I have seen a lot of weird knife designs than I can count.
If you look at the Coolina knives and their forms, for example, you will have an idea of what I mean. Pair that with those knives that have holes in their blades for various reasons, and you have another winner.
Coming to tomato knives, why do they have double points instead of one like every other normal kitchen knife?
The two prongs of a tomato knife allow for easy lifting of the cut tomato without damaging the flesh. The points are also finely suited for coring the tomatoes for related cooking tasks, giving a cleaner and more efficient tomato prep method.
But, is that all there is to the two points on a tomato knife? Find out below.
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Why else is a tomato knife forked?
Besides lifting the tomatoes from the cutting board into the cooking area without smashing them with your hands?
Well, a couple of other reasons. Let’s get into them already.
Coring the Tomatoes
Tomatoes are one of those farm produces that need to be cored.
When you core your tomatoes right, you get the best cuts without all that seed splattering everywhere.
Some people might not need to core their tomatoes at all which is fine too. When that comes into the mix, though, you want to save your paring knife the hassle and use something that is better suited to the role.
Hence, the second point on the tomato knife.
Improving tip usage
Besides the coring tip, you also have a more traditional knifepoint tip like you have been used to on your other kitchen knives.
Thus, you now have a knife with even improved balance that won’t slip and make a mess of what you’re dealing with.
Given the ease at which tomatoes could become a mess on your kitchen table, you’d be glad you had something like this on your side.
Do you need a tomato knife for tomatoes?
If you don’t do much specialty meal preparation, you might be able to skip a tomato knife.
Get a serrated knife instead and it works wonders here also. Trust me on that one.
When you make food items that require everything to be in the right place, though, from the tomatoes to other veggies and ingredients in the meal, you cannot afford to not have a fine tomato knife in your kitchen.
Imagine making a vegetable salad and all of your tomatoes are looking all squishy because they weren’t cut well, or you picked them up wrongly. That is not a sight that you want on the table.
Likewise, I am not so big on using a knife for just one thing. I think that sorts of defeats the purpose of buying a good knife which you should be able to use for a lot of things.
Now, that school of thought above goes out of the window if meal prep is what you do professionally – or at a fairly large scale. Cos, then, the repeated usage of the tomato knife over time justifies the acquisition.
Fortunately, they don’t cost more than a few bucks at points. There are expensive options, but you don’t need them to get the job done.
Here are some of the best, affordable picks from reliable manufacturers you must have heard of:
- Wusthof Classic One-Size Tomato Knife – Check Price on Amazon
- TUO 5.5 inch Tomato Knife – Check Price on Amazon
- Messermeister 6 inch Tomato Knife – Check Price on Amazon
What makes a good tomato knife?
Besides the double points, a good tomato knife will also have serrated edges.
Most people are used to seeing these types of edges on bread knives alone. When I tell them that they work wonders for tomatoes too, they wonder why.
Tomatoes are one of those vegetables with a softer interior but harder exterior. While cutting with a random chef knife will also work fine, the chef knife tends to slip around and cause a mess.
The serrations on a tomato knife catch onto the skin of the vegetable firmly, delivering precise and neat cuts. The serrated blade saws through the length of the tomatoes without damaging its structure, making the blade applicable for food prep where the tomatoes remain visible in the final product.
Is the tomato knife a must-have?
I have answered this question somewhere up there, but let me put it in clearer terms for you here:
- If you do a lot of food prep, prepare food professionally or enjoy spending time cooking, it is a must-have.
- If you only make a few meals or don’t spend much time with food prep, it is a nice-to-have.
That should help you to make a buying decision. Those who fall in the latter category can simply use their bread knives (or a sharp chef/ santoku knife, if they have one of those) on their tomatoes instead.
