Chop shop: kitchen knife techniques

Tag : Onion Juice

By Joan Obra
McClatchy Newspapers
Talk about a timely cooking class.
Personal chef Wendy Carroll of Seasoned to Taste in Fresno, Calif.,recently demonstrated the proper use of knives at Kitchen & BathPlus. The class was great for families cooking and entertainingmore at home because of the tough economy.
Not only did the class boost cooking skills, it also featured astudent-cooked dinner perfect for summer: crostini (toasted breadtopped with peach salsa and brie cheese), gazpacho, panzanella (abread salad) and semifreddo (a semi-frozen mixture of cream, almondcookies and lemon juice topped with berry sauce). T he class wasn'tjust about fancy restaurant-style flourishes, either. Budd Solaeguiof Perfect Edge Sharpening Systems in Coarsegold showed studentshow to hone their own knives. And he offered a practical reason forusing sharp knives: Since you're cleanly slicing through vegetablesand fruits instead of mashing them with a dull knife, your foodstays fresh longer. Here are Carroll's and Solaegui's tips, fromchoosing knives to seeding a tomato in less than 30 seconds.
THE KNIVES YOU NEED Home cooks frequently reach for three types of knives: the chef'sknife, the paring knife and serrated knives, Carroll says. Thechef's knife, great for everything from chopped to julienned items,should be 7-10 inches long. The paring knife, used for detail workor cutting small foods, is 2-4 inches long. And a 10-inch serratedknife is most useful for slicing breads and cakes.
With all of the variety among knives, shop around and hold severalof each type of knife.
``What's most important is how it feels in your hand,'' Solaeguisays.
When buying knives, choose ceramic or forged, high-carbon stainlesssteel, Solaegui says. Ceramic knives are very sharp and maintain anedge well, but they can break when dropped. Forged, high-carbonstainless steel knives are stronger; they also keep an edge for along time.
Avoid regular stainless steel. It doesn't maintain an edge and isvery difficult to sharpen.
CARING FOR KNIVES First, never clean knives in the dishwasher. The heat anddishwasher detergent can damage the blade.
Solaegui washes knives by hand, then immediately wipes them with atowel along the back side of the blade. He advises storing knivesimmediately, using plastic knife guards or a wooden knife block toprotect them.
Second, use a soft cutting board that will help maintain the edgeof the blade, Solaegui says. For example, bamboo and plastic arebetter than glass.
Carroll likes Epicurean cutting boards, which are made of layers ofpaper and food-safe resin. They're dishwasher safe, heat resistantand soft on knives.
No matter the type of cutting board you have, don't scrape yourknife sideways across it to clear away peelings and the like.
``You'll end up rolling the edge,'' Solaegui says.
He demonstrates how to identify a rolled edge. Grip the handle ofthe knife with one hand and hold it in the air in front of you.Curl the fingers of your other hand, then scrape your fingernailsdown one side of the blade and across the sharp edge of the knife _this motion should be quick, as though you were plucking a harpstring. Switch hands, and test the other side of the blade. If yourfingernails run smoothly across the edge of the blade on eitherside, your knife is fine. But if your nails catch on the edge of ablade, that means it's a ``rolled edge'' and it's time to hone,Solaegui says.
Honing a blade ``doesn't cut off metal,'' he says. ``It just rollsback the metal to where it's supposed to be.''
Use a ceramic steel or a fine-striated steel, Solaegui says. Holdthe handle of the steel in one hand, and let the other end of itrest on a table. Grip the knife in your other hand, and place itssharp edge perpendicular to the steel. Then tilt the top of theknife at a 45-degree angle and move it again to about a 20-degreeangle. Slide the blade across the steel on either side of the knifea few times, just enough to smooth the edges of the blade.
It's not necessary to hone the knife every time you use it. Repeatthis process only ``when you can't cut tomatoes cleanly,'' Solaeguisays.
After using your knives for a while, you'll notice that honing nolonger smooths their edges. When this happens, it's best to bringthe knives to professional sharpeners; electric sharpeners canrender a knife misshapen.
HOW TO SEED A TOMATO AND OTHER TIPS Now that you know how to care for knives, here's Carroll's advicefor using them.
Try the ``pinch grip,'' which Carroll uses with her chef's knife tomaintain control and prevent her arm from tiring.
To use this grip, first look at the back of the blade. You'll seethe bolster, a thick strip of metal that weights the chef's knifeand makes it easier to cut.
Place your thumb on one side of the blade at the bolster. Thenplace your index finger on the other side of the blade. Pinch theblade with these fingers, then curve the remaining three fingersaround the handle.
Once you've mastered the pinch grip, use it while chopping andmincing herbs.
``It's much easier to chop a dry herb than a wet herb,'' Carrollsays. She recommends drying the washed herbs in a salad spinnerbefore cutting them.
To make a chiffonade (very thin strips) of a leafy green such asbaby spinach, stack individual leaves atop one another, thentightly roll them up lengthwise. Using a chef's knife, cut therolled bundle of leaves crosswise into thin slices. Unroll thestrips and use them as desired.
As for seeding that tomato, Carroll's technique requires a bowl,paring knife and serrated knife or sharp chef's knife. Using theparing knife, she cuts a circle around the stem and pulls it out.(Don't bother to core the tomato; you just want to pull out thestem.)
Next, place the tomato on the cutting board and slice it crosswiseusing the serrated knife or chef's knife. Pick up a tomato half andhold the cut side over the bowl. Gently squeeze, letting the tomatoseeds drip into the bowl. Repeat with the other half.
And here's one more tip that's easy to explain in words: To cutvegetables for stir-fry, hold the knife at about a 45-degree angleto the cutting board, with the edge of the knife facing away fromyou. Slice vegetables into equally thick pieces.
Cutting the vegetables at an angle creates more surface area on thepieces and allows for faster cooking. ``You want to cook in astir-fry very quickly,'' Carroll says. ``You want to make sure thecuts are consistent.''