I need to better my knife skills as they are sorely lacking and I really do not know where to start. I hesitate to just go on the internet without some guidance as I do not want to get into any bad habits. help please.
Where did you learn? Were you born with them? hee hee. Any advice is very welcome!
I found this video very informative when I watched it 3 years or so ago. I know I’ve watched many other knife skills videos on YouTube but this one was the first one that popped into my head so in my opinion it’s the one that had the most impact on me.
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Knives
Wusthof Classic Ikon set: 9" carving knive, 2X 8" Chef's Knife, 7" Santoku and three utility knives
Kamikoto Kuro set: 7" Santoku, 6.5" Nakiri, 5" Utility
Amazing Ribs Brazilian Steak knife set
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The two listed are good and Jacque Pepin has a book & mebbee a video. After that, just do a whole lot of choppin. Yup, a whole lotta choppin goin on. Hmm, I feel a tune comin on.
I've had this same question. Don't have the opportunity to just cut and chop a bunch of stuff, being just the two of us... but I understand that at some level practice does make perfect...
Try getting some onions, carrots, celery and experiment. Save 2:1:1 parts of those diced items for a mirepoix which is a great base for turkey or chicken soups and can also be used in an Italian Bolognese sauce. Save some individually cut onions (and peppers) for cheese steak sandwiches, salads, etc. Freeze anything you cut that you will ultimately cook with heat in the future.
The point is I find taking multiple veggies and practicing at all at once will help with the test fix test cycle.
"You don't need knife skills -- just walk, don't run."
I thought this 13 minute video by Adam Ragusea was very well done, helped me relax about how I chop/slice things, and probably has kept me from hurting myself in the kitchen.
Thanks Michael_in_TX this did make me feel better, especially about how I have been holding my knife up til now! :-) I am trying these other ways of holding knives and the food, but good to know what I was doing wasn't necessarily 'wrong'.
I can't remember the chef but I have heard at least one celebrity chef met Anthony Bourdain and asked him for advice and Bourdain told him to go get a 5lb bag of potatoes and practice knife skills.
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ecowper I watched and saw that in his video. very informative video! I was making cinci chili today and followed his instructions to dice my onions. Will do some more tomorrow when have more time (and onions!).
Central Market in my area held a hands on class for knife skills. They brought in a bunch of veggies that were ready to be discarded and let us chop away. It was great.
Amongst other skills, I learned most of my cooking from my mom (sometimes what “not” to do) and Alton Brown. I’ll have to go back an search, but he had a great episode on knives.
Lots of great advice above. My knives NEVER see the inside of a dishwasher.
All of the above stuff looks great. Just get some cheap veggies and start cutting. Get a ruler as well to help get a feel for different sizes. And make sure your knife is sharp!
Thank you all so much. These responses are all so very helpful. I have plenty to go on. I truly love this site for all the great advice and breadth of advice I can get. Thank you again.
I took a knife skills class years ago, at the local Publix Cooking School (which I think they have now disbanded, in person anyway.) They may have a video, as that is where they have moved most of the former cooking school stuff. I would think the videos mentioned above would all be similar.
Helps to learn the differences between knives, what to use them for, like paring/boning/chopping/butchering. I would echo SheilaAnn re: keeping them sharp, and treating them well. I use a magnetic rack also, and have an old block with old knives that were my parents' wedding gift in 1957. I keep them sharpened by a mail in relatively local company I am very happy with, and the ones I keep in the block I put in upside down so the sharp side of blade is up in the air. Don't chop on your countertop or standard dishes, only on chopping blocks with some give, so they don't dull.
Can't help but add, since I spent a lot of my life in ERs, those gloves that prevent you from slicing your fingers off are really a good idea, especially with the more lethal tools like mechanical slicers and mandolines. Oh, and never stick the point of a knife into an avocado, in the palm of your hand, and try to pry out the pit. I've seen many Sunday morning hand wounds that were the result.
Thanks for the advice, I will look for the videos and buy some gloves. Your description of ER patients acorgihouse turned my stomach enough for me to be leery! :-)
safest way to remove avocado pit is hold the half avocado in palm of your hand and lightly tap the blade of a knife into the pit. It should go in 1/8 inch, or so. Twist the pit with the knife and it will come right out. Easy peasy.
My wife bought this for me after I sliced my thumb open while trying to remove the pit from an avocado using the method ecowper describes. I had done it successfully a couple hundred times. One failure led to an Urgent Care visit and some stitches from a Doc who was kind of amused.
The Ultimate 3-in-1 Tool for Effortless Prep - Cut, Pit, and Slice Like a Pro with our Multi-Functional Avocado Knife - Enhance Your Culinary Experience Today!" https://a.co/d/7DpT34w
Last edited by Brian_M; December 7, 2023, 05:26 PM.
Reason: Edited to correct some spelling errors.
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I read (or saw, I don’t remember) that carrots and onions are the two. I remember an episode of Restaurant Impossible where Irvine gave a kid a huge bag of carrots and showed him how to make matchsticks, then left him alone to learn.
Most, if not all, videos are the same, because the act involved is simple and repetitive. The teaching is different.
A good knife. It doesn’t have to be expensive, there are great cheap knives out there. Keep it sharp, keep it honed. I sharpen mine once or twice a year, I hone it every other use. I always tell people Victorinox, but that’s only because it’s the one I always remember, and I have to look up the other good choices. These have gone up, but only $7 since I got one in 2014:
Victorinox Swiss Army 5.2063.20-X4 Fibrox Straight Chef's Knife Black 8 in https://a.co/d/dn5OhPU
Once you start cutting, you’ll figure out the motion pretty quickly. Straight down usually doesn’t work! But a small glide, and the blade moves freely.
A bag of carrots is a couple bucks, same with a bag of onions. Watch a couple vids, they’ll all be the same. Then start cutting!
Michael_in_TX has a good point: take it slow. That’s my way, too. It’s not a race. I’m still a mess with carrots; I do the rounds well, and dicing is fine, but I am terrible with matchsticks. Oh well. I’m good with onions!
Carrots and onions it is! Plus apples also. I'm told we have apple breakfast bars in our very near future! Hoping to get some time on the chopping block tomorrow! hah!
I definitely agree with the Victorinox recommendation. I've been using their Fibrox chef's knife for a couple of years now and I prefer it to my Wusthof. It takes a beautiful edge when I sharpen it, too.
I recently bought a set of Victorinox Fibrox breaking and boning knives. The factory edges were like razors and they made short work of the hog I was breaking down.
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