Utility Knife

A small lightweight knife, which usually has a blade that is 4 to 7 inches long and is used for miscellaneous light cutting. Slightly larger than a paring knife, this utensil can cut food items that are too large for a paring knife but too small for a chef's knife, such as cucumbers, larger apples, smaller squash, and other mid-sized items. Similar to the paring knife, this knife works well for herbs, shallots, fruits, vegetables, and larger pieces of garlic.

Utility knives are available with a straight-edge blade or a serrated blade. The serrated blade contains notches that assist to cleanly slice soft-textured foods such as breads, fruits (peaches), vegetables (tomatoes), sandwiches, hard-boiled eggs, pies, and other soft items without damaging the tender contents. Serrated blades will typically require fewer sharpenings than straight-edged blades. However, they do become dull over time, so it is best to hand wash the blade to eliminate harsh detergents from repeatedely hitting against the blade as occurs with knives cleaned in automatic dishwashers.