Different types of cheese have differing textures. Some are soft, while others are semi-soft or hard.
Since the texture of cheese differs, a single knife is often not suitable for all.
A knife that can cut soft cheese usually doesn’t work well for hard cheese.
Let’s look at the different ways to use all types of cheese knives, including using them for purposes besides cutting cheese.
Different Ways to Use Cheese Knives
We can use standard kitchen knives to cut cheese.
So it’s not usually necessary to buy different types of cheese knives unless you use a variety of cheese all the time.
However, a variety of knives are available that are specifically designed to cut different types of cheese.
You can use them for various purposes besides cutting cheese.
Here are some ways to put these knives to good use.
1. Cut Soft Cheese
While standard kitchen knives can cut semi-hard and hard cheese, they may not be the best tools for soft cheese.
Soft cheese has a sticky texture. It’s not easy to cut, and large kitchen knives can damage its texture.
To cut soft cheese like Camembert, Brie, and Mozzarella, it’s best to use dedicated cheese knives.
So if you must buy at least one cheese knife, choose a soft cheese knife that is specifically made for such types of cheese.
Soft cheese knives have curved blades and holes on the surface to prevent the cheese from sticking.
Some of them also have a pronged tip that you can use to hold the cut cheese.
2. Shave Cheese for Sandwiches
One of the biggest advantages of using cheese knives is that you can make thin and even slices or shavings of cheese.
Though you can do the same with regular knives, it’s not easy.
A cheese slicer or cheese plane makes it easier to cut hard cheese and shave off just the required quantity from a block.
It’s a time-saver. Freshly shaved cheese also tastes much better than the store-bought sliced variety in sandwiches.
Another versatile cheese tool that makes it easy to slice semi-soft and hard cheese is a cheese wire.
With this tool, you can cut wide blocks of cheese in the desired thickness.
3. Spread Cheese on The Bread
You can use cheese knives to not only cut cheese but also spread it on bread and other flat surfaces.
This is seldom possible with regular knives. The blade of regular knives isn’t shaped to spread cheese.
So you will need another tool to spread cheese.
With a few exceptions, cheese knives not only cut but also spread cheese evenly on toast or a bagel.
So you can complete both tasks with a single tool.
Now, special cheese spreaders are also available for spreading cheese.
They don’t have a sharp blade. Instead, you can use their flat blade to scoop cheese and spread it.
4. Cut Refrigerated Butter
A butter knife is built to cut and spread butter. However, these knives are blunt.
Though the blade of a butter knife can cut through soft or semi-soft blocks of butter, it can’t slice refrigerated butter.
When you put butter in the fridge, it hardens and becomes difficult to slice with a knife.
However, you can cut refrigerated butter with a cheese knife.
Although some cheese knives look like butter knives, the sharpness and shape of their blades differ.
The blade of a cheese knife is always sharper than a butter knife.
The texture of hard butter resembles certain types of cheese.
So you can use it to cut a block of hard butter without waiting for it to reach room temperature.
A cheese knife will create a neat cut without making the butter crumble.
5. Cut Fruits
Some cheese knives can cut other items besides cheese.
For instance, blades with serrated edges can slice fruits finely.
Soft cheese knives with holes in the blade usually have very sharp edges.
You can use them for cutting soft and moist fruits like strawberries and grapes.
You can also use them to cut bananas for smoothies and toast.
The sharp edge of the knife will create a neat cut and slice the fruit without damaging the flesh.
If you include fruits on your charcuterie board, you will not have to include additional knives to cut them.
A cheese knife will suffice.
6. Peel Vegetables and Fruits
If you can’t find your vegetable peeler, your cheese knives will work as a substitute.
Choose a cheese knife with a thin and sharp blade for peeling fruit.
The angular blade will make it easy to peel the skin without removing the flesh.
You can use cheese knives to peel most fruits and vegetables, including mangoes, apples, cucumbers, and melons.
These knives have small blades that can tackle soft rinds.
However, avoid using them to cut fruits and vegetables with hard rinds, like squashes and pumpkins.
Applying too much force on the blade can bend it out of shape and damage it.
7. Cut Through Thin Slices of Meat
You can use cheese knives to cut delicate pieces of cooked or smoked meat neatly.
The narrow-plane cheese knife, hard cheese knife, and cleaver are some examples of cheese knives suitable for cutting meat.
However, cheese knives aren’t as sturdy as regular kitchen knives.
They have thin and sharp blades that can’t handle much pressure.
Hence, you should never use these knives to cut tough pieces of meat.
Restrict the use of cheese knives to cold cuts of meat like sausage and salami.
You can also cut seafood and cooked meat with these knives.
8. Spread Jams and Preserves
Some cheese knives aren’t just meant for cutting cheese. You can use them to spread cheese on bread as well.
These knives are also good for spreading jams and preserves on toast.
Some varieties of cheese go well with jams and preserves.
So if you use them on a charcuterie board, you can use a cheese knife for service.
The cheese spreader is a knife with a dull and curved blade. It can easily spread soft and creamy cheese like Ricotta.
We suggest using this knife for spreading jams and preserves too.
The slim blade knife used for soft cheese like Camembert will also work well.
Further Reading:
9. Grate or Shave Chocolate
Grated or shaved chocolate is an incredibly easy way to add a beautiful finish to any dessert.
You can use it on cookies, cakes, smoothies, hot cocoa, and sundaes.
A set of cheese knives will include a flat chisel knife. This knife can chisel and shave hard cheese like Parmesan.
The blade is hard and sturdy, so it will not break when you use it to stab a block of cheese.
You can use this knife to prepare chocolate shavings to garnish different desserts.
Finely grated chocolate is also good for decorating cakes.
A cheese plane or cheese grater used to grate or cut hard and semi-hard cheese can produce finely grated chocolate for this purpose.
You can also use a cheese wire to cut slices from thick and hard blocks of chocolate to decorate desserts.
