Knives That Will Change The Way You Cook

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Milk Street: Kitchin-to

What a chef’s knife should be!

A unique cross between a Japanese vegetable knife and a Chinese cleaver, the Kitchin-to will replace your chef’s knife. The knife’s overall design borrows elements from our two favorite knives: the Japanese vegetable knife (nakiri) and the Chinese cleaver (cai dao). The 7.5-inch-long blade is nearly as tall as a cleaver—almost 2.5 inches at the butt—and 1.5 millimeters thick, much thinner than most Western-style knives and sharpened to an acute 15-17 degrees per side. The Kitchin-to, made from 1.4416 German steel, will hold an edge for ages without any maintenance, so it’s able to mince, chop, slice and push-cut with ease. Plus, it’s broad enough to use as a bench scraper for transferring chopped foods from the cutting board. Its blunt tip keeps fingers safe, and the butt of the bolsterless blade is curved inward to make it easy to grip for fine control.

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Milk Street: Nakiri

Designed for safe, fast vegetable prep

What if we told you there is a Japanese knife specifically designed for vegetable prep that will make your cooking safer, easier and faster? It is vastly better than the all-purpose European chef’s knife, which is clunky, heavy and too thick to precisely slice and dice onions, cut carrots into perfect coins or reduce chard into feathery ribbons. The solution is the Milk Street Nakiri. It’s light, thin and sharp, with a design that resembles a mini cleaver—2 inches deep with a squared-off tip. A very thin blade, just 1.6 millimeters at the top, tapers down even thinner toward the end so it slices through even tough ingredients effortlessly without bending. The broad blade shields your fingers when you chop and works as a bench scraper to transfer chopped veggies to the simmering pot. With the help of veteran industrial designer David Lewin, we added a few special touches. The blade is embossed with a nonstick file pattern that replicates the kourochi (blacksmith) or nashiji (pear skin) finish to traditional nakiris, so sliced ingredients fall right off. A gentle curve accommodates fingers when choking up tight for control, and the handle has been designed to provide a non-slip grip.

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Milk Street: Petty Knife

The mid-sized knife that makes prep work painless

A utility knife is a familiar concept in a Japanese kitchen, but, in the States, there is no such thing. So, here at Milk Street, we decided to take a page from the Japanese knife repertoire and create a utility knife that’s part paring knife, part small chef’s knife and part boning knife. We married elements from each for an all-purpose, mid-sized prep tool called the Petty Knife. The thin, 6-inch blade tapers to a fine, flexible tip for detail work. Like our Nakiri, the blade features a distal taper: That means the blade’s spine is thicker at the handle for stability, then grows progressively thinner to the tip to minimize drag when cutting and to improve the knife’s flexibility. It’ll flex around curvy fruits and vegetables and when butchering meats, like breaking down a chicken to parts or taking meat off the bone for braises or stews.

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Milk Street: Serrated Kitchin-tan™

A serrated pinch-hitter that spans the gap between a chef’s knife and paring knife.

The serrated Milk Street Kitchin-tan utility knife will be the most useful knife in your kitchen. It’s a pinch-hitting wonder that spans the gap between a chef’s knife and paring knife. It’s long enough for many big tasks, but small enough for detail work. We’ve taken the proven shape and functionality of the Kitchin-tan and added a maintenance-free serrated edge. The grippy razor teeth effortlessly slice though anything and everything: thick-skinned tomatoes and peppers, fibrous broccoli stems and asparagus stalks, rubbery citrus peels. You’ll be amazed at how often you use this knife.

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Milk Street: Kitchin-kiji

All-purpose utility knife that every home cook needs

The one kind of knife missing from most Western kitchens is one of the most used in Japan—a midsized, multipurpose utility knife bigger and stronger than a paring knife but smaller and more manageable than a chef’s knife. Why Western cooks typically don’t have such a knife is beyond us, so we took months to design our own. The result is the Kitchin-kiji—the ultimate all-purpose utility knife that will speed up your prep. It’s perfect for all the “in-between” jobs, small enough for detailed handwork like slicing garlic and shallots, trimming mushrooms or cutting fruit. Plus, we designed it with a broad blade to be large enough that it won’t twist, and the larger handle fills the hand for a confident grip.