A dough knife is one of the main attributes for baking. Its main function is to carefully cut rolled dough or ready-made baked goods and give it the shape that the cook needs. Such tools are easy to use and allow you to achieve a result that is unattainable when using devices not intended for this purpose.
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What materials are used to make shaped dough knives?
There are different types of shaped dough cutting tools.
- Plastic knife. This knife does not have a standard sharp cutting surface. Cutting is achieved due to the special shape of the cutting ends. They are used for soft dough. A typical example is a device for forming a grid on baked goods (the so-called "hedgehog").
- Silicone knife. Also does not last long. It is not used directly for cutting. It is used to make the surface of the outer layer of a pie or other baked goods smooth.
- Steel knife. These are cutters with a sharp blade made of stainless steel. Some of them are used to cut pastries (pizza, pie with filling or loaf).
- Fishing line knife. Consists of a plastic handle and a main part made of thin fishing line or, in more expensive versions, steel. It is needed for cutting the finished biscuit into equal parts. It is almost impossible to do this with a regular kitchen knife.
Types of shaped dough knives.
Roller. Can be made of plastic or steel. The roller knife is designed to cut out identical figures from a rolled-out layer of dough. Most often, these are triangles (for croissants or strudels), or identical circles-blanks for pies, dumplings or ravioli.
Disc knife. It is usually made of stainless steel. It has a sharp surface that allows you to divide absolutely any type of dough into neat parts, including difficult-to-cut puff pastry. You can also cut ready-made products with it. Most often, such a knife is used to cut pizza, but it can also be used to divide other products into parts - thin pies with a small layer of filling, cut a loaf into even slices, etc. It is very convenient for cutting into neat shapes - triangles, rectangles, and others at the cook's discretion.
Known types of circular knives:
- A device for cutting pizza. It is needed to divide it into pieces of the same shape and size, and to avoid the toppings sticking to the blades, which can be open or closed.
- A cutter for making noodles or spaghetti. It consists of many discs of the same size, which are located at the same distance from each other.
Interesting fact! The disk cutter was invented by a chef who was looking for a way to neatly cut dough into portions before baking. It was Carl Framm from the USA, who patented his invention in 1922. The first devices for cutting dough were far from perfect. The cutting disks had a small diameter. However, many types of disk cutters of different sizes, with a single or double blade, subsequently appeared.
The size used depends on the thickness of the layer being cut.
- Scraper knife. Otherwise called a pastry spatula or shovel. It is made of different materials, from practically eternal stainless steel tools to disposable plastic ones. Some pastry scrapers have a measurement scale (located on the lower base). This allows you to accurately measure the cut pieces and divide the layer into equal parts.
- Connecting knife. The purpose is to neatly connect the edges of two layers of dough (for example, for pies or pies with filling). Since it is difficult to achieve this result manually, connecting devices have become popular, and many of their subtypes have appeared. The most popular of them are:
- Double roller blade connector for securing the edges of dumplings, pelmeni or ravioli.
- Press for ravioli or pelmeni (otherwise simply "pelmennitsa"). It is a silicone form, when the edges of which are pressed, the edges of the product are connected.
- A knife for cutting dough into a mesh. This is a tool from the "family" of roller knives, the main purpose of which is to make a neat mesh from the rolled out layer. It can also be used to make indentations on the dough piece, which will then be filled with filling. This result cannot be achieved manually, so in production or when making baked goods to order, this type of mesh is used. Material - plastic or stainless steel. The length of the cutting roller reaches 18 cm.
- A cutter with a wide, crescent-shaped blade. This dough divider should only be used on a cutting board. It is needed for dividing ready-made pastries or types of dough that are difficult to cut (for example, puff pastry).
- Knife-divider or equalizer. It is a circle divided by blades into equal parts. The number of such sections can reach 12. As a rule, the larger the diameter of the divider, the greater the number of sections.
How to use pastry cutters.
The main requirement for using dough knives is care. Many dough dividers, especially those made of stainless steel, have a sharp surface. If handled carelessly, it is easy to injure yourself.
Do not allow the cutting surface to become loose. If necessary, the blades should be changed (it is especially convenient when the cutter comes with replaceable blades).
After each use, cutting tools must be washed and dried. This is a requirement of basic hygiene in the kitchen. When choosing a figured dough knife, it is worth paying attention to how open the access to the cutting surface is. This is necessary for high-quality care of the dough divider.
It is preferable to choose a tool made of stainless steel. It is more durable and easier to maintain.
Sharp cutters should only be used on a cutting board.
The process of use is quite simple. You need to roll out a layer of dough on the work surface, and then use the appropriate knife to separate the pieces of the desired shape. If this concerns a pastry spatula, you cannot cut with it, but you can apply a layer of mastic or cream to the dough.
Important! You should only cut dough or ready-made baked goods on a cutting board (preferably wooden, not plastic), and never on a plate. Otherwise, the cutting surface will quickly become dull and the knife will become unusable.
Famous brands of shaped dough knives
The market for kitchen accessories, including pastry knives, is represented by a wide variety of manufacturers and a wide price range.
You can buy a dough divider for a minimal price from a little-known seller. But it is unlikely to be of decent quality. Numerous reviews on the Internet confirm this. Therefore, it is better to trust brands that produce high-quality products.
These include the following companies:
- German manufacturers – Westmark, Zassenhaus, Kuchenprofi. Their products are made of stainless steel with high strength indicators. These companies have a long history in the kitchenware market and offer a wide range of cutting tools for dough. For example, if in cheap biscuit knives the cutting surface is a simple fishing line, then in the same tool from Kuchenprofi a stainless steel string is used. Its height and tension can be adjusted. And scrapers from Zassenhaus are equipped with a comfortable wooden handle and have an original design.
- English company Joseph Joseph. Products, including pastry dividers, are multifunctional and convenient. For example, the Joseph Joseph figured scraper combines the functions of a dough scraper and a cutter.
- Italian brands Kaufgut and Marcato. The latter specializes in the production of machines and cutters for making noodles. And Kaufgut products for cutting dough are made with a focus on user convenience (ergonomic handles, durability, ease of maintenance).
- Czech company Tescoma. It produces a huge range of high-quality kitchen utensils. This also applies to shaped dough dividers. For example, the Delisia roller knife from Tescoma has a set of removable discs, the number of which can be adjusted depending on the product being prepared.
Thus, a figured knife for cutting dough is a necessary device in a modern kitchen. And a large selection of manufacturers and a huge range of knives on the kitchen utensils market allow you to choose exactly the tool that will combine all the necessary qualities.
