Blade: It’s the main part of the knife, and on it, you can find the spine, blade face, cutting edge, and tip. These are the things needed to smash, slice, chop, and cut ingredients.
Tip: This is the sharp and pointed end that is used to pierce or score ingredients. It’s also used for delicate slicing and cuts.
Cutting edge: This one runs from the blade tip and way back to the heel or the back of the blade. As the main part, it’s used mostly for slicing, chopping, and cutting. The cutting edge is thickest at the heel, and as it goes down to the tip, it becomes thinner and thinner.
Granton edge: Not every knife has this feature, but it does enhance the blade’s ability to slice. This is because the dips create air pockets when we cut and prevent the ingredients from sticking to the blade. This makes chopping and slicing easier.
Blade face: It’s the blade’s widest part and is most often used to crush and smash ingredients like nuts, seeds, spices, and garlic cloves. Plus, it’s used for gathering ingredients on the cutting board and also shoveling them inside a container.
Spine: This is on the opposite side of the cutting end, and it’s the thickest part. It’s used for cracking or crushing tougher ingredients, like bones, lemongrass, and thick stalks.
Heel: It’s found at the back of the blade and includes the thickest part of it. It’s used for cutting through tougher ingredients, like winter squash.
Handle: This is the part where we hold the knife, and it extends from the bolster to the butt.
Bolster: This part is usually found on forged knives and it joins the blade to the tang. It adds weight to the knife, which is great for balance. There are different types of bolsters. Some start from the handle toward the back of the cutting edge. The bolster helps by keeping the hand from slipping onto the blade when used.
Tang: This is the metal that extends from the bolster and inside the handle itself. And depending on the brand, it could be a full tang that extends all the way to the butt of the knife; a partial tang, which extends partially or halfway; and some don’t even have a tang, which usually means it’s a low-quality knife.
Rivet: This is the metal circle on the handle that secures the tang and handle together.
Butt: It’s the back end of the knife.

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