It might sound silly but I like to have my own knives for the BBQ and grill and not use the knife set that is stored in the kitchen drawer.
The question popped up in my mind the other day, how many BBQ knives do you really need and what are the best BBQ knives.
Here are what I think are the best knives for BBQ you really need.
4 Essential Knives For The BBQ
ought about the knives I use the most and came up with the following, in my opinion, 4 essential kitchen knives. Plus a few I use occasionally.
Chefs Knife
This is the one everyone agrees on. You need a good chef’s knife in the kitchen and outside near your favorite grill.
I only wonder if you all need an expensive professional chef’s knife. I have used several cheap ones and I just sharpen them a little more often.
However, if you do a lot of cooking it might be better to invest in a quality knife.
What Do You Use A Chef’s Knife For?
Since these are fairly large knives that are in most cases 8 – 10 inches long you will mostly use them for cutting meat, poultry, and fish. But also for dicing vegetables and slicing herbs.
Because of their size, they are not suited for smaller jobs such as peeling potatoes.
Paring Knife
A paring knife is the second one I use the most in my kitchen.
Paring knives can be considered short chef’s knives. The most common size is 3 -4 inches and this makes it very compact and easy to use.
What Are Paring Knives Used For?
Paring knives are used when you need to pay close attention to what you are cutting.
I use it for peeling apples, slicing strawberries, and mincing all types of food. It is also perfect for segmenting all types of citrus fruits. I might even use it more than my chef’s knife most days.
Bread Knife
Maybe for you, this is not a knife that you will use a lot. However, since I sometimes bake my own bread on the grill, it is a must for me.
A bread knife works better than any other knife for cutting all types of bread. Even that French garlic bread you eat with your pasta.
The serrated edge will ensure that you cut the bread and do not push it down before cutting as you would do with a regular knife.
Carving Knife
I have tried cutting larger cuts of meat such as roast and brisket with a chef’s knife but that did not work that great.
After buying a carving knife I got so much better results with slicing meats that I will never go back to any other knife for that.
The thin blade with small indentions stops the meat from sticking to the knife and also gives you much better control over the thickness of the slices.
My Other Knives
Although these 4 knives are the ones I use the most I still have a few knives that I need for more specific use.
Boning Knife
Just to make one thing clear a boning knife is not for cutting through bones as the name will let you think.
A boning knife is for deboning only. With its size and shape, it is very easy to cut meat from the bone.
Meat Cleaver
This is the one that I use for chopping through bones. For example, when I cut a chicken into 8 pieces I use the meat cleaver to do that.
I have seen people use meat cleavers in almost the same way that I use my chef’s knife. Especially in Asian cooking, they are used that way.
When Must A Knife Be Cleaned And Sanitized
To avoid any food safety issues a knife needs to be cleaned regulatory. Here are some tips on when to clean and sanitize a knife.
It is very important to clean your knife after you have used it on raw meats. Even when cutting the same type of meat it is important to rinse your knife with soapy water to avoid foodborne illnesses building up on the knife.
Between cutting any type of food such as cutting bread and then cutting meat it is a must to clean your knife.
You can read more tips in my how to avoid salmonella when grilling article.
Difference Between Cleaning and Sanitizing.
In short, the difference between cleaning and sanitizing a knife is that cleaning is done with soapy water, and sanitizing is done with a diluted bleach solution. This will kill all bacteria on your knife.
Don’t forget to wash your hands also while cleaning or sanitizing you knives.
Best BBQ Knives – My Experience
I have used several knives in my restaurant time. From expensive to fairly cheap.
I have bought many knives that looked great but were just marketed well and were not worth the money.
I think that in many cases the price is not what you should be looking at first.
I have some preferences and you can find what I believe are the best cooking knives for the grill in this article.
Commercials know how to use the names of famous chefs to convince you that their brand is the one you need.
Make sure that it fits your hand well and that it feels balanced. I like a heavy chef’s knife but you might like a lighter one.
Kitchen knives can be very personal and there is no one size fits everyone.
However, I have to mention that it is a fact that the more expensive knives need less sharpening than the cheaper ones.
Eddie van Aken
Eddie van Aken has years of experience in running his full-service restaurant and with this came working with using and dealing with all types of kitchen equipment. With his experience, he can find all the pros and cons of grills and add them to the grill reviews he is doing. You can read more on the about page for Eddie van Aken