Learning basic knife skills correctly is an imperative when it comes to your safety. A simple mistake while cutting food items with a knife can cause a fatal accident. Equipping with the basic knowledge will serve you for the rest of your life.
There are several different expert-recommended techniques to use a knife in the kitchen, which makes cooking a much easier and safer task. Moreover, poorly cut fruits and vegetables do not taste as good as they are expected often and all the efforts in the kitchen go in vain. So, Let me walk you through the 10 basic knife tips that are a must to know to enjoy your time cooking.
10 Basic & Safest Way To Use A Knife:
Julienning Fruits And Vegetables: Julienning means small and fine cutting of fruit or veg items. It takes a little bit of practice but, really worth it.
Once you have mastered it, it can add decorative value to your recipes. It actually refers to cutting food into 1/8 inch chunks. It depends on your guessing ability if there is no ruler handy.
Tournee Cutting Potatoes: Potatoes are often cut into oblong Tournee shape. This technique is also used for cutting vegetables like Carrots and Squash. First, prepare the vegetables by cutting off the edges and trimming the length to approximately 2 inches.
Bird’s beak knives are considered optimum for the tourney cutting technique. Tournee cut food items are added to meat dishes to lend a subtle, formal touch.
Mincing Curry Items: Mincing is kind of similar to chopping, but minced foods are chopped a bit finer. So finely chopped that they dissolve while cooking. Cutting the food item lengthwise and rotating them 90 degrees for intense chopping is the simple sequential processes involved in the operation. Make sure that the tip of your knife touches the board while chopping.
Batonnet Quarter Inch Strips: Batonnet is a French technique, which is actually the basis for julienne and dice cuts. Regardless of the food you batonnet, start by cutting off each end (known as topping and tailing). Then make a square on all four sides and cut into Quarter-inch strips.
Peeling Vegetables: Peeling or vegetables Like Potatoes, Apples, Carrots, and Squash, can be done easily using a paring knife. Cradle the fruit with your hand and with the dominant hand, insert the tip of the knife under the skin of the fruit. Then gently peel away the skin in a circular direction. Keep the blade at a safe distance from your fingertips.
Chiffonade Herbs And Green Leaves: Chiffonade is a cutting technique vastly used for cutting herbs and green leaves. These are cut into long and thin strips for use in dishes as garnishes. Pull the stems and pile the leaves on top of each other. Then use the knife in a rocking motion to chop the leaves.
Cutting In Dice Sized: Diced food items are cut into uniform shapes and sizes. Large (3/4 inches) and small (1/2) inches dices are often used in dishes. Cut all items in a square shape and place them to cut as many cubes as possible.
Chopping Fruits And Veggies: Chopping is the most basic and ancient method knife skill. The Wrist-Fulcrum method is an efficient method for chopping. While chopping Keep the knife heel close to your handle near the cutting board swiveling your wrist up and down.
Sharpening Your Knife: Sharpening knife is simple yet crucial for enhancing kitchen efficiency. You don’t have to do it often. Use a sharpening or grinding stone and use simultaneous friction to sharpen a knife.
Keeping Your Knife Clean: It may seem like a no-brainer, but cleaning your knives is as necessary as sharpening them. You can use hot water, dishwasher, soap regularly. Keep the tip of the blade away from your body and fingertips for safety measures.
These basic knife skills will shape your kitchen experiences in a positive way. Just practice a bit, as these worth some sweat.
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