Just in Time for the Holidays
Cooking at home is one of the most important ways to stay healthy, and quality knives are essential to success and joy in the kitchen.
It may seem that knives have absolutely nothing to do with health, yet good kitchen knives are the first kitchen tool in which I encourage my clients to invest if they haven’t done so already. If you’ve attended one of our cooking classes in the past, you were introduced to the Tahoe Kitchen Company and their line of Wolfe Cutlery. We’ve used many different brands of knife in the past, but I have to say, the very first time I picked up one of their knives, I was in love.
To celebrate both our partnership and the holidays, Tahoe Kitchen is offering 20% off on three of their most popular items. Simply enter DRFABIO at checkout.
For less than $300, a home cook can get the essential knives needed for daily meal preparation and, over time, can probably save more than that in headache remedies for the pain and suffering caused by dull knives!
Most healthful meals involve SOME sort of trimming, chopping, dicing, and slicing and if you are attempting this with dull or cheap knives, there are numerous challenges. Upgrading to a decent set of knives has several benefits, but here are my Top 3:
Speed
Good, sharp knives are faster. Plain and simple. Slicing a tomato with a dull, low quality knife is an exercise in Zen-like patience as you saw back and forth hoping to eventually break through the tomato skin. If you’ve never used quality knives, you will be AMAZED by how much more quickly you are able to complete the preparation for any recipe.
Results
Quality knives just do a better job at cutting! They cause less (aesthetic) damage to the food when it’s being prepared, leaving you with more beautiful slices or dices on the plate. And when you’re dealing with healthy food, presentation matters even more. Since they don’t mangle the tomato or bread or whatever it is you are trying to cut, there is also less waste.
Safety
Paradoxically, you are actually LESS likely to cut yourself with a SHARP knife than with a DULL one! And since good knives are often sold in knife blocks, you’ll keep your fingers (and any little fingers that roam your kitchen drawers) from being accidentally cut when digging for a knife.
So you’re ready to invest in your health? There are really two basic knives that should be in your collection.
Once you get comfortable with what these two can do, you can add many more specialized tools to your knife block, but these two could easily last most home cooks a lifetime. Here’s a bit about when to pull out each one.
A 7-10″ Chef’s Knife – this is your basic kitchen workhorse. It drives me nuts when I see someone using a tiny paring knife to chop a potato or carrot or celery. A cutting board and a chef’s knife make quick work of most chopping and dicing. This knife will also slice meat (fish. chicken, etc) beautifully.
A 3-4″ Paring Knife – This is your “precision” knife – great for peeling vegetables or fruits but also for deboning meats.
Wolfe Chef Knife 8” – Tahoe Kitchen Co
This general-purpose kitchen knife has a blade curving upward along its length and ending in a narrow point.
It’s perfect for your holiday cooking, and is a great gift for yourself and all the aspiring cooks and foodies on your nice list.
Wolfe 7 Pc Cutlery Set with Magnetic Block – Tahoe Kitchen Co
This set includes 5.5" Santoku, 7.5" Santoku, 6" chef knife, 8" chef knife, 9" offset bread knife, 6" boning knife, 4" cleaver and a magnetic knife block holder.
Wolfe 14 Pc Cutlery Set with Magnetic Block – Tahoe Kitchen Co
This set includes 5.5" Santoku, 8" chef knife, 6" boning knife, 10" slicer knife, 5" cheese knife, 4" cleaver, (2) 4 piece steak knife sets, handheld sharpener and a magnetic knife block holder.
*For all sets, please allow 60 days for delivery of the magnetic knife block; each block is crafted to order in Palmer Lake, CO. All cutlery is in stock and will be shipped immediately.
Wolfe Cutlery is ice hardened, drop forged, German Steel Handles are crafted from G10, a synthetic material created to withstand the rigor of professional kitchens, and the everyday use of the enthusiastic home cook.