Paring knife

The paring knife is the second most important knife to have, if for no other reason than it can do the small tasks for which the chef’s knife is too big. Why would a chef’s knife be too big for a job? Take an onion, for example. While a chef’s knife is pointy and sharp enough to take the root end out of an onion, your hand will be so far away that you really won’t have the control to make the small, fine cuts as you would with the paring knife. You’d be more likely to cut your hand than the onion.

What tasks does the paring knife do best? Paring is defined as the act of cutting away an edge or a surface. While this would imply a vegetable peeler, it’s more than that. With a sharp paring knife you can easily peel an apple, tomato, or orange. You can use it to hull strawberries, remove the core from tomatoes and onions, and slice the segments out of a piece of citrus with a supreme cut. It’s also a perfect knife for slicing salamis and many cheeses. You can even peel a grape with a paring knife.

Not all paring knives look the same. Their blades can be between 2 and 4 inches long, and some blades are curvier than others. And unlike other types of knives, you don’t always have to use a cutting board when using a paring knife. The tasks are often too small, and too close, to be accurate and efficient on a cutting board. As long as you take your time and don’t direct the knife toward you, you can safely and comfortably hold and turn the food in your guide hand.

Depending on the task, you may hold the paring knife in one hand while keeping the thumb of your knife hand on the food. It’s more about the comfort level with the task, which you do slowly, rather than the method used, as with the chef’s knife.