knife, right? The thing is, I don't use a paring knife for cutting, hacking, and chopping. I use it for peeling, brunoise-ing, thin slicing, and generally performing the type of precision knife work that a large chef's knife is simply too thick and bulky for. There's a fundamental difference between the type of tasks performed by a chef's knife and a paring knife. With this in mind, I went shopping for a paring knife with a new set of criteria.This Week in America's Test Kitchen: Best Boning Knives
America's Test Kitchen tested six boning knives, ranging in price from $20 to $180. The top performer was perfectly balanced, with enough flexibility to move around tight joints—and it cost a fraction of the price of the other contenders. Watch the video here for information about the winner or read the full comparison on AmericasTestKitchen.com (free registration required).Equipment: What Makes the Best Steak Knives?
Just like a good kitchen knife, for a good steak knife to make the cut, it's gotta be sharp, comfortable, well-balanced, and sturdy. But that's where the similarity ends. Steak knives differ from kitchen knives in two important ways. First, a steak knife must look good; you'll be using it at your table, after all. Second, a steak knife is used on a plate, not a cutting board; this means the world in selecting the proper edge for your knife. With those parameters in mind, let's explore our options.Equipment: How to Choose a Meat Cleaver
One of my favorite knives is my heavy-duty, two-pound, full-tang, 8-inch-bladed behemoth of a cleaver that I got for $15 at a recently closed restaurant supply store in Boston's Chinatown. I use it nearly daily for taking apart chickens, hacking through animal bones, mincing beef or pork for hand-chopped burgers or dumplings, cleaving hearty vegetables, and trying to look really badass in the mirror (it's not so good at that particular function). But what if you don't have a $15 awesome-o cleaver in your arsenal already? What options are out there for you?Knife Skills: How to Hold a Knife
Just like the first step to fighting crime is learning how to put on a cape, the first step to perfect knife skills is learning how to hold a knife. There are two basic grips: the handle grip, and the blade grip. If you've only ever been using the handle grip, give the other one a try—you may find your cuts improving dramatically. There's not much more to say that the slideshow doesn't explain, so I'll depart from usual form and cut myself short.Knife Skills: How to Hone a Dull Knife
Many people confuse honing with sharpening, but there is a distinct difference. We've already discussed using a water stone to sharpen a dull knife. When you sharpen a knife, you're actively removing material from the blade, creating a brand new razor-sharp beveled edge.Knife Skills: How to Sharpen a Knife
Personally, I find nothing more frustrating in the kitchen than a dull knife. Not only does it make prep work a chore and your finished product less attractive, it's also downright dangerous. A dull blade requires more pressure to cut into a food, and can easily slip off of a tough onion skin and into your finger. Ouch. Here's a slideshow on how to sharpen a knife with a sharpening stone, with recommendations on what stones to buy.Gadgets: Fine Edge Pro Knives by J.A. Henckels
If you've suddenly found yourself with a new knife block with space to fill, consider this: J.A. Henckels' Fine Edge Pro Knives are almost a quarter the price of the classic collection. So what's the difference? The Fine Edge Pro Knives are made in a different way: They're stamped rather than forged, which is generally a much less expensive manufacturing technique. Here's the more important question: Does it matter?Hot Topics: Technique of the Week | The Food Lab
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8 Delicious Chocolate Cakes and Pies for Valentine's Day
Some might say that chocolate on Valentine's Day is about as unoriginal as you can get. We all remember the first heart-shaped box of overly sweet chocolate bonbons from grade school Valentines. But chocolate gift-giving needn't be a cliché. This year, let's bake our sweethearts chocolate cakes and pies instead! Here are 8 delicious recipes perfect for celebrating your love (of chocolate.)
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