A lot of time and care goes in to the design and manufacturing of most kitchen cutlery, so heres a short guide to the more common items you may find in a cutlery set. The most versatile is the chefs knife, which allows for chopping, dicing, and mincing movements. Slicers are knives that are used for just that purpose: slicing meat thinly, especially for sandwich meat and cheese.

Next, we have the cleaver, possibly the most universally recognized knife due to its large, square blade. This is used to powerfully slice through bone and meat. Paring and filleting knives are types of kitchen cutlery that are flexible in nature and narrower, and thus can do delicate work around rounded edges of food and allow for decoration skills to be utilized.

The Selection of Kitchen Cutlery Beyond Knives
The term cutlery refers not only to sharply bladed items, but also to the accessories that round out the whole set. A block of wood with neatly aligned slots can be used to hold the knives in a sanitary way so they dont dull easily. Cutting boards and butcher blocks of wood or plastic save both the blade of the knife, but also the kitchen counter. And, lets not forget the sharpening stones that can be used to sharpen the blades, thus maintaining the life of the knives for years. So, anyone armed with the knowledge of which basic knife performs which task can make an informed decision as to what knife would be best to buy for the kitchen.