You might have heard this remark from the WÜSTHOF team before, but it’s worth repeating: The top three essential knives that every kitchen needs are a chef’s knife, a serrated knife, and a paring knife. (You can learn more about these knives here!) Today, we’re focusing on the smallest, nimblest knife of the trio. WÜSTHOF paring knives are the tiny but mighty back-pocket heroes that make food preparation precise, seamless, and enjoyable, whether you’re stemming strawberry tops or scoring the skin of a duck breast. Paring knives come in different shapes and styles, so if you have ever wondered what the differences are, read on!

The linear, slender blade of a WÜSTHOF Paring Knife is the paring knife in its most classic form. Whenever we refer to a WÜSTHOF paring knife, this is the knife we have in mind. It’s exceptionally easy to handle, making it the perfect knife to trim, slice, and peel small produce such as herbs, berries, and garlic cloves. With a straight-edge blade that tapers to a point at the tip, it’s also nice for meticulous pastry and dough work — for instance, creating a decorative fruit plate, scoring a double-crusted pie, slicing phyllo for homemade baklava, or cutting fresh pasta sheets into squares for ravioli. This all-purpose paring knife is your handy companion for detailed kitchen work that requires precise, agile control.

WÜSTHOF’s Flat Cut Paring Knife has a thin, durable blade with a completely flat edge, providing more contact with the cutting board as you slice. This means a slightly higher level of exactness and detail, since the required blade motion is either up-and-down or pulled from forward-to-back. Like a straight paring knife, this knife is an all-rounder when it comes to trimming, peeling, slicing, and mincing, though with an added degree of specificity. Julienning a two-inch knob of ginger, for example, is made simpler by the added focus of a flat-edge blade, and seeding a fresh chili pepper has never been easier.

A WÜSTHOF Serrated Paring Knife is the ideal companion for preparing a packed lunch or snack plate. Thanks to its narrow blade and fine, serrated edge, it cuts cleanly through sandwich rolls and juicy heirloom tomatoes without crushing or tearing. It’s also perfect for vegetables, fruits, aged cheeses, and cured sausages.

Finally, a smaller, more niche paring-style knife is the WÜSTHOF Peeling Knife. Also known as a turning or tourné knife, it has a short, curved, bird's-beak-shaped blade that makes it the ideal tool for any peeling tasks. Cleaning, trimming, or peeling apples, pears, stone fruit, potatoes, carrots, cucumbers, hands of ginger, and citrus of any kind reaches a new level of ease thanks to this specialty blade. Though it’s not as all-purpose as, say, a traditional paring knife, its unique shape makes it indispensable for peeling produce with as little waste as possible.

Remember, the best way to enhance your knife skills and make cooking a pleasure is to have the right tools at your disposal. Having a few different paring knives in your knife block means you’ll never be at a loss when it comes to the small, detailed work that makes food both beautiful and delicious.