How to Safely Use a Knife in the Kitchen

Knife Skills How101 to Safely use a knife in the kitchen. The Basics… • Your Description• Do Goes not Here place knife in sink. • Clean by hand • Use a proper grip immediately and • Place fingers of store properly. guiding hand in proper position • When cleaning blade, always • Always cut on a wipe blade from cutting board Stabilize dull side the cutting board with damp towel or grip-mate …How to Hold a Knife… The Pinch Grip… • index finger resting flat against one side of blade and thumb on opposite side . • Secure the food with the guiding hand • Alternate the claw grip Top 2 Safety Rules…#1: Keep your • Your Description Goes Here mind on what you are doing! #2: Do not distract others who are using a knife! Types of Knives • Serrated– • Chef/French • Slice,coarse trimming, foods, bread chopping,slicing and dicing. • Fillet–pointed tip • Butcher–large used to rigid blade tip filletfish. curves up Type of Knives… • Utility – peeling and slicing • Paring – peel or work delicate cuts • Boning-Thin knife to remove bones • Slicing: – To cut a food into relatively broad, thin pieces. The cut pieces of the food. • Chopping: – To cut food into irregular pieces. The size is specified if it is critical to the outcome of the recipe. • Mincing: – To cut or chop a food very finely. • Shredding: – To use a knife or a shredder (a cutting tool with round, smooth, sharp-edged holes) to cut food into long, thin strands. • Grating: – To rub hard-textured food against a grater (a tool with small, rough, sharp-edged holes) to reduce to fine particles. Grating works best with firm foods; soft food (such as some cheeses) form clumps. • Basic Knife Cuts... • ¾ inch × ¾ inch × ¾ inch measures ½ inch × ½ inch × ½ inch measures ½ inch × ½ inch × 2½-3 inches. It is also the starting point for another cut, the medium dice. matchstick - measures 1/8 inch × 1/8 inch × 2½ inches To shred • Wash and destem • Make fine slices the leaves as across the leaves necessary. Stack while holding the leaf several leaves on top roll tightly. of each other and roll them tightly like a cigar. 1 Wash the parsley in cold water; drain well. Remove the parsley sprigs from the stems. • Grip the knife in one hand. • With the other hand spread flat, hold the knife’s tip on the cutting board. • Keeping the knife’s • Place the chopped tip on the board, parsley in a kitchen • chop the parsley towel or a double sprigs by rocking the layer of cheesecloth. curved blade of the knife up and down while moving the knife back and forth over the parsley. • Rinse it under cold water and squeeze out as much water as possible. • The chopped parsley should be dry and fluffy. Break the head of the garlic into individual cloves with your hands. • Lightly crush the cloves using the flat edge of a chef’s knife or a mallet. • They will break open and the peel can be separated easily from the garlic flesh • With a flat hand, hold the knife’s tip on the cutting board. Using a rocking Garlic is usually motion, chop the chopped very garlic cloves to fine. the desired size. • 1 Using a paring knife, remove the stem end. • Trim the root end but • Dicing an Onion leave it nearly in tact 2 Cut the onion in (this helps prevent half through the stem the onion from falling root. apart while dicing). • Place the cut side down on the cutting • Peel away the outer board. skin; be careful not to remove and waste too much onion. • Cut parallel slices of the desired thickness vertically through the onion from the root toward the stem without cutting completely through the root end Dicing an Onion: Make a single horizontal cut on a small onion or two horizontal cuts on a large onion through the width of the large onion, again without cutting through the root end. Turn the onion and cut slices perpendicular to the other slices to produce diced onion. Cook time Appearance Handle: – The part of a chef's knife you'll have the most contact with is the handle. – So you'll want to make sure it's comfortable and fits your hand. – It shouldn't feel slippery or cause you to have to grip excessively hard. • The Heel: – The heel is the widest part of the knife, located at the rear of the blade where it meets the handle. – This section of the cutting edge is used for chopping hard items like carrots, nuts or even chicken bones. • The Tang: – The best knives are forged from a single piece of steel that runs the entire length of the knife. – That means the steel extends all the way into the handle. – The section of steel inside the handle is called the tang, and if it goes all the way to the end of the handle, it's called a "full tang." • The Rivets: – Rivets are the raised, cylindrical studs that keep the handle securely attached to the tang portion of the knife. – This type of construction is typical of knives with wooden handles. – If rivets are present, make sure that their tops are smooth and that they don't protrude from the handle at all. • The Bolster: • The bolster is the thick shoulder of heavy steel located at the front of the handle where it meets the spine, or the top (non-cutting) edge of the blade. • In addition to balancing the knife, the bolster also helps keeps your fingers from slipping while you work, thus preventing hand fatigue and blisters. • In your Journal answer the following questions: – 1. What are the 2 MAIN rules to follow when working with knives? – 2. Describe the importance of using uniform cuts. – 3. What part of the knife will you come in most contact with? – 4. Describe “The Pinch Grip” – 5. Why is it important to learn about knife safety and skills? .

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