Many knives are used in food service kitchens, most of which can cause injury if not used correctly. Proper use of knives minimizes the risk of personal injury and keeps the kitchen running smoothly. If you like to learn how to use a kitchen knife, or if you want to master it better, you have to understand the knife safety and maintenance. If you’re a frequent camper or bushcraft user, you know that safety is important. They should be especially careful when they are in a place where medical help may be difficult. Therefore, it is best to be careful! Here are some practical tips and techniques to reduce the chance of accidents.
Safety of kitchen knives
Chef knife lacerations are among the most common injuries in food service kitchens. Be sure to educate your kitchen staff and use knife safety tips to avoid potential injuries.
Maintain a Safe Environment
You may be able to take care of your hands and feet and fingers for knife safety, but if your unarmed campmates approach you at a bad time, your blood may break out. The word “blood bubble” often comes up in survival and bushcraft classes. It is a blood bubble that is 360 degrees around oneself and ranges from one arm to two lengths.
When using a knife, make sure that no one is close or standing with you. Children should know that they shouldn’t get close, and if anyone gets close, they should stop using knives. Even if you pay close attention to your fingers, if someone else comes up and slides your feet, all you’ve been careful about is wasted.
Sharp knives are safe knives
Always use sharp knives. Less force is required to make the cut, reducing the error’s width. Please leave it to the knife and replace it when the blade becomes ineffective to prevent slipping and injury.
Knife maintenance and storage
We regularly sharpen and replace kitchen knives with specialists. The kitchen also has an electric knife sharpener that trained people can use. In Western kitchens, knife boxes are installed to store knives safely. Kitchen knives are cleaned and sterilized with a brush. Clean both the blade and handle after use. Safety posters everywhere in the kitchen describe handling knives and precautions for use.
Before cutting the ingredients, make a flat surface
If the ingredients to be cut are round or uneven, such as onions, cut off a little, make a flat and stable surface, place it on a board, and then cut. Always carve with the flat face down!
Take your time
Work slowly and steadily rather than carving fast. Take the time to find out the knife. Remember that practice makes perfect.
Don’t leave a kitchen knife around.
Once you’ve concluded using the knife, clean it and place it away instantly, or at least put it in a place where other people can visit it. However, if you leave it in a sink with soapy water, someone is likely to cut it.
Sharpen a knife
A sharp knife can do more harm than a sharp knife. It is more likely to apply greater force, and the blunt blade is at risk of slipping off.
How to choose the best knife for your use?
Knives are tools, so the best thing to do is to use the one that suits your purpose. A good knife is one that has a carbon or carbon stainless steel blade inside the handle of the knife. Having a good balance and feeling familiar with your hands is important. Here’s a look at the full kitchen cutlery:
Chef’s Knife: An 8 to 12-inch blade is suitable for cutting tomato slices and carrots. It is suitable for cutting tomatoes and for cutting carrots. It is also suitable for cutting large, thick meat such as roasted meat.
A pairing knife: With a thin, sharp 3-4 inch blade, this small knife is suitable for peeling fruits and vegetables such as apples and potatoes.
A jagged knife: Perfect for cutting bread or something hard on the exterior but soft on the interior. However, do not cut meat. A blade like a saw can tear the meat into pieces.
A sharp booming knife has a very thin blade edge, so it is suitable for delicate work such as cutting chicken bones and floundering.
A utility knife is similar to Chef’s knife but is about half the size and can handle most except for the most delicate work. Holding it in case you can’t use another knife is useful.
Knife Skills
The first thing to do with any food is to “cut” it. That’s why I often do it in the kitchen. Knife handling is one of the skills that a chef can feel, “Cooking in 30 minutes can not be done in 30 minutes”. So, even if you were to chop a lot: Are you working as efficiently as possible?
Also, are the size and shape of the pieces uniform? The difference between a decent dish and a very delicious dish often depends on whether it is cooked uniformly, which means that the ingredients are cut uniformly. Can you cut things evenly and with a sense of speed? Let’s learn and practice that today.
How to hold a knife?
The hand holding the knife is the main character, while the other hand is an important supporting role. The hand holding the knife helps and stabilizes the ingredients to be cut, maximizing safety and efficiency. Most chefs use a knife to hold the handle between the palm of their hands and hold the top of the blade with their thumb and index finger.
This differs from many home cooks who hold the handle of a kitchen knife wrapped in their palm. There is a reason why Chef Grip has evolved this way. The knife’s weight, the blade’s sharpness, and the arm’s force can be used most efficiently, making it the easiest to cut.
How many different cuts do you have?
1. Mirepoix: a mixture of celery, carrots, green onions, and chopped onions. The size of the vegetables varies from very large chunks to bite size depending on the cooking time of the Mirepoix, and the longer the cooking time, the bigger the vegetables.
2. Cutting Batonnets The Batonnets are 5mm wide and 5～6cm long. For the preparation, I choose long, straight vegetables. Carrots are peeled evenly with a rotary peeler, making them smooth and tapered cylindrical.
3. Julienne: The Julienne is 2.5～5cm long and 3 mm thick. Clean the vegetables with a paring knife or turning knife, and cut straight faces into each so that they are flat. Julienne is sometimes used in Japanese cuisine or as an accompaniment.
4. Dice Making: Dice is a convenient solution if you need to seek a choice of ingredients or if you like to break down classic recipes. Make dice at the last moment possible to keep the taste.
Techniques of Knife Cutting
Slice Technique
The chef’s knife is held close to the blade, and it is easy to control if you wrap your finger firmly around the handle.
The other hand is placed on the food. The thumb and little finger are rotated behind the other fingers, and the fingers are rounded like nails. Cut the ingredients in a circle, shaking. Push the knife forward with the knife down and slice. Keep the front of the knife from floating off the cutting board.
Dicing
Dicing is one of the most commonly used knife-handling methods. If the ingredients do not flatten, cut them in half and cut them into pieces so that they are flat on the cutting board. It becomes square after slicing thinly in one direction and slicing the ingredients in the opposite direction while rotating them.
When cutting onions, first peel them, cut them in half from the middle, and leave the top part of the onion cut off only the root. Flatten the onion, make several cuts around the circumference of the onion, and make the cuts so that the top part sticks together. Then, while rotating the onion, cut at right angles to the cut, creating a uniform rectangular cut.
Back & Forth
In the home, you don’t need the fancy knife handling that you see on a TV cooking program, cutting up ingredients at an unbelievable speed.
Instead, try to make smooth and gentle reciprocal movements, such as touching the cutting board with the tip of the knife. You don’t need to be fast, but getting used to the knife is a good idea if you’re cooking regularly. Small cuts, small cuts, medium cuts, and large cuts do not have to be perfect, so take your time to practice.
Final Thoughts: Knife Safety
Knife safety and skills are very necessary even you are house wife or professional cooker. If you are interested in exploring more deeply the therapeutic effects and cooking methods of food, as well as practical cooking techniques, you have to subscribe to Ovenosis.com.
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