Choosing your knives

• How to choose the right kitchen knives
• Where to buy kitchen knives
• Choosing your knives
• Sharpening knives

* A basic set of knives might include two or more of the following:

1 A 15-17cm cook's knife is essential and the first knife to invest in. Initially, it may seem big, but with practice it will become your knife of choice. 'This is the knife you'd choose if you were stuck on a desert island,' says Camilla Schneideman, director of the Divertimenti cookery school. 'Learn to use it properly and it will be an extension of your own arm'. A good all-round knife with a long, wide, general-purpose blade, it can be used for slicing, dicing, crushing, chopping and mincing. Additionally, you may want a bigger 25cm chef's knife that will take your weight when cutting things like squash or swede.

2 A paring knife is the most commonly used blade in a domestic kitchen. At 7.5-10cm long, it's a mini version of the chef's knife used for slicing and dicing vegetables and delicate pastry cutting. Models with a hooked curve are handy for cutting zest from citrus fruit.

3 A serrated tomato knife is one item that can be cheap and disposable (less than £10). It cuts through tough, shiny tomato skins without squashing the flesh and is also good for segmenting oranges.

4 A filleting knife is thin, flexible and pointed. The blade follows the bones closely, avoiding waste. Use a heavier knife to remove fish heads.

5 A boning knife with a narrow blade and a sharp point is used solely for removing bones. Some have a flexible blade for poultry, while others have a rigid blade for dealing with bigger joints.

6 A carving knife is long and flexible enough to allow meat to be sliced thinly. Some have a point, used to free meat from a joint with a bone; those with a round tip are for boneless joints and known as slicers.

7 A serrated bread knife should be long and rigid so it can cut through a hard crust without squashing the slices. Serrated knives can't be sharpened in the usual way, so only use on a wooden or polypropylene surface. Never use them for chopping.

8 A pallet knife is long and flexible with a rounded tip for easing cakes out of tins, sliding under pastry or spreading cream or icing.

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