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| An Edge in the Kitchen: The Ultimate Guide to Kitchen Knives -- How to Buy Them, Keep Them Razor Sharp, and Use Them Like a Pro |
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List Price: $34.95
Our Price: $24.45
You Save: $ 10.50 (30%)
Availability: N/A
Manufacturer: William Morrow Cookbooks
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Average Customer Rating: 
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Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 641.589
EAN: 9780061188480
ISBN: 0061188484
Label: William Morrow Cookbooks
Manufacturer: William Morrow Cookbooks
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 240
Publication Date: 2008-06-01
Publisher: William Morrow Cookbooks
Release Date: 2008-06-10
Studio: William Morrow Cookbooks
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Editorial Reviews:
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Why are most of us so woefully uninformed about our kitchen knives? We are intimidated by our knives when they are sharp, annoyed by them when they are dull, and quietly ashamed that we don't know how to use them with any competence. For a species that has been using knives for nearly as long as we have been walking upright, that's a serious problem. An Edge in the Kitchen is the solution, an intelligent and delightful debunking of the mysteries of kitchen knives once and for all. If you can stack blocks, you can cut restaurant-quality diced vegetables. If you can fold a paper airplane, you can sharpen your knives better than many professionals. Veteran cook Chad Ward provides an in-depth guide to the most important tool in the kitchen, including how to choose the best kitchen knives in your price range, practical tutorials on knife skills, a step-by-step section on sharpening, and more——all illustrated with beautiful photographs throughout. Along the way you will discover what a cow sword is, and why you might want one; why chefs are abandoning their heavy knives in droves; and why the Pinch and the Claw, strange as they may sound, are in fact the best way to make precision vegetable cuts with speed and style. An Edge in the Kitchen is the one and only guide to the most important tool in the kitchen.
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| Spotlight customer reviews: |
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Knives
Comment: This is an excellent book for anyone who enjoys cooking and works with nice sets of knives in the kitchen.
It is a must have book for chefs and cooking aficionados.
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Pretty Good but not great
Comment: The author is obviously very knowledgeable about knives, and he does a great job of breaking down the myths and providing facts on the different knife styles, shapes, blade hardness, which has given me a check list of things I will definitely look for when I buy my next kitchen knife. I am a little disappointed in the sharpening section and to a similar degree in the "how to tell if a knife is good when you are at the store buying" section. My disappointment is that the descriptions of edge sharpness, edge angles and "looking at the blade by holding it at bla-bla angle to see if bla-bla angle is there" was not always clear to me as a reader. In the few places where he had photos and drawings of his descriptions, the information was great, and very helpful. I wish there were more pictures/illustrations, particularly in the sharpening section. Still, overall the book is helpful and I think could be a benefit to anyone who wants to be more informed about the most important tool in the kitchen.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Most complete & best value book on the subject
Comment: Chad Ward - An Edge in the Kitchen
I own two books on kitchen knives and knife skills, this one and Weinstein's Mastering Knife Skills. Chad Ward's book is the best of the two by its breadth and wealth of information and is objectively a very good book.
Physically, the book is a medium sized hard cover, well edited. There is a number of good B&W pictures through the book to illustrate specific points, and there's a central section of 48 pages of glossy color pictures depicting specific knife techniques (battonets vs. julienne, onion, tomatoes, cutting a chicken, butterflying a piece of meat, skinning salmon, carving a turkey, steeling a knife, several sharpening methods, etc).
The book is organized as follows:
1 - Choosing the right kitchen knife:
This section is about 90 pages, so it's a sizeable part of the book. The author goes through the various knife types, costs, etc. Generally, Chad advocates staying away from knife block & sets, and explains that a home cook can do most everything with 3 knives: 8" to 10" chef, paring, and a serrated (or scalloped) bread knife. So his recommendation is to get the best of those. What is really helpful is that the author gives specific recommendations for all budgets - below $100, $200, or "the sky's the limit". Too many books just say "get what feels best". Chad goes beyond this to give a range of specific endorsements. This part also includes 10+ pages on cutting boards and how to take care of them.
2 - Kitchen knife skills:
This section is about 30 pages but also has most of the color pictures in the center section. This is where the key knife skill concepts are explained, how to hold the blade and the item to be cut, etc. This is similar to other knife skill books, but with one major improvements which is a few recipes to practice the skills. Those recipes are really welcome, and because they are basic recipes that can be used as base for a number of varied dishes, they are great recipes to include in this book.
3 - Knife sharpening:
This section is about 70 pages and covers the theory & science of knife sharpening as well as specific reviews and advices for several methods. Chad reviews the sharpening of Western as well as Japanese style knives, and several sharpeing systems (e.g., Spyderco, EdgePro, etc).
At the end of the book are several pages of resources to buy knives, boards, sharpeners, etc.
In short, I think this is a complete book that covers the key concepts of knife skills, but also addresses knife selection and care. If you buy only one kitchen knives & skill book, I would recommend it.
Customer Rating:
Summary: An Excellent Resource
Comment: I enjoyed Chad Ward's book immensely. It was easy to follow, had great pictures, is full of good information, and is actually fun to read. He does a good job of covering what you need in a knife and what you may want if you get bitten by the knife bug. He dispels common knife myths and arms you with information so you do not fall for the sales pitch at a fancy knife display in a department store. Knives for all budgets are covered from $50 knives to those in the hundreds and emphasis is on getting the best knife for your dollars. Why spend $100 when you can get a better knife for $50?
There is also a section on sharpening your own knives. Geoff seems to have an issue with that, but many people enjoy the exercise. Many people also enjoy working on their own cars, cutting their own grass, or grinding their own coffee. If you don't then feel free to pay someone to do it or cut with a dull knife. Whatever floats your boat. It is nice to see detailed information about sharpening though in case that is of interest.
No where in this book (and I have read it 3 times) does Ward say to buy a $200 knife, but he does give suggestions if that is what you WANT to do. All in all it is a great guide on how to get a good knife that meets your needs and your budget.
The photo illustrations of common cuts is done well also and I found the section on how to section a chicken useful. This is a great book for anyone who wants to know more about kitchen knives and how to get the right one for their kitchen.
Customer Rating:
Summary: a great reference for knife shopping, usage, and maintenance
Comment: If you want a book that will help you improve your knife skills (such as chopping faster, avoiding accidents, or getting a better edge on your knife), An Edge in the Kitchen is best, most readable book on the market, and I've read through several books and websites for information.
There is an in-depth primer to knife honing and sharpening, and well as the standard full-color photos of cutting up all the vegetables and meat you could possibly be expected to encounter in your kitchen adventures.
More importantly, it's also a "knife book" as well as a "knife skills" book for your inner materialist or consumer junkie (like me). If you wondering about (1) what kitchen knives to buy for a first kitchen or a registry, or (2) looking to upgrade your current kitchen, or (3) if you simply appreciate good food/tools/gadget writing, this is the best, most up-to-date source of information out there. Even if shiny, sharp objects scare you, and you're not too handy in the kitchen, this is a fascinating read.
Have you ever seen those beautiful, pricey German or Japanese knives in a specialty store or Williams-Sonoma, but you were afraid to commit to a purchase, because you were unsure how to decipher the jargon (high-carbon stainless? VG10 steel? drop-forged? full-tang?), and how to separate the facts from the sales pitches? This book explains everything you might want to know about knives (and debunks many consumer myths) in an easy-to-understand, engaging way, and arms you with knowledge as a consumer.
A good knife is an extension of a cook's hands. Ideally, buying a good kitchen knife is an investment in a tool that will last a lifetime and that you will use on a near-daily basis. I would recommend this book to anyone who uses knives in a kitchen.
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