Paring Knives

There are times that I have to use an actual knife. Sometimes other options like my food processor or kitchen shears just won’t do the job. I can’t really manage a large chef’s knife well and safely anymore, so I have turned more to paring knives.

Instead of using a classic chopping motion, instead I slowly cut things up with a paring knife. I have more control with a paring knife. More importantly, I can keep my fingers safely out of the way. I look for produce that is of smaller size, when I can , because it is easier to manage. A slender carrot is so much more manageable for me than a giant one. Smaller sweet potatoes are a possibility, while giant ones are something that I still can’t do myself. If a piece of produce starts to roll, I don’t have a giant chef knife slipping with it. It’s a bit slower going than it used to be, but safety is key here.

I have both regular and serrated paring knives. Both are helpful, although I probably use the serrated ones more. I have 5 or 6 different ones around in my kitchen, which is a necessity, because everybody uses them, and they don’t always wash them right after they use them. I tend to hand wash them, but other members of my household prefer to put them in the dishwasher. The good thing about the serrated paring knives is that they don’t seem to get dull from all of this non loving care. Although I like them all, my favorite paring knives are my serrated Kuhn Rikon ones. They have risen a little bit in price over the years. I believe they started at $5.00 and have slowly climbed to about $13.00. To me this is still a bargain for something that works so well.