Cheese knife
Encyclopedia
A cheese knife is a type of kitchen knife
specialized for the cutting of cheese
. Different cheeses require different knives, according primarily to hardness; most often "cheese knife" refers to a knife designed for soft cheese. Soft cheeses require a sharp knife. As these cheeses are often sticky, a cheese knife will be serrated and often have holes to prevent sticking.
Cheese knives are designed to deal with the stickiness of soft cheese. When the cheese does not stick to the blade, it allows for pieces of cheese to be presented more attractively, with crisper shapes compared to cheese cut with standard knives.
The blades of cheese knives are usually made of a material, such as stainless steel
, which is resistant to the stickiness of cheese. Another design feature often found is the presence of holes in the blade to help to prevent the cheese from sticking to it.
Further, the shape is unusual. Most knives have a blade that is wide at the base and tapers to the tip. A cheese knife, on the other hand, is similar to a cleaver
in that it starts out thinner at the handle and then gets wider away from the base.
The non-sticky characteristics of a cheese knife also makes them useful for cutting other sticky foods, such as cake
s, eggs
, and pie
s; compare also egg slicer
.
for cutting cheese for sandwiches, and the girolle, used to cut the hard Tête de Moine
cheese by scraping.
in 1925 in Norway
. The cheese slicer's mass production started in 1927. The design was based on the carpenter's plane
. This style of slicer is very common in the Nordic countries
, the Netherlands
, Belgium
, Germany
, and Switzerland
.
stainless steel
or aluminum wire
stretched across a supporting frame. The thin wire cuts through a cheese block with hand pressure.
This design was invented and patented in 1971 by a manufacturer in California
. The original Prodyne Gourmet Cheese Slicer had a wooden board with a slot cut into it and a hole through which one end of a U-shaped steel cutting arm was inserted. In the patented design, a stainless steel wire
extends between the two ends of the cutting arm fit into the slot, and cuts the cheese. The wire has loops at each end; one loop is around the steel cutting arm in the slot, while the other passes around a metal pin though a plastic handle on the other end of the cutting arm. The plastic handle rotates upward to tighten the wire, and is secured to the cutting arm with a screw.
The board-style cheese slicer has been expanded to include marble
, stainless steel
, and plastic cutting boards. Several other designs of handles and wire holders have also been invented to hold the cutting wires of cheese slicing boards. Many of these wires have loops on the ends like the Prodyne models; others have small rings or knots that fit into a slot on the handle and cutting arm.
The Girolle is a utensil for scraping Tête de Moine
Swiss cheese
into the form of rosettes that resemble Chanterelle
mushrooms (also known as girolle in French
, hence the name of the device). This cheese was traditionally scraped with a knife. The Girolle was invented in 1982 by Nicolas Crevoisier of the Swiss Jura and is produced by the Métafil-laGirolle company.
Kitchen knife
A kitchen knife is any knife that is intended to be used in food preparation. While much of this work can be accomplished with a few general-purpose knives – notably a large chef's knife, a tough cleaver, and a small paring knife – there are also many specialized knives that are designed for...
specialized for the cutting of cheese
Cheese
Cheese is a generic term for a diverse group of milk-based food products. Cheese is produced throughout the world in wide-ranging flavors, textures, and forms....
. Different cheeses require different knives, according primarily to hardness; most often "cheese knife" refers to a knife designed for soft cheese. Soft cheeses require a sharp knife. As these cheeses are often sticky, a cheese knife will be serrated and often have holes to prevent sticking.
Soft cheese knives
Soft cheese knives have several special characteristics which make them ideal for cutting cheese.Cheese knives are designed to deal with the stickiness of soft cheese. When the cheese does not stick to the blade, it allows for pieces of cheese to be presented more attractively, with crisper shapes compared to cheese cut with standard knives.
The blades of cheese knives are usually made of a material, such as stainless steel
Stainless steel
In metallurgy, stainless steel, also known as inox steel or inox from French "inoxydable", is defined as a steel alloy with a minimum of 10.5 or 11% chromium content by mass....
, which is resistant to the stickiness of cheese. Another design feature often found is the presence of holes in the blade to help to prevent the cheese from sticking to it.
Further, the shape is unusual. Most knives have a blade that is wide at the base and tapers to the tip. A cheese knife, on the other hand, is similar to a cleaver
Cleaver (knife)
A cleaver is a large knife that varies in its shape but usually resembles a rectangular-bladed hatchet. It is used mostly for hacking through bones as a kitchen knife or butcher knife, and can also be used for crushing via its broad side, typically garlic....
in that it starts out thinner at the handle and then gets wider away from the base.
The non-sticky characteristics of a cheese knife also makes them useful for cutting other sticky foods, such as cake
Cake
Cake is a form of bread or bread-like food. In its modern forms, it is typically a sweet and enriched baked dessert. In its oldest forms, cakes were normally fried breads or cheesecakes, and normally had a disk shape...
s, eggs
Egg (food)
Eggs are laid by females of many different species, including birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish, and have probably been eaten by mankind for millennia. Bird and reptile eggs consist of a protective eggshell, albumen , and vitellus , contained within various thin membranes...
, and pie
Pie
A pie is a baked dish which is usually made of a pastry dough casing that covers or completely contains a filling of various sweet or savoury ingredients....
s; compare also egg slicer
Egg slicer
An egg slicer is a food preparation utensil used to slice peeled, hard-boiled eggs quickly and evenly. An egg slicer consists of a slotted dish for holding the egg and a hinged plate of wires or blades that can be closed to slice.-External links:**...
.
Hard cheese knives
Hard cheeses instead require a tough blade, which will not be damaged by the hard cheese. Exemplary is the distinctive Parmesan cheese knife, which is short, thick, and stubby, like an oyster knife.Alternatives
Various non-knife devices are used for cutting cheese, such as a wire cheese cutter, which completely avoids adhesion, a cheese slicer, used primarily for thin slices of medium-hard cheeses, used especially in ScandinaviaScandinavia
Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
for cutting cheese for sandwiches, and the girolle, used to cut the hard Tête de Moine
Tête de Moine
Tête de Moine is a Swiss cheese. Its name, which means "Monk's Head", is derived from its invention and initial production by the monks of the abbey of Bellelay, located in the community of Saicourt, district of Moutier, in the mountainous zone of the Bernese Jura, the French-speaking area of the...
cheese by scraping.
Cheese slicer
A modern cheese slicer was invented by Thor BjørklundThor Bjørklund
Thor Bjørklund was a Norwegian inventor. He is best known as the inventor of a popular cheese slicer whichdeveloped into an important Norwegian export products....
in 1925 in Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
. The cheese slicer's mass production started in 1927. The design was based on the carpenter's plane
Plane (tool)
A hand plane is a tool for shaping wood. When powered by electricity, the tool may be called a planer. Planes are used to flatten, reduce the thickness of, and impart a smooth surface to a rough piece of lumber or timber. Planing is used to produce horizontal, vertical, or inclined flat surfaces on...
. This style of slicer is very common in the Nordic countries
Nordic countries
The Nordic countries make up a region in Northern Europe and the North Atlantic which consists of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden and their associated territories, the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Åland...
, the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, and Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
.
Cheese cutter
Cheese cutters are designed to cut soft, sticky cheeses (moist and oily), and accordingly does not have a large sharp-edged blade; compare to a cheese knife with holes in the blade. The cutting edge of cheese cutters are typically a fine gaugeWire gauge
Wire gauge is a measurement of how large a wire is, either in diameter or cross sectional area. This determines the amount of electric current a wire can safely carry, as well as its electrical resistance and weight per unit of length...
stainless steel
Stainless steel
In metallurgy, stainless steel, also known as inox steel or inox from French "inoxydable", is defined as a steel alloy with a minimum of 10.5 or 11% chromium content by mass....
or aluminum wire
Wire
A wire is a single, usually cylindrical, flexible strand or rod of metal. Wires are used to bear mechanical loads and to carry electricity and telecommunications signals. Wire is commonly formed by drawing the metal through a hole in a die or draw plate. Standard sizes are determined by various...
stretched across a supporting frame. The thin wire cuts through a cheese block with hand pressure.
This design was invented and patented in 1971 by a manufacturer in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. The original Prodyne Gourmet Cheese Slicer had a wooden board with a slot cut into it and a hole through which one end of a U-shaped steel cutting arm was inserted. In the patented design, a stainless steel wire
Wire
A wire is a single, usually cylindrical, flexible strand or rod of metal. Wires are used to bear mechanical loads and to carry electricity and telecommunications signals. Wire is commonly formed by drawing the metal through a hole in a die or draw plate. Standard sizes are determined by various...
extends between the two ends of the cutting arm fit into the slot, and cuts the cheese. The wire has loops at each end; one loop is around the steel cutting arm in the slot, while the other passes around a metal pin though a plastic handle on the other end of the cutting arm. The plastic handle rotates upward to tighten the wire, and is secured to the cutting arm with a screw.
The board-style cheese slicer has been expanded to include marble
Marble
Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite.Geologists use the term "marble" to refer to metamorphosed limestone; however stonemasons use the term more broadly to encompass unmetamorphosed limestone.Marble is commonly used for...
, stainless steel
Stainless steel
In metallurgy, stainless steel, also known as inox steel or inox from French "inoxydable", is defined as a steel alloy with a minimum of 10.5 or 11% chromium content by mass....
, and plastic cutting boards. Several other designs of handles and wire holders have also been invented to hold the cutting wires of cheese slicing boards. Many of these wires have loops on the ends like the Prodyne models; others have small rings or knots that fit into a slot on the handle and cutting arm.
Girolle
Tête de Moine
Tête de Moine is a Swiss cheese. Its name, which means "Monk's Head", is derived from its invention and initial production by the monks of the abbey of Bellelay, located in the community of Saicourt, district of Moutier, in the mountainous zone of the Bernese Jura, the French-speaking area of the...
Swiss cheese
Swiss cheese
Swiss cheese is a generic name in North America for several related varieties of cheese which resemble the Swiss Emmental. Some types of Swiss cheese have a distinctive appearance, as the blocks of the cheese are riddled with holes known as "eyes". Swiss cheese has a piquant, but not very sharp,...
into the form of rosettes that resemble Chanterelle
Chanterelle
Cantharellus cibarius, commonly known as the chanterelle, golden chanterelle or girolle, is a fungus. It is probably the best known species of the genus Cantharellus, if not the entire family of Cantharellaceae. It is orange or yellow, meaty and funnel-shaped...
mushrooms (also known as girolle in French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
, hence the name of the device). This cheese was traditionally scraped with a knife. The Girolle was invented in 1982 by Nicolas Crevoisier of the Swiss Jura and is produced by the Métafil-laGirolle company.