3 Kitchen Knives Everyone Should Own

Like most experts in kitchen cutlery, we believe that everyone needs three basic kitchen knives.

1. Chef's knife. This is the most important knife in your kitchen. A European-style chef's knife (or, if you like Japanese cutlery, a Santoku) with an eight- or ten-inch blade will become your go-to blade for most all food-prep tasks -- slice and dice, fruits and vegetables, meat and fish.

2. Paring knife. Reach for this blade when slicing or mincing berries, garlic, or any other food too small for a chef's knife. The typical parer has a blade between three and four inches long. (As an alternative, consider a kitchen knife called a "petty.")

3. Boning knife. More precise than a chef's knife, it's longer and stouter than a parer. Use it for boning and cutting meat, fish and poultry. The blade flexes a bit, which is useful in a variety of tasks.

So that's our top three kitchen knives. We'd also like to give an honorable mention to another piece of cutlery we'd never be without in the kitchen -- a bread knife.

Anyone who buys un-sliced bread or bagels from a local bakery needs a great bread knife. And the best bread knives we know of, by far, come from Shun. Before long you'll be using it on a lot more than bread -- flank steak, tomatoes and other food that cuts better with a bread knife's serrated edge.

You can expect to spend more on professional-grade kitchen cutlery than you'd pay for the kitchen knives at your local wubba-mart -- but if you love knives, you know that you get what you pay for.

If you can't afford your dream set of kitchen cutlery right away, start with a parer, petty or utility knife first, then move up to a boning knife, a carver or a chef's knife.

Wondering why we're preaching about kitchen cutlery? Because "Real Knife People Use Real Kitchen Knives."