Depending on the style, paring knives vary in length from about 3 to 4 inches. A great feature of their small blade length is being able to cut in the air, off the cutting board. This makes peeling onions and garlic and slicing strawberries and citrus a breeze. You’ll have optimal control with such a small blade, and the smallest amount of fatigue (if any) you’ve ever felt while chopping.

Since paring knives are so small and light weight, you want a handle that will match those features. A thin handle with grip works best with a paring knife. You definitely won’t want an oversized heavy handle, that will just throw off the balance and comfort of the knife- defeating the purpose of the paring knife completely. Our knives listed below feature a thin, gripped handle that is easy to clean and has an impervious blade to handle NSF seal. No matter the style of handle you choose, you want to keep grip and longevity of the material in mind. A wood handle is not going to last as long as a durable plastic handle would, and wood is known to trap water and harbor bacteria over time.

As listed below, there are many styles of paring knives. For starters, the serrated edge is a great beginners paring knife. It offers you more control than a non-serrated edge would. If you don’t want or need the added control of serration, there are many other non-serrated options available. Classic or spear tip paring knives, like the iCut-PRO paring knife listed below, are great for small precise cuts that a chef knife could not do due to its size. After all, its blade shape mocks that of a chef knife- it is just a much smaller in comparison. A straight edge paring knife with no “belly” like the classic style, is similar to the spear tip paring knife but its straight edge offers more surface area to cut. You are able to make long thin slices in one cut with this knife, compared to using a rocking motion with the food placed in the middle of the blade with the classic style. Similar to the straight edge paring knife is the clip point paring knife. The added benefit of the clip point paring knife will allow you to easily maneuver the knife to confidently skin small fruits and vegetables. If you find a classic or straight edge paring knife just doesn’t cut it when you’re trying to peel or carve certain fruits and veggies, add a clip point paring knife to your collection.