Master Your Knife Skills with These Expert Tips from a Culinary Arts Graduate

[nikked]

At our cluster meeting tonight, we had a consultant who is a Culinary Arts graduate, do a knife skills course, and she shared some cool tips I thought I would pass on.

• To have your blade professionally sharpened every year or two like TPC suggests, take it to your grocery store's butcher. Most will sharpen them for free, and their equipment will not mess with the calibration of the edge.
• To "juliene" (sp?) your carrots, first make it square, then cut slices off, then make those slices into slivers. A true "juliene" is 1/4-inch square around, and 1 inch long.
• Don't wedge a tomato to dice it...slice it first, then dice. You'll have more even dices that way.

That's all I can think of right now. I really liked the tip about taking the knife to the butcher!

Thanks for letting me share!

 

[tlennhoff]

Thanks for the tips. I don't suppose she gave any on how to clean a knife by hand without cutting yourself?

 

[nikked]

Washing

Thanks for the tips. I don't suppose she gave any on how to clean a knife by hand without cutting yourself?

She didn't anything anything specific about not cutting yourself while washing, but from experience I can tell you to fold the sponge around the spine of the knife, not the edge. That way the palm of your hand is not right at the edge.

What we did talk about with washing is to wash your knives IMMEDIATELY after use, and to dry them with a towel IMMEDIATELY as well. If you let them air dry, oxidation can occur leading to rust, etc. Do not put your knife into the case dirty...bacteria will develop.

HTH!

 

[lacychef]

Thanks for the tips! At my cluster meeting last night, I was given the task of researching the forged cutlery more, & report back at the next meeting

 

[DebbieJ]

We have a chef coming to our meeting on 11/20. I can't wait!!!!

 

[jenscookingnow]

food networkGo to food network .com and check out their cooking tips section. There is a great section on knife safety. Also, according to Alton Brown from Good Eats, the best way to clean your knife is with a kitchen brush--your hands don't touch the blade. And of course, you could cross-sell that with the knives!

 

[pamperedchefjunkie]

Great tips, thanks!

I did a bazaar this weekend and a lady was telling me that honing tools are not good for your knives and to use steel instead. I didn't think this could be correct, since TPC wouldn't sell anything without extensive research and knowing what is best for their products.

So then, I ended up talking to a professional chef who tried out my Santoku (and liked it very much!). He said honing tools are BEST for your knives because steel rods can cause the blade to warp or bend at the portion of the knife where the hand puts the most pressure during the stroke.

I knew TPC knew what they were doing!

 

[rlombas]

Hi there! Thank you for sharing these great tips from the Culinary Arts graduate at your cluster meeting. As a Pampered Chef consultant, I know how important it is to have good knife skills in the kitchen. I love the tip about having your knife professionally sharpened at a grocery store's butcher. That's a great way to maintain the quality of your blade without having to invest in expensive equipment. And the tip about "juliening" carrots is also very helpful. I will definitely keep that in mind next time I'm prepping vegetables. And I completely agree with the advice about slicing tomatoes before dicing them - it definitely results in more even and precise cuts. Thank you again for sharing these tips with us, and for reminding us of the importance of mastering our knife skills. Happy cooking!