Cheese knife facts for kids
A cheese knife is a special kitchen knife used for cutting cheese. Different types of cheese need different knives. This is mostly because some cheeses are soft and sticky, while others are very hard. There are also other tools that help cut or slice cheese, especially the harder kinds. These include the cheese cutter, cheese slicer, and cheese plane.
Contents
Knives for Soft Cheeses
Knives for soft cheeses are made to stop the cheese from sticking to the blade. When cheese doesn't stick, the slices look much nicer. They have cleaner edges than cheese cut with a regular knife.
The blades of these knives are usually made from stainless steel. This material helps prevent cheese from sticking. Many soft cheese knives also have holes in the blade. These holes also stop the cheese from sticking. Some knives have a ridge running up the blade. This helps separate the cheese as you slice it. You might also see soft cheese knives with a fork-like end. This is handy for picking up and serving the cheese slices.
Most regular knives are wide at the bottom and get thinner towards the tip. But a cheese knife might look more like a cleaver. It can start thin at the handle and get wider further along the blade. Some cheese knives have angled handles. This makes it easier to cut through the cheese.
Because they don't stick, these knives are also good for cutting other sticky foods. You can use them for cakes, eggs, or pies.
Knives for Hard Cheeses
Hard cheeses need a very strong blade. This is so the knife won't get damaged by the tough cheese. A good example is the special Parmesan cheese knife. It is short, thick, and stubby, much like an oyster knife. Another popular design for hard cheeses is a large, straight blade. This blade has handles on both ends. This way, you can push down with a lot of force to cut the cheese.
Other Tools for Cutting Cheese
Besides knives, there are other cool tools for cutting cheese. A wire cheese cutter, for example, uses a thin wire. This completely stops any sticking. A cheese slicer is great for thin slices of medium-hard cheeses. It's very popular in places like Scandinavia and the Netherlands for making cheese slices for sandwiches. The girolle is a special tool. It scrapes the hard Tête de Moine cheese into pretty flower-like shapes.
The Cheese Slicer
A cheese slicer is usually used for semi-hard and hard cheeses. It helps you make thin, even slices. There are different kinds of cheese slicers. Each one is designed for cheeses of different hardness.
The Ostehøvel is a modern cheese slicer. It was invented by Thor Bjørklund in 1925 in Norway. Making these slicers in large numbers started in 1927 in Lillehammer, Norway. The idea for its design came from a carpenter's plane. This type of slicer is very common in countries like Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and also in the Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany.
The Cheese Cutter
Cheese cutters are made for cutting soft, sticky cheeses. These cheeses are often moist and oily. Because of this, cheese cutters don't have a large, sharp blade like a knife. Instead, they use a thin stainless steel or aluminium wire. This wire is stretched across a frame. The thin wire cuts through a block of cheese when you press down with your hand.
One well-known design is a wooden board with a slot. A U-shaped metal arm fits into this slot. A thin wire stretches between the two ends of this arm. This wire cuts the cheese. The wire has loops at each end. One loop goes around the metal arm. The other loop goes around a metal pin through a plastic handle. You can turn the plastic handle to make the wire tighter.
Today, these board-style cheese slicers come in different materials. You can find them with marble, stainless steel, or plastic cutting boards. Many different designs for handles and wire holders have also been created. Some wires still have loops, while others have small rings or knots that fit into slots on the handle.
The Girolle
The girolle is a tool used to scrape Tête de Moine Swiss cheese. It turns the cheese into thin, curly shapes that look like chanterelle mushrooms. In French, these mushrooms are also called girolle, which is where the tool gets its name. This cheese was traditionally scraped using a regular knife. The girolle was invented in 1982 by Nicolas Crevoisier. He was from the Swiss Jura region. The Métafil-laGirolle company now makes this tool.
The Cheese Plane
The cheese plane is like a carpenter's plane, but it stays still. It is used for cutting very hard Berner Alpkäse. This cheese has been aged for at least two years. It is also known as Hobelkäse, which means "plane cheese" in German.
de:Käsehobel
See also
In Spanish: Cuchillo de queso para niños
