There’s nothing quite as satisfying as creating a delicious cheese board for your guests. Although, without different types of cheese knives, how can your guests enjoy the cheese variety properly?

Ranging from long soft cheese knives to mini cleavers - these cheese knives are the right tools your guests need to properly cut through and serve hard and soft cheeses.

In this blog post, we’ve described the six different types of cheese knives for consideration with your next serving platter.

 

What Is a Cheese Knife?

What is a cheese knife, exactly?

There are many different types and textures of cheeses - ranging from classic blue and hard cheeses to semi-soft and soft cheeses. Cheese knives are specialised kitchen tools, used for cutting and serving these different types of cheese.

Since there’s such a wide range of cheeses available, cheese knives will often come in various shapes and sizes. The specific cheese knife you should use will depend on the hardness of the respective cheese.

 

Six Different Types of Cheese Knives

Below, we’ve listed the six main cheese knives that every sophisticated entertainer should to have on hand.

1. Long Soft Cheese Knife

Firstly on our list of different types of cheese knives, there’s the long soft cheese knife - designed for softer and creamier cheeses.

This particular cheese knife features a long, thin blade to provide a greater cutting edge and reduce contact between the cheese and the blade. The less cheese that touches the blade, the less the gooey cheese will stick to the knife and the more will be delivered to your wafer. Because of its length, it can also address thick and wide cheese wheels with ease, offering better performance for cutting extra soft and creamy cheeses of all shapes and sizes.

Use the long soft cheese knife on brie, burrata, camembert, chevre, and feta.

 

2. Slotted Soft Cheese Knife

The slotted soft cheese knife is a unique tool. It features a hole in the blade to reduce sticking as it slices through soft and semi-soft cheeses. The design achieves this by reducing the contact area between the cheese and the knife’s blade.

Compared to the long soft cheese knife, the slotted soft cheese knife is slightly shorter and wider to provide a stronger cut. This makes it a suitable choice for cutting semi-soft cheeses.

Use the slotted soft cheese knife on fontina or provolone.

 

3. Hard Cheese Knife

For cutting through those hard and extra hard cheeses on your platter, you’ll need a hard cheese knife in your arsenal.

This cheese knife features a unique oval-shaped blade, which requires the user to cut at a much higher angle. This enables a superior transfer of force from the knife through the hard cheese.

Use a hard cheese knife on pecorino or parmesan.

 

4. Mini Cleaver

The mini cleaver is a very solid-built cheese knife, which is designed to be used on firm cheeses. The design features a signature wider blade, which can be used to collect crumbly cheese after slicing.

Use the mini cleaver on a vintage cheddar or classic blue.

 

5. Cheese Slicer

Cheese slicers are the perfect tool for cutting through both semi-firm and hard kinds of cheese on your serving platter.

This utensil is very different from the other cheese knives on this list. The cheese slicer has a distinct slicing function embedded in the tool to shave even slices of cheese. It saves time as it creates even slices very quickly and with ease.

The best part about a cheese slicer is that it doesn’t need to be exclusively used on cheese - try using a cheese slicer on cold butter, cucumber, or cabbage.

 

6. Spreader

Lastly, on our list of the various types of cheese knives, we have the spreader. As the name suggests, this specific tool is designed to effectively spread creamier cheeses.

Unlike the other cheese knives, the spreader has a distinct round, flat blade - perfect for spreading pâté or creamy cheese.

 

Stainless Steel Cheese Knives - 4 Piece Bundle

If you’re looking for a premium set of cheese knives to add to your entertaining arsenal, we’d suggest taking a look at this sleek 4-Piece Stainless Steel Cheese Knife Set.

The bundle includes all the necessary tools you’ll need for a deluxe cheese platter - including a slotted soft cheese knife, hard cheese knife, mini cleaver, and a spreader. The handles are hollow stainless steel with an elegant satin finish. They feel substantial to hold, yet comfortable and well-balanced.

Whether you’re serving a series of soft, creamier cheeses or a bitey hard cheese - the 4-Piece Stainless Steel Cheese Knife Set will handle anything.