Kitchen Safety: Using the Right Tools for Safe Cutting

[chef_kimmo]

The company I work for does a weekly safety meeting. Each of us has a turn and it is my turn tomorrow. I have heard about car safety, yard safety, tool safety, etc.... I wanted to do something different and thought I would do Knife Safety (using the right tool for the job) -- Maybe it should be cutting in the kitchen saftery - using the right tool for the job so that I can talk about different tools that can do the job and help keep people safe.

I have thought about mentioning the bamboo and possibly the cutting boards but I don't want it to sound like a sales pitch. Maybe keep it to the cutting boards and cutting tools.

Any suggestions and ideas would be greatly appreciated.

 

[chef_kimmo]

Some thoughts I have are:


Forged Cutlery - explaining why you buy different knives - what the different types are for. I found an interesting article from Real Simple which even talks about the benefits of using Forged Cutlery.
Chopper - kids can help out, it is faster chopping, easy on the eyes for onions.
Wedgers - coring and wedging
Pizza Cutter and/or Shears for herbs

Brain is going dead - so any other help would be great!

Thanks!

 

[BlessedWifeMommy]

One thing that comes to mind is having the right size board to cut on. The board measure on the diagonal at least 4 inches longer than the knife you are using. (I heard this from Alton Brown on Good Eats.

 

[niclowther]

Yeah the knives are weighted better to give you more control. also, sharp knives are safer than duller knives.
cutting boards don't dull blades like glass or acrylic.

 

[tracycooks]

Kim,

You can also talk about the cover on the scissors or you can call me and I will tell you the story of "4 stitches because you can't make applesauce from an apple with a knife if you are 4 years old".

Tracy

 

[chef_kimmo]

Kim,

You can also talk about the cover on the scissors or you can call me and I will tell you the story of "4 stitches because you can't make applesauce from an apple with a knife if you are 4 years old".

Tracy

WOW that sounds like an interesting story --- it makes me cringe as I try to imagine "the rest of the story" ... and reminds me of the safety of the covers we put on all our sharp items.

 

[chef_kimmo]

Thank you to those of you have helped so far!! This is helping a lot -- I am going to put together a 1 - 2 page hand out and may post a couple pictures of products.

 

[chef_kimmo]

One thing that crossed my mind recently too is to discuss how to hold the food when you are cutting so to not cut your fingers.

 

[niclowther]

One thing that crossed my mind recently too is to discuss how to hold the food when you are cutting so to not cut your fingers.

-hold n slice
-finger guard

 

[janezapchef]

One thing that crossed my mind recently too is to discuss how to hold the food when you are cutting so to not cut your fingers.

I was just going to suggest this. Read the stuff behind cc about the knives. I think there's a video too.

 

[Crystal Patton]

BIG ONE!!!
My Safe Cutter for kids!
In my demo at shows I talk about how hard it is to teach small people how to use a knife with out them losing a finger. (I'm holding the My Safe Cutter the whole time) I show them that the MSC will teach kids to 'saw' which is the object of using a knife at meals, I outline that the MSC will cut through hot dogs, fish sticks, etc. BUT it will not cut through them. Durring the last sentence I forcefully pull the MSC across my hand at least 2 times and show them that there is no blood. It is a little painful, but it really brings home the message, and if it keeps one persons child from cutting themselves I feel like I have done my job.
I ALWAYS sell several MSC at my shows.

 

[caraighan]

on this topic... my second cooking show I did a STUPID thing... you might want to mention NOT to do this!!! I was very nervous and I was holding the forged cutlery serrated bread knife by its sheath!!! Make sure you tell them not to do this!!! It was not a pretty sight!!!

 

[pampchefsarah]

My sister is a cooking school graduate, and one of the first things she was taught was "if a knife falls, don't try to catch it." She then proceeded, within 2 months, to prove the point, when she ended up getting stitches on her palm from doing just that!

I'm all for promoting your business everywhere you go, but it sounds like you're planning to do more of a PC show then a safety talk. Is your company going to be ok with this?

 

[princessmeshelle]

Sarah may have a point. If it were me, I would try to focus more on the safety aspect than the products. It is one thing to use what you have and mention some of the other things that PC has to offer(as it relates to the presentation). But it is another to go too heavy about our wonderful products and just touch on the safety.

 

[caraighan]

on this topic... my second cooking show I did a STUPID thing... you might want to mention NOT to do this!!! I was very nervous and I was holding the forged cutlery serrated bread knife by its sheath!!! Make sure you tell them not to do this!!! It was not a pretty sight!!!

I had 7 stitches on my pinky finger!!! That's a lot of stitches for a pinky!! After the visit to the emergency room, I barely broke even on that show!!!

At least I still have my finger!!! LOL
(I can laugh now!!!)

 

[chef_kimmo]

on this topic... my second cooking show I did a STUPID thing... you might want to mention NOT to do this!!! I was very nervous and I was holding the forged cutlery serrated bread knife by its sheath!!! Make sure you tell them not to do this!!! It was not a pretty sight!!!

Good point... I had heard of this happening to people. Thank you for the great reminder. I was going to make sure that people keep those plastic covers that are on their sharp tools and make sure to put them on too.

 

[chef_kimmo]

My sister is a cooking school graduate, and one of the first things she was taught was "if a knife falls, don't try to catch it." She then proceeded, within 2 months, to prove the point, when she ended up getting stitches on her palm from doing just that!

I'm all for promoting your business everywhere you go, but it sounds like you're planning to do more of a PC show then a safety talk. Is your company going to be ok with this?

Very good point!! THANKS!!!

 

[chef_kimmo]

My sister is a cooking school graduate, and one of the first things she was taught was "if a knife falls, don't try to catch it." She then proceeded, within 2 months, to prove the point, when she ended up getting stitches on her palm from doing just that!

I'm all for promoting your business everywhere you go, but it sounds like you're planning to do more of a PC show then a safety talk. Is your company going to be ok with this?

I just finished and then came back and re-read your post. I was trying very hard to not make it a PC show. I did not demo any item but I did have some - mainly to show the safety products that we do have such as the sleeves. I showed how to pull a knife out of a sleeve and how to use other tools that would be appropriate for what they are cutting. Actually I was trying very hard to not make it a show. The handout I brought was from 2 other websites - one that talked about what types of knives to buy for what and one that showed how to hold a knife when cutting. I did do a quick air demo of how your fingers should be when holding food so you don't cut yourself.

Another co-worker made the comment that I did sell PC which I did not put him up to but at least it was out in the open and so I did talk about a couple things I had learned from PC that are all about safety.

 

[chef_kimmo]

Again thank you all that posted!!