The Only Two Knives You Need for Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is the one meal of the year where home cooks are expected to act like restaurant chefs. If you’re feeding a crowd, it’s an absurd amount of shopping, prep, cooking and organization, making it a miracle when it all comes together for the main event.

We tend to prioritize sourcing the ingredients—turkey, vegetables, rolls, pecans, wine—and give the equipment short shrift. But, try spatchcocking a turkey on a tiny cutting board or roasting vegetables on a thin baking sheet that warps at high heat and you’ll regret not taking stock of your equipment beforehand.

Start with your knives, your most important kitchen tools. There’s little more frustrating than a knife that mashes onions, cracks carrots and potatoes instead of cutting them or tears turkey. More importantly, a dull knife is dangerous—it requires more force to cut and you risk skittering off vegetables, sending the blade towards your fingertips.

If you own knives that you like, sharpen them now (I love the Worksharp Rolling Sharpener). If you don’t like them, treat yourself. There’s a lot of chopping ahead. It doesn’t take an arsenal of knives (or one of those knife block sets you see at the department store) to prep Thanksgiving dinner. Instead, I’d argue it takes just two sharp knives: one small, and one with a large blade.

I have an intense dislike for most paring knives. The blades are too long, too flexible or poorly shaped for precision jobs. And the handles are too small or flimsy to provide a confidence-inspiring grip. That’s why we designed the Kitchin-Kiji, which is stiff and fine-tipped for precision work, short enough for total control, but long enough for board work. It’s tall at the heel, so you’ll never bang your knuckles on your cutting board when mincing a shallot, dicing potatoes or slicing mushrooms.

For a larger knife, sort out what feels right for you. Knives are like shoes in that they need to fit—not just your hand, but your cutting style and what makes you feel comfortable and confident. A big knife chops more at once, but the longer the knife, the farther the tip is away from the control point (your hand), so the tougher it is to be accurate. A roughly seven-inch bladed knife suits most home cooks, including me. It's long enough for clean slicing, but short enough for full control. Knife length is a compromise:

I’ve got 40 or more kitchen knives, and almost always grab a Milk Street Bunka, Santoku or Funayuki. Each has a slightly different blade shape and balance. The Bunka has a fine tip for detail work and a relatively flat, slicing blade; it’s best for protein-heavy cooking. Santokus bridge the gap between a Bunka and vegetable cleaver, doing it all with aplomb. The Funayuki has a strongly-arced blade for the rock choppers out there who keep their tip on the board.

Each knife is tall enough to tackle a cabbage or winter squash, chiffonade a bunch of greens and long enough for effortlessly slicing the turkey. Sure, a longer knife looks more impressive when carving at the table, but I guarantee that carving knife from your wedding registry will feel unwieldy and out of control in comparison.

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Matthew Card

Matthew Card is Milk Street’s Creative Director for Recipes and Products, resident coffee geek, knife collector and equipment junkie. He has 25-plus years of professional cooking, recipe development, food writing and teaching under his belt. When he’s not in the Milk Street kitchen or on the road hunting for new recipes and ideas, Matthew lives with his family in Canberra, Australia, where he does his best to dodge kangaroos on his mountain bike and is learning to love Vegemite.