The 10 Knives Pro Chefs Really Use in Restaurants

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Bunka. Jikko.

Gyuto. Serrated.

Petty. Chef knife.

Maybe it's weird to say,

I just find this to be a really sexy knife.

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So I think the 6-inch chef's knife from Wusthof

is one of my most favorite knives to use in the kitchen.

A chef's knife is what you've seen in books.

The most classic looking knife.

It is the most quintessential knife

because it does everything.

I have a Japanese knife and a German knife in my hands,

and both of them are fundamentally so different.

Just look at the shape.

So that is called the bolster of the knife,

and you could use it for so many things.

You're breaking down a chicken,

you wanna go down the wishbone and break it.

This heavy piece of metal that kind of breaks down bones.

A German knife takes much longer to sharpen

'cause the metal's much thicker,

but that also means that the blade lasts for much longer.

A German knife definitely feels much heavier,

but that also gives a lot of people control.

I've actually had this knife for more than seven years now,

so it has really been a trusted old friend.

And that is one thing with German knives,

just like German cars,

they last you a while.

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[Jackie] The knife I use the most

is the Masanobu Gyuto knife.

[Fredrik] The Gyuto is one of the best knives I've used.

Yeah, I prefer a Japanese style knife.

I just find that it's a little bit more versatile

when it comes to doing different tasks.

It's a relatively narrow, thin blade

which makes it lightweight,

and I like it because of the feel in your hand.

And I want the knife to be an extension of,

essentially my arm and my hand.

So the Gyuto knife

also has a little bit like less of a rock

than you'll find in a western knife,

meaning that it's straighter down in the back

as opposed to, like, a very curved blade.

The handles are often heavier

and bulkier on a western knife.

And also, when I hold this knife,

I don't hold it in the handle.

I don't hold it like this.

I tip to hold, actually to hold the blade.

You know, it's a very nice balance.

The other fingers are just sort of guiding the knife,

and knife should be balanced.

Here, you don't have any screws, or bolts, or nails,

which forces you to actually put the pressure on the blade

and not put the pressure on the handle.

So when you push down,

it's the blade that goes through.

Maybe it's weird to say,

I just find this to be a really sexy knife.

I love the sleekness of it.

It is really easy to use but I think it's really beautiful.

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My favorite knife is my Misono honesuki knife.

The honesuki knife is primarily used for poultry.

I love to use it though for other cuts of meat

where I need to remove the bone.

It has a tapered edge, bit triangular,

with a really sharp tip and a sturdy spine.

So it's really good for getting in

and getting pieces of meat off the bone,

and getting as much yield as possible.

As a chef with somewhat smaller hands,

I love this because it is a smaller knife

and it allows me to feel really confident when I'm using it.

It does have a really nice weighted handle

so you feel like it is sturdy in your hand,

but the rest of the knife feels pretty light

and easy to maneuver around whatever you're cutting.

This specific Misono is carbon steel,

which is a much sturdier, stronger steel,

so it does hold its edge a bit longer, which is really nice.

It is a bit more difficult to sharpen,

and it does rust more often if you don't really care for it.

But I do kind of like the patina

and the stains that have grown over the years.

It's important that it stays very dry

when you're done using it.

So I always like to dry it really well

and just give it a little drip of a neutral oil,

coat the knife with it.

I've had this Misono knife for,

I would say, at least 12 years now.

There was some times in my career

where I would butcher cases and cases of chicken,

so I invested in this

and it's just become one of my favorite standbys

when I'm doing butchery.

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The knife that I use the most

is this one that's called Bunka.

The Bunka knife is different from other knives

because it has a very flat edge

and it has this pointy tip which makes it very precise

for different things like cutting vegetables,

shrimp and fish among other things.

Because of this like surface that it has,

you gonna have to go like this,

and it gives it like a big range of motion

and very precise as well.

Of course I use it a lot

so I have to sharpen like at least once a week.

But because of the blade and how thin it is,

it stays sharp very long time.

This knife is very light.

It's a really good option for home cooks

because it's not as an intimidating as a big chef's knives

so anyone could have it.

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[Alec] I always recommend a petty knife to any new chef.

Definitely my favorite knife.

[Atsushi] My opinion, petty knife is best knife.

So a petty knife is smaller than other knives.

It's great for getting around small things

and cutting brunoise as shallots,

and filleting fish, cutting steaks, really everything.

And they're quite easy to sharpen 'cause they're so small.

A petty knife, usually Japanese technique

for pickles, fruits, and vegetables.

So never using for meat.

Usually, use honesuki, but this time,

I use for the petty.

So I try study use it, I was like, Wow, so smooth.

You don't need a power, you just touch it then...

You don't feel cut it, you just feeling supporting.

Well, actually, even in the last restaurant I worked at,

I got yelled at a lot for this,

because I worked with grill station, I would use this knife,

they always tell me, Use the meat slicer.

Use a bigger knife.

And I just liked using this 'cause I didn't have much space.

That's the other thing that I like about this knife.

If you working at station that's very crowded

and you don't have a lot of space,

you can easily just have it and not worry about it

being in the way.

At home, you don't wanna use maybe big knife,

bit too scared sometimes,

but you can buy something very special, petty knife,

because you can use anytime anything.

You don't have to shopping all the time.

Special strong handle, very light, and strong tips.

I love this.

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The knife I use the most is Shun Premier chef's knife.

This is classic Japanese knife,

which originally was made for slicing the meat very thinly,

but right now, it's honestly all-purpose chef's knife.

In Ukrainian cuisine, we have a lot of vegetables

which are bigger in size like beets, potatoes, carrots.

The handle feels really light

and I feel like I'm in control so I don't have to push it.

It just go through the food

and it has very nice rocking motions.

Yep.

This chef's knife,

it's very easy on the wrist

when you have a lot of work to do, like chopping the herbs,

that's almost all the work for you,

so your wrist doesn't feel tired.

It's been the best helper ever.

If this disappears, I don't cook,

I just close the kitchen. [chuckles]

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The knife I like the most

is blue carbon steel Jikko knife.

For a daily task in the restaurants,

I need something like well performance,

then this is the knife.

We are a very fast-paced restaurant,

and we need to, like, be efficient.

We have to, like, cut a lot of cucumber, all the herbs.

We thin slice scallion a lot.

And this is a knife that I think

it just help everything easier.

I am left-handed,

so normally, I have to look for left-handed knife,

but this is double blade so I can use it.

You see like how this shape,

it's like perfect for my finger.

It's super, super light.

One thing about blue carbon steel,

it really have excellent performance.

When you cut it, it very easy to get rusted.

So normally, after every use,

I cut it, I have a dry towel,

and I just, like, clean my knife.

You always want to keep it dry.

Some knife it's like too heavy.

Some knife is like too long.

And this one is just perfect for me.

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In every bakery, pastry shop,

or the pastry kitchen in a restaurant,

serrated knife is an absolute must.

The serrated knife is a special kind of knife

that doesn't have a straight edge.

It has a little like teeth-like edges.

As you are cutting through it,

these teeth are making like a sewing motion.

You know, it won't give you as a clean of a cut

as a straight edge will,

but it's easier, it's faster,

and, you know, in won't crush an item.

For example, for cutting something like a sourdough,

it is hard sometimes to cut through that hard crust

with a straight edge knife.

It might, like, squish the middle soft part.

And same thing with the cakes.

Cakes are very delicate,

especially something like a high-ratio American cakes,

which has a lot of fat.

They're very soft and very delicate,

and it's absolute must to use the serrated knife

to cut them in half, and not damage the texture of the cake.

Another thing why serrated knife is good

is because essentially, the edge stays sharper for longer.

So if you are one of those people

not necessarily want to sharpen your knives,

I will highly recommend that you use a serrated knife.

It does the work and lasts longer,

and you won't need to sharpen it

as you would with a straight edge knife.

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