Am I using my knives for the correct jobs? I've got a limited collection of knives which I was moderately pleased to discover meet the "minimum requirements". But, recent activity on here has got me thinking - am I using them for the correct jobs?

I have:  


Long (8 inch) flat-blade knife (Chef's?).
Short (4.5 inch) flat-blade knife.
Very short (3 inch) serrated knife (Paring?).
Long serrated bread knife.


We can, I think, ignore the last one as I'm hopefully managing to use that for its intended role.

I currently tend to use the serrated knife for veg with any sort of "skin" (e.g. peppers, tomatoes, onions, etc), the short flat-blade for anything else small enough, and the large knife for meats and anything too big for the smaller flat-blade.

From what I've been reading on here, I get the feeling I'm using them for the wrong jobs - am I?
And what's the best use for each of these knives?
Well your chef's knife should constitute about 90% of your usage I'd say. It should be used for slicing, dicing just about anything. Your paring knife is actually the 3-4" one you describe. Paring knives are typically used for delicate tasks like, coring apples, peeling, and some people use it for mincing garlic because it's so small.

I've never seen a 2" serrated knife before, so I'm not sure what I'd use that for if anything. If you're using it because it seems to do a better job on the vegetables, then that's a sign that your chef's knife is dull. I have seen tomatoes sliced with a 6" serrated utility knife due to their tenderness. However, you generally don't want to use a serrated knife on an onion, this will cause a lot of the gas to be released that makes you cry.