A Cuisinart knife set is probably one of the fanciest items you will find in any kitchen. And yes, we have to agree that it has tremendous utility.
There is a reason why the best kitchen knives are called chef knives. A chef is a person who often has to multi-task. So, a good chef knife set is one that allows you to handle multiple cutting jobs.
When you think about all the chopping and slicing involved in a chicken noodle soup or a beef stir-fry, you need a knife set that can handle it all. But a knife set cannot be defined by a single set of features. Read this Cuisinart knives review to learn more about all the features of knife sets.
Reviewing the Cuisinart Knife
Cuisinart is an American company that specializes in home appliances. They are responsible for manufacturing some of the best home products like toasters, grills, espresso makers, juice extractors, cookware, etc. They have also stepped into the field of kitchen knives recently. Some of the best Cuisinart knives are given below.
✔ Cuisinart C77SS-15PK 15-Piece Stainless Steel Hollow Handle Block Set
The Cuisinart C77SS is a great knife set for cutting ingredients like meat, fruits, and vegetables. This 15-piece hollow handle set will help you cut the toughest pieces of meat with the most efficiency. You will find a lot of different knives here that can help you prepare all types of food with high precision and accuracy.
You will find a knife for every use.
They are very easy to handle and look aesthetically pleasing as well. The hollow handle block also allows for easy storing, while being easily portable. In the set, you will find a steak knife, a paring knife (bird’s beak), serrated utility knife, a pair of shears, a chef’s knife, a santoku knife, a slicing knife, and one sharpening steel.
The design of the knives enable easy and safe handling. The blades are made of high carbon stainless steel, which facilitates flawless and accurate cutting. You can slice and cut the toughest fruits or vegetables with ease. The blades’ material also prevents pitting or chipping. The handles of the knives are made of polymer, which is the best-grade plastic material.
Pros
- The knives are very sharp and easy to handle
- They have an ergonomic design, thereby making them perfect for any types of cut
- The customer service is helpful
- You get a limited lifetime warranty on the knife set
Cons
- A lot of reviews state that the blades lose their sharpness within a few weeks of use
- Some also state that the blades rust if the knives remain wet for a short span of time
✔ Cuisinart Advantage Knife Set C55-01-12PCKS Advantage Color Collection
This knife set by Cuisinart is a more colorful collection. The set consists of six knives with respective covers. Also, the blades are made of stainless steel which keep their edge reasonably well.
They are also very easy to sharpen.
The Cuisinart ceramic knife set includes a paring knife (orange, with cover), a utility knife (yellow, with cover), a santoku knife (green, with cover), a serrated bread knife (red, with cover), a slicing knife (blue, with cover), and a chef knife (purple, with cover). The color coding of the knives reduces the risk of cross-contamination between different food preparations.
The color coating of each knife also helps in the slicing and chopping process, increasing the ease-of-use and performance of the knives. The set is priced very reasonably. They are durable and look great as well. Also, the protective covers will ensure that they last for an even longer time. The Cuisinart 12 piece knife set pretty much covers all the cutting bases that you might need in your kitchen.
Pros
- The color-coded blades help identify the type of knife and prevent cross-contamination
- The coloring of the blades also looks great in your kitchen
- The knife set is priced very reasonably and is a great gift item
- The coatings on the steel blades give off a finished ceramic look
Cons
- The color coating comes off easily, especially when you are sharpening the knives
- While the knives may have a ceramic-like look, their performance is far from authentic ceramic
- Some reviews state that the color begins to chip off after a few uses
✔ Cuisinart Artiste Knife Set C77SS-17P 17-Piece Collection
This knife set is the 17-piece variant of Cuisinart’s C77SS range of knife sets. It is an amazing knife set that will also enhance the look of your kitchen. These knives have an ergonomically designed handle that makes these knives more comfortable and supportive to grip.
This Cuisinart classic knife set is made from high-grade carbon stainless steel that ensures the most precision and accuracy. The set also comes with a block that will securely hold all 17 knives. These ground blades are precision-tapered and extremely sharp with fine edges.
Strong and durable bolsters ensure stability and perfect control. Additionally, they are also easy to clean and include a lifetime warranty. The 17-piece knife set includes a knife block, 8 steak knives, an all-purpose household shear, sharpening steel, a paring knife (bird’s beak), a normal paring knife, a serrated utility knife, a santoku knife, a slicing knife, and a Cuisinart chef knife.
Pros
- The high carbon stainless steel blades are extremely sharp
The strong bolster allows for perfect stability- The handle is ergonomically designed and easy to clean
- You get a lifetime warranty for the knife set
Cons
- These knives are known to rust very easily, according to several reviews
- The sharpness of the knives become dull over a span of time
- Some reviews state that the knives arrived in broken condition
✔ Cuisinart C55-12PCKSAM 12 Piece Color Knife Set with Blade Guards
This is yet another Cuisinart colored knife set. This set contains a paring knife, a utility knife, a santoku knife, a serrated bread knife, a slicing knife, and a chef’s knife, each with their own protective covers. These knives can be used for cutting through almost anything, be it a tough piece of meat or a hard vegetable.
This Cuisinart knife set with blade guards is made of the best stainless steel which allows you to cut through any food material with flawlessness and accuracy. You also have the option to sharpen your blades whenever you wish to. The ergonomic handles and matching blade guards look very pleasing to the eye and will make an excellent addition to your kitchen.
If you are preparing food items like juice, you can consider the chef knife or the santoku, which can easily cut open any type of fruit. The paring knife can help you with the peeling process. For cutting bread, you can make use of the slicing or bread knife. The best thing about each knife is that the color coding prevents you from cross-contaminating different food items.
Pros
- The coating of the stainless steel knives gives off a ceramic feel and vibe
- Priced reasonably, you can gift this knife set to your family and friends
- Thanks to the different color coatings, this knife set will look great wherever you put it
- The color of each knife will help you identify what kind of knife it is and prevent cross-contamination
Cons
- You need to be careful while sharpening the knives; the color coating might come off
- The color coating might chip off if you handle the knives roughly
Different Types of Knives
If you are a dedicated or professional chef or cook, it is not unusual to have big sets of more than a dozen different types of kitchen knives in use at once. While the whole process of remembering which knife is used for what might be complicated, using the knife that has been designed specifically for a particular task will just make every cut easier and faster while saving your headspace from needless envisioning and calculations.
A kitchen knife is not a one-fits-all solution.
There are specific types of knives for different purposes. The knife you use to cut fruits cannot be used to cut through meat or tough vegetables. In the same way, a knife that is used to cut meat or fish cannot be used to cut through bread. Some of the most common ones are as follows:
Chef’s Knife
This is one of the most important types of knives in a set. Typically, it has a broad blade that gradually curves up to a point. This allows you to rock the knife back and mince a lot faster. The knife may measure somewhere between 6 and 12 inches normally; however, the longer the knife is, the better the mincing and slicing experience. If your hands are small, then a shorter knife would allow for greater control.
A chef’s knife can be stamped or forged. They are mostly unserrated, but some brands have begun to manufacture serrated ones. This knife can be used for almost any kitchen task, from cutting tofu and slicing steaks to dicing tomatoes and chopping squash. This is one crucial type of knife in any knife set.
Bread Knife
As you might have already figured out, a bread knife is used to cut bread, cakes and, at times, seafood, poultry, and meat. These knives are designed in such a way that you can saw through the bread without squishing it or pushing it down too much.
These knives can reach up to ten inches in length since they are made to slice down large chunks of bread. The blades are serrated and narrow and fitted with smaller and smaller ‘teeth’ along the edges.
Steak Knife
This type of knife is often used as table knife. A steak knife is often used for cutting fish and meat. You can use it to cut almost any other type of cooked food or salad. A steak knife is also often used to spread butter as well.
Utility Knife
The utility knife usually measures somewhere between 4 and 7 inches in length. This knife can be considered the smaller version of a chef’s knife. It can come either serrated or straight and is great for cutting meat and vegetables that are too small for a chef’s knife.
The scalloped edge of utility knives allows greater flexibility while cutting. You can use this knife for cutting even the hardest vegetables like squash and tomatoes with precision and smoothness. You can also use it to prepare sandwich meat, cabbage, and lettuce.
Paring Knife
This knife is perfect if you love making garnishes for your food and drinks. It usually measures about four inches and has a very pointy tip. It is great for trimming excess fat and peeling and cutting vegetables and fruits with ease and precision.
Some common styles of paring knives are bird’s beak, sheep’s foot, and spear point. These knives are named after the shape of the points.
Santoku Knife
The Santoku knife is the Japanese cousin of the chef’s knife. The name of the blade means the three virtues, namely mincing, dicing and slicing. It is usually thinner and shorter than a chef’s blade. Because it has a flat blade, the Santoku does not rock the cutting board. This knife is great for cutting thin slices of vegetable.
Sometimes the Santoku is made with a hollow edge, thereby allowing you to cut through sticky materials like meat with minimal tearing and more precision. Some people make use of the Santoku rather than a chef’s knife because of the smaller and lighter blade.
Cleaver
The cleaver is probably the heaviest and bulkiest knife in the kitchen. It has a very strong blade and a thick spine, which makes it perfect for cutting through meat and bones with a strong chopping motion. The cleaver is also used for chopping down other thick, hard materials like pumpkin or squash.
The wide and heavy blade is perfect for pulverizing uncooked or cooked meat, fish and poultry. You can also use it to crush certain food items like garlic.
Kitchen Shears
Kitchen shears are basically a pair of scissors that are used for a wide range of miscellaneous kitchen jobs like cutting vegetables and snipping herbs. Sometimes, due to their extremely sharp and strong blades, the shears are also used for outdoor work.
There are also some shears that are designed specifically for certain types of herbs like green onions. They often have more than one blade.
Boning Knife
As the name suggests, the boning knife is used to separate the meat from the bones, cutting it up or filleting a fish. If you are a vegetarian, then you can also use this knife for trimming and peeling different vegetables and fruits.
Typically, a boning knife measures about 3 to 8 inches long and may have varying widths. These blades can be stiff, semi-flexible or entirely flexible.
Knives Buying Guide: Factors to consider
Every kitchen should be equipped with a set of knives that can help prepare food for the family. In the above, we have seen a lot of different types of knives and their specific purposes. Here are some other factors you need to consider while purchasing a set of kitchen knives.
Consider your budget
Before looking for any kitchen knife set on the market, you need to first sort out your budget. It might either be of concern to you, or not. But you need to decide whether you wish to spend your entire allocated budget on a knife set or prioritize other materials you might need. By setting a proper budget, you will eliminate any set that rises above the maximum amount you have allotted for your knife set.
Set size
It is very important that you consider the size of the knife set and what kinds of knives you would like to be a part of that set. Normally, a set consists of anywhere between 3 and 12 pieces. If you are on a tight budget, you can purchase a set of four to seven knives at a bargain price and buy the rest separately or whenever you can.
Materials used and construction
Consider the type of blade used in the knife set. Blades are made from a lot of different materials like ceramic, high-carbon stainless steel, high carbon steel, and stainless steel. You also need to know the type of handle for each knife. You need to consider non-slip handles so that the knife does not fall out of your hands while cutting, potentially causing a major accident.
Storage
Most kitchen knife sets come with some form of storage or other. Some come with blocks made of glass, plastic, steel or wood. Others come in a knife apron. Some also come with a magnetic strip. Proper storage is very important. Leaving the knives around openly is not only dangerous but will also damage the blades and wear them down.
Final Word
Kitchen knives are a very important part of your kitchen. Every household needs a few knives on hand. Knives are used on a daily basis to mince meat, slice fruit, and cut vegetables. Cuisinart knives are some of the best on the market today. You will definitely not regret any choice when you buy a Cuisinart kitchen knife set. This Cuisinart knives review blog will hopefully have helped you to decide which knife set is the best for you.
