Gary Portman

Short answer: hold a santoku with a pinch grip, keep your other hand’s fingertips curled, and cut with a straight down or forward-and-down push instead of rocking it on its tip. Use it for vegetables, boneless meat and fish, never … Read more

Ask which is better, German or Japanese knives, and you’ll get a strong answer from both camps. I don’t think either one wins. They’re built on two different ideas: German knives use softer, tougher steel and a thicker blade that … Read more

Cuisinart knives are good budget knives, and the Classic Triple Rivet line is the one worth seeking out. It’s forged, full tang and covered by a lifetime warranty against defects, which is a lot to get from a brand most … Read more

For most kitchens, steel. A ceramic knife comes sharper than most steel knives and stays sharp for a long time, but it’s brittle: drop it on tile, twist it in a squash or catch a chicken bone and the edge … Read more

“Salmon knife” means two different tools, and mixing them up is an easy, annoying mistake. If you catch salmon or buy whole fish, you need a fillet knife: a thin, flexible blade of 7 to 9 inches that follows the … Read more

Buy stainless steel unless you enjoy looking after a knife. Modern stainless gets very sharp, shrugs off a wet sink and asks for nothing but a quick dry. Carbon steel is for people who want an edge that sharpens fast … Read more

You spent 12 hours or more smoking that brisket, and the last thirty seconds decide how it lands on the plate: neat, juicy slices with the bark still on, or a shredded pile. Most of that comes down to the … Read more

Salt water is hard on knives. It pits ordinary stainless steel within a season, big fish fight a thin blade, and a fillet table on a rocking boat is no place for a slippery handle. A saltwater fillet knife needs … Read more

Victorinox’s Fibrox Pro is the least expensive chef’s knife here and the one I’d still give most new cooks: light, grippy when wet and Swiss made. WÜSTHOF earns its higher price in heft, finish and a forged option Victorinox doesn’t … Read more

For most home cooks I’d buy Shun, and specifically the Shun Classic 8″ Chef’s Knife: its slightly softer edge forgives more, its curved belly rocks like a German knife, and Shun sharpens it for free. Miyabi makes the thinner, harder, … Read more