You don’t have to be a professional to cut or mince veggies, fruits, and meats in the kitchen. But the surprising thing is the 90% of home kitchen cooks still doing their work without a bolster. Because they don’t know, what is a knife bolster and also don’t know about advantages so, they damage their hands. In fact, with a little more money, we can buy a good bolster blade.
Let’s walk through a simple briefing to know what is the bolster of a knife.
Bolster knife definition:
- A bolster is the middle part of the knife that unites the blade with the handle, in simple words, the bolster is the meaty part of the knife that connects the blade and handle.
- According to expert one of those chefs Christian Feher says that the bolster is the distance between the handle and heel of the knife.
Don’t worry if you have no knowledge about parts of knife, like “heel” etc. I have created an image below for your help.
This part of the knife reinforces the knife, increases durability, and makes it steady by keeping the weight of the knife equal on all sides.
Bolster expands the look and makes the knife charming to use nicely. You may recognize the parts of the kitchen knife by watching the infographic given below.
We have discussed below which knives have a bolster, types of the bolster, pros and cons of bolster and non-bolster (semi bolster knife), and many vital points to buying knives.
Which type of knives usually have bolster?
Generally, these knives have bolsters;
Laser-sharp knives
Forged knives
Full tang knives
But for you, there is a disappointing thing to know that one type of Japanese knife comes without a bolster. Shun knives typically have no bolster.
Types of Culinary Knife Bolsters:
For a while, see the difference between a full bolster knife and a semi/half bolster knife. We have represented it in types.
There are mainly two types of bolster.
Semi/half bolster
Full bolster
Semi/Half bolster
This type of knife has a fractional bolster between handle and blade. If you have to do a lot of work in the kitchen and always want a laser-sharp knife, semi bolster is the best choice because you can sharpen it easily with manual or electric sharpeners. You can also do this job with a sharpening stone as well.
This is not enough, although it makes it easy to cut, mince and fillet because the semi bolster doesn’t resist the blade on the cutting board. Its means, semi bolster on knife allows using a full blade for kitchen tasks. But be careful when washing or cleaning it with clothing.
Full bolster knife:
It occurs between the knife handle and blade, and the bolster’s part of this knife is from top to bottom on the blade. It usually comes with full tang knives. It not only extends the length of the knife similarly increases the weight of the knife. The full bolster of the knife performs as a protective shield that prevents the hands from damaging.
Now let’s dive in to know about the advantages and disadvantages of full bolster and semi bolster knives.
Pros & Cons of Semi Bolster knife
Pros of semi bolster knife
It makes the blade’s edge fully functional
Easy to sharpen when you feel it dull
Lower in weight
Cons :
No finger protection so, be attentive when using it
Looks good but not as bolster shape
For cutting and mincing it performs well
Pros & Cons of Bolter knife
Pros
Bolster knife shows a charming shape
It shows the different result for everyday usage in the kitchen
Finger Protection makes it reliable
Full Chefs recommendation: as per its usage, it is very effective when your hands are wet or slippery. Perform good results of chopping and mincing(except the part of the bolter)
Cons
A little bit difficult to sharpen the near part of the bolster
You can not use an entire blade to cut or mince.
Bolster knife is a little bit heavy, approximately 20+ grams
How to buy a kitchen knife?
Here are many things for you to know about kitchen knives before buying.
Heel: The heel is the bottom of the blade, starting from the handle after the bolster part. Observe that it is sharp or not.
Tip: It is the end and below part of the blade edge, you may say in the simple bottom edge of the blade.
Pin: The pin is the last point of the blade from the front side. It is a significant part to draw seeds from fruits, veggies, and small parts of meat like fishes’ eyes during filleting.
Edge: The most valuable part of a knife is an edge which is commonly effective for cutting, mincing, and chopping. It is the sharpened part of the blade from the bottom. You may say it the purpose of buying a knife.
Handle: Before buying any knife, check the handle’s material, shape, quality, surface, and grip.
Material of the handle: It is different for different knives; here is a shortlist for your help.
Natural:
Leather
Wood
Mother of Pearl
bone
Synthetics:
fiberglass(FRN/Zytel)
Micarta
G10
Carbon fiber
Metal:
Titanium
Aluminum
Stainless steel
Quality: The quality of the kitchen matters a lot. If you buy a low-quality knife, it will waste your time and go too dull soon. Low-quality kitchen knives also allow rust very soon.
Length: For these purposes length of the knives should be full.
Shape: It depends on your kitchen style and task.
The thickness of the blade: Kitchen knife’s thickness typically uses for trimming or cut in a thin piece. It also makes the knife laser-sharp.
Tang: Tang is the part of the blade in the handle. Mainly there are two types, full tang knife, and partial tang knife. If this part of the blade is equal to the handle, this will call a full tang knife. On the other hand, if the tang is half or less fixed into the handle, it will be a partial tang knife.
Design: The design also depends on your choice, according to your task. Henckels, Wusthof, shun classic knives, and many more in the market have charming designs.
Now there is a question that has been asked “Does Knife Length Include the Handle? ”
Does Knife Length Include the Handle?
The simple answer of this question is No, handle is the part of knife that exist from butt to bolster and from bolster to tip, the part of metal blade is called blade. Actually, you should check blade length before buying. There is a mistake happes when someone ask this question. The actual question is “Does blade Length Include the Handle?” Because the knife is the whole tool name and the handle and blade are the parts of knife. So, when you will know about the difference between knife and blade then you will be recognised. So, observe the upper given image to see the difference between knife length and blade length.
Conclusion:
However, we have discussed what is a knife bolster and the advantages & disadvantages of both types of knives. As you know, kitchen knife buying Selection depends on your usage and how knives feel. As well, consider how you are going to sharpen the knife and be sure you have the tools to do so.
I have put my best research with the full struggle for your benefited knowledge, but if you feel that I have missed any point, please write a kind comment below for encouraging and giving me a chance for improvement.
