Knife Skills
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This page contains two awesome cooking videos that demonstrate my best knife skills techniques. Page down to view them now!
The Classic Knife Cuts
Brunois: 1/8" x 1/8" x 1/8" (3mm x 3mm x 3mm)Small Dice: 1/4" x 1/4" x 1/4" (6mm x 6mm x 6mm)
Medium Dice: 3/8" x 3/8" x 3/8" (9mm x 9mm x 9mm)
Large Dice: 5/8" x 5/8" x 5/8" (1.5cm x 1.5cm x 1.5cm)
Paysanne: 1/2 x 1/2 x 1/4 (1.2cm x 1.2cm x 6mm)
Julienne: 1/8" x 1/8" x 1-2" (3mx x 3mm x 2.5-5cm)
Batonnet: 1/4" x 1/4" x 2" (6mm x 6mm x 5cm)
Rondelle: disc shaped slices of round vegetable
Bias: oval shaped slices of cylindrical vegetables
Chiffonade: Ribbon cut of leafy herb or vegetable
I mentioned before how consistent cuts are extremely important in good cooking. Another reason for good knife skills is mise en place (mize on plaz). From the French “everything in place”, mise en place is the preparation and assembly of all ingredients and equipment needed before a dish can be cooked. This is a technique used by chefs and savvy home cooks to speed up the cooking process. When all of your ingredients have been measured, prepared, cut and are ready to go - you can see how your time will go quicker in assembly and cooking.
Sharpening Your Knives
An often overlooked component of good knife skills is knowing how to properly sharpen your knives. Did you know that a dull chef's knife is much more dangerous than a sharp kitchen knife? It is always safest and most efficient to use sharpened knives in your cooking. Here is a quick synopsis of the proper technique:It is preferable to use a sharpening stone. Electric sharpeners can wear down the blade. Hold the blade at 20 degree angle, as if you are taking a small slice from the stone. Move the knife from heel to tip slowly.
The Steel is not used to sharpen but to true the edge. “True” means smooth out irregularities and remove burrs. Hold the tip of the steel at a 90 degree angle to your work surface. Place the knife against the steel at a 20 degree angle. Then draw the blade along the entire length of the steel. Wipe the blade in a safe fashion to remove metal scrapings. If you use the steel often, you will rarely use the stone.
For a much more in-depth study of knife skills, pantry cooking, stocking your spice rack and preparing your kitchen for cooking:Check out my new cooking DVD "Burn Your Recipes Volume 1: The Skills You Need for Food that Looks Better and Cooks Better" -on sale now!
Learn my Best Techniques in these Videos:
OK - now let's tie it all together with a common kitchen task: dicing an onion. I think this early episode of "Cooking Coarse" demonstrates my very easy and efficient way of dicing an onion. No more tears!This next Knife Skills technique always gets "oohs and "aahhs" at my live cooking classes. Here I demonstrate this technique for you via a classic episode of Cooking Coarse. It's a great method of filleting a green pepper without making a mess out of all of those seeds:
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