Varying opinions on the essentials for a kitchen call for a small fortune to outfit your kitchen. Amongst all these so-called “essentials” exists one tool no kitchen or cook should be without—a quality knife.

If your diet consists of more than boxed dinners and processed fare, then your knife will be busy. Low quality, dull knives don’t keep a good edge taking more effort to use (which, if you value your flanges, could be dangerous), and they turn the task of chopping into a flash back to the ninja days. With a quality blade you can chop, slice and dice with the greatest of ease. Tomatoes no longer smash, onions mince without a tear and no more kung-fu sword swing to get through those tougher veggies.

Find Your Knife

First, here are some things to look for:

• Material -- carbon stainless steel
• Full tang blade -- blade continues through to the tip of the handle (Cheaper knives without this feature are not as balanced or as durable.)
• Comfort and fit -- avoid handles that are too big, too small or uncomfortable
• For indepth information on how to select a knife, check out best kitchen kinves.
  

A good knife is not cheap. You can expect to pay anywhere from $40 bargain shopping and upwards to $150 retail for a good knife. Here are some places you can find a good knife at a great price.

• Discount retailers such as Ross and TJ-Max. You never know what you’re going to find, but they often have great kitchen tools (pots, pans, cutting boards and knifes) at incredible prices.
• Amazon or Ebay. These online vendors have both used and new options at potential hefty savings! Check out this ebay buying guide if you're new to ebay.
• If you don’t want to mess with bargain hunting, visit a specialty store, cough up the dough and pay retail. This option has its befefits as you can often test drive many knives.
• No matter what you pay for your knife if you get a good one and you take care of it -- it should last a lifetime!
  

Not sure what to search for when looking online? Here are a few brands to check out:

• Global
• Viking
• Wusthof
• Henckles
• Kershaw – Shun
  

Care for Your Knife

• Keep it sharp. A simple sharpener stone, steel or machine transforms marginal knives into effective cutting tools.
  
• Hand wash. Why not? It's super easy to wash, and it’ll be clean and ready when you need it. Plus a dishwasher could bump and damage it's edge.
  
• Store in a box or sheath. This protects your fingers and your knife's edge.
  
• Purchase a quality cutting board. Stay away from glass or other hard cutting surfaces as they can damage your knife. I stick with wood boards like bamboo.
  
  

Check out this short and informative video on basic knife skills.

Do you recommend a particular brand of knife? Have any other input? Leave us a comment!