Once you have really good knife skills, you'll be scary enough to make someone else do the cooking for you.
I, on the other hand, spent the morning at surf camp. It's good for the soul doing things that make you look like a complete and utter idiot, right?
1: There's some Geena Davis movie where she's a spy with amnesia, and figures out that she has amazing knife skills: "Hey, I'm probably a chef or something!" as she chops things at high speed. Then she tosses a tomato in the air and throws a knife at it, pinning it to the wall: "Chefs do that kind of thing, right?"
Battle stance. TTT (turn, thrust, twist). Neck flick, stomach stab. Those are the basics, the rest you can practice at home.
IIRC, Michelle Obama makes the girls play in two sports - one they love and one they suck at, so that they can constantly be beaten down by trying hard at something that doesn't come naturally.
I don't know. My parents bought us nice knives, but our friends who harass us about petty shit harassed us that our knives were all dull. (Such things aren't mutually exclusive, I know.)
I read somewhere that you shouldn't sharpen nice knives yourself, lest you get the angle wrong or something, which was enough to kill any motivation for caring about sharpening them I might have had. Also, it would mean a trip into San Antonio or Austin just to get fucking knives sharpened, which is kind of a hassle.
Are they going to teach you to make a flaming onion ring volcano like at Benihana? Because I'd take a class for that. Regular chopping, not so much.
I'm really, really slow at chopping, and fearful of chopping off my fingers. I feel like this class is going to force me to take on all these techniques that make me feel uneasy about the sharp blade in my hands and how fast it's moving.
If you get rid of the nice knives people will stop hassling you about keeping them sharpened, and you can get back to normal life with normal knives.
Either that, or I'll learn that I correctly chop an onion and a carrot, and just happen to be slow, and I'll be irritated at the end of the class that now my hands are super tired from chopping for two hours.
Does Benihana still exist? It kind of seems like that should be my sort of thing.
3: _Long Kiss Goodnight_ Fun movie, or it was the last time I saw it.
(Watched a new-to-me movie for, oh, the second time in a year last night, the latest in the Star Trek reboot series. Groans the whole way.)
On topic, there really are some basics that make working quickly easier and safer. And you will discover that all of your actual kitchen knives are dangerously dull and you have to do something about that.
That line about professional sharpening sounds like bullshit. Or at least, I'd rather have inexpertly sharpened knives than dull knives for lack of expert sharpening. It makes a huge difference.
Do report back. Sounds interesting.
If you just cook steak on the grill and put it over a bed of kale, you don't need knife skills.
3: The Long Kiss Goodbye. Oddly, a sentimental favorite. I saw it with friends in Austin at the dollar theater when we were in the mood for something stupid and it was just one of those fun days. It also features a kind of fun poodle-skirt-Sandy-to-leather-Sandy type transformation.
Though not such a favorite that I didn't get the title wrong. The Long Kiss Goodnight.
5 may fit a little better in the kid sports thread. Come to think of it, slicing and dicing may be a DC sport.....
Chopping onions and carrots is mostly about geometry. If only you were better at math. Do report back; I'm curious what they'll cover and how.
If you're worried about the angle, get a pull-through sharpener. It is true that it's hard to do it properly with a steel if it's not something you're super familiar with.
If your knives are super super dull (like the one a customer brought in a few weeks ago, that was literally duller than my butter knives) you might benefit from having a pro doing it once and then moving onto your own sharpener at home from there on. Sharpness really does make a difference!
We're supposed to bring a bunch of tupperware containers, and they send us home with all the vegetables we've chopped, so that part is pretty nice.
Steels are actually easy, and help a lot. Putting a new edge on with a stone is hard, though -- I have bought a couple of gadgets for it, and have been uniformly dissatisfied.
Wow Benihana.com sure is a horribly slow, non-standardized flash-based website. It looks like there is a restaurant in my current city, but it refuses to show me the information on that one, having erroneously geo-located me in Caracas.
9/13: It exists, AND it has a Be The Chef program where they teach the onion volcano.
Looks like there's still the one in Beverly Hills. It'd be a great place for a secret meeting -- no one would ever find you there.
26 -- it's interesting how the Washington Post can make anything seem lame. Even training to be a Benihana chef, which is objectively pretty awesome.
Ah, nuts. According to Trip Advisor, looks like our local Benihana is closed. There goes that idea.
17: If it's any consolation, that's how it popped into my head, too, but I looked it up to see what year it was, and discovered my mistake.
I don't think I'm unusually bad or slow at chopping, and our knives are sharp, but it's just one of those kitchen chores I'm not very fond of. I'd love to know whether having officially sanctioned skills fixes that, but I'm not optimistic.
28: Agreed, but I knew that article was a thorough description, including the tricks taught.
the Washington Post can make anything seem lame. Even training to be a Benihana chef
Are you kidding? Its a "sizzling good time!" Your office could do it as a team building exercise. Its funner than paintball!
Actually, bullshit. Nothing's funner than paintball.
When I saw the post title in the comments sidebar I thought it would be about an impending visit from one of the Knifecrime Island Unfogged contingent.
The Food Snob's Dictionary on "knife skills."
2: Surfing is hard. I was overjoyed when I maintained verticality for 60+ seconds.
I feel like this class is going to force me to take on all these techniques that make me feel uneasy about the sharp blade in my hands and how fast it's moving.
If they know what they're doing they'll teach you ways to chop that actually make it really fucking difficult to cut yourself. Not that you can't, but you almost have to try. Dull knives help with that.
Something like this will no shit change your life. Takes two minutes every couple of weeks (depending on how many knives and how anal your are).
24: Steels aren't hard to use in the broad sense (hold knife at correct angle to steel, draw across) but for those of us who are a bit shaky or generally not great at eye-balling angles they are not as efficient as a ceramic pull through and you'll find yourself needing to use them more often. Instead of putting one edge on your blade, most inexperienced steel users put multiple. It doesn't damage the knife and it'll feel sharper (and is!) but it isn't as sharp as it could be. Whatever way makes you happy is the best, obviously, but I definitely don't get the same level of results with a steel, and they can be intimidating.
36: And if you live in the UK, I would be happy to sell you one! I really like the horribly named Knife Wizard brand.
I have a manual verison of the Chef's Choice sharpener in 36 and really really like it. Some people complain that the diamond sharpeners will take too much steel off knife blades but I haven't really seen that and the sharp blades are worth it.
I really want a diamond steel. I'd never use it for purpose (see above re: shaky hands) but they are just cool. Plus, best callous remover ever?
We have a ceramic steel, and a pull through sharpener. I still think my main cook's knife could be a bit sharper. Still, even a pretty sharp rather than very sharp knife is nicer to use than the alternative.
Restrain self from "hone in" reference. Not.
24: You can work with that. Haphazardly dissatisfied is something you can't use at all but consistency is half the battle.
I have dull knives and a steel. Am I going to be able to sharpen my dull knives with a steel, or do I need to have the knives sharpened, and then use the steel for maintenance?
47: you need to sharpen the knives. You will not put an edge on dull knives with a steel.
47: I believe the latter, but am not an expert.
Well, that sucks. Because having them sharpened is pretty unlikely to happen.
You will not put an edge on dull knives with a steel.
Such lyrical potential, squandered.
36 is crazy talk - every two weeks?
I have one of those (I have proper stones too, but I'm lazy). I use only two knives 90% of the time, and I use them every day. Once every 6 months is more than enough for the sharpener, easily. Other than that a touch of the steel every few times I pick them up and we're good to go.
There is a bit of confusion in this thread about what a steel is for. The sharper your knives are, the more you need a steel to maintain (literally to uncurl the edge), but with care it lasts ages. Trying to sharpen with them is just making crappy serrations ...
36 doesn't look like it would be very useful for my fighting knives. I'll stick with good old carborundum, block, knives, for the sharpening of.
I'm back. My back hurts. I learned a lot.
Highlights, the thing you can do to your hair.
Most embarrassingly, I've been using the serrated knife way too much and should really sharpen the chopping knife. Less embarrassingly, I learned about the afore-mentioned claw, rolling up leafy greens and herbs (chiffon? If I heard correctly?), turning tomatoes flesh-side-up, and a clever way to dice an onion, using the root end to hold it all intact until you make your last direction of cuts. I guess I am pursuaded that it's worth it to chop fresh garlic instead of buying the minced stuff. Some things still seem like a big pain to chop: tomatoes kind of still annoy me.
Man, that Goofus. What a jerk! Why couldn't he be more like Gallant?
I used to tear leafy greens just by hand, and cut herbs with a scissors, and neither of those techniques seem that bad still.
She went over sharpening and honing knives, but we didn't get to practice. I would have liked supervision on that skill.
My chopping stroke motion is much improved, even if I academically knew what to do already. That's very helpful.
My chopping stroke motion is much improved, even if I academically knew what to do already. That's very helpful.
I'm not going to fix that. Also I meant "intellectually" not "academically".
Also I sure am ready to have our kitchen done. It's been since June 3rd. (The end may be in sight.)
Fingers crossed for you, Heebie. When yours is all done you can hope for swiftness in ours. (The contractors are apparently waiting on some kind of permit from the city, but I don't understand in the slightest why they weren't all in place before anything got started -- possibly it's a permit + inspection thing, but who knows?)
I'm about to test the sharpness of my knives on whoever owns the car that keeps alarming every 5 minutes right outside my window.
62: "chiffonade". I know further onion tricks but my battery life prevents me from sharing.
70: That means you have to pay the contractors off to pay the city off.
Be careful not to try to pay the city off directly, though, or the contractors will put a hit on you.
The sharper your knives are, the more you need a steel to maintain (literally to uncurl the edge)
Right. I'm terrible at using the technical terms, but this is where I think many (most) people are better off with a pull-through - most can't hit the angle correctly enough to uncurl the edge with a honing steel, whereas something like a ceramic wheel will hold it straight enough and do that, thus maintaining an edge that is already 'sharp.'
For proper sharpening - putting the edge back on - you can use a diamond steel or electric sharpeners & diamond, etc based manual pull-through sharpeners (which generally also have a slot for honing, so you're not always re-edging them when you use it). I have mine done by a pro every 6 months or so because it's convenient, and otherwise think a ceramic pull-through sharpener (which is actually a honer) works really well to maintain between sharpenings.
(All of what I know about knife sharpening is oral knowledge, which is why I'm terrible at using the correct terms - I misused the term 'edge' over and over up there - I just cannot retain the correct words unless I've read them.)
I think having sharp knives may have been the greatest benefit I have received from Unfogged.
The "onion trick" heebie mentioned works very well for cloves of garlic too, using a paring knife with a good point. Probably the best way to mince garlic.
Pre-minced/peeled/whatevered garlic is oxidized and gross.
Is there a video of the "onion trick." I think it's what I do but now I feel unsure and insecure.
As for garlic, I use a small electric herb chopper (like a micro-Cuisinart).
We have three nice knives we use all the time, but they never stay sharp as long as people upthread report. Maybe they are actually dull even though I sharpen them with a smallish ceramic version of a steel. I don't want to buy more kitchen kipple, though.
The local farmers' market both where I live now and in my previous city had a knife sharpener. It seemed weirdly old fashioned, but very convenient. You drop off your knives, go shopping, and pick them up when you're done.
Is there a nearby farmers' market in Heebieville?
If Heebieville really is, as Heebie claims, in Texas, then there's surely a gun/knife shop in town that offers sharpening services. Hell, hardware stores will often do it, although knife snobs will say, "No! Not the hardware store!" (They might be right about that.)
I've been using a diamond steel on a knife for which they aren't recommended. My knife is always wicked shaahhp, but I did notice that I've worn it down a tad unevenly, so the heel is slightly longer than the rest of the blade, which means I can't rock it all the way back. It makes basically no difference, but I guess I can't recommend the method.
81- Our area used to have a sharpening truck - a guy would set up at the farmers' market or in the strip shopping center with some sharpening stones and a grinding wheel in his van and have at it. He sharpened axes and saws too. I always thought that he should figure in a horror movie or a murder mystery....
83 When I was a kid growing up in the suburbs of LI a sharpening truck would make the rounds a couple of times a year.
Thrilling update: it's an inspection of the electrical work before they put up the drywall.
We've had actual progress over the weekend, as the contractor scrambled to get everything ready for the painter today. It's all taped up and ready to go, but the painter actually had a funeral in Houston, so we're being patient since we're obviously not going to begrudge that.
Our farmer's market is pretty teensy. But we do have a Cabela's nearby, and probably a dozen smaller gun and knife shops that I wouldn't know about.
I actually have a gripe with the onion trick that you do a lot of it in a way that sabotages the rocking motion, because you're specifically trying not to extend the cut all the way through the onion. Plus I never found it that onerous to dice an onion, but don't tell anyone about the serrated edge I liked to use. Sigh.
10: In my experience the trick* is to have a couple decent sized cocktails first. The fear will vanish almost entirely, and the increased confidence will result in going really really fast!
*Trick may also be the trick to chopping off part of your finger.
Boy, my students really would. Or the local mother's group. They had a ton of advice for the woman who thought someone was trying to break into her house at 6 am. When she checked her porch, there was blood. So clearly this was the calling card of a mastermind murderer and not, like, a raccoon. They all had tons of gun advice.
They had a ton of advice for the woman who thought someone was trying to break into her house at 6 am.
They should call Ray Allen and spouse.
91: one weird old trick for losing weight... a tiny bit at a time.
the onion trick
Not to be confused with the grapefruit trick.
Here's the advice to follow. The sales pitch for the particular product can be skipped. IMX getting three knives super-sharp takes less time than watching the 11 minute video.
I demonstrated my incomparable knife skills last night by reaching my hand into a sink fully of sudsy water and cutting my finger on a knife. And I didn't even take a class!
Is there a video of the "onion trick." I think it's what I do but now I feel unsure and insecure.
Many. However, I find it easier to do the cut parallel to the cutting surface first, rather than second as this guy does.
I usually do the cut parallel to the cutting surface first, too. Athough often with smaller onions, I don't bother leaving a little bit attached. I just slice it one way, turn it, and slice the other, and rely on a bit of pressure/friction to keep the onion together.
95 is amazing. I really hope heebie will be willing to feign that confusion in her next knife skills class!
When she checked her porch, there was blood. So clearly this was the calling card of a mastermind murderer and not, like, a raccoon.
A mastermind murderer who was also a haemophiliac.
Or, I suppose, one who had come straight from his last murder without stopping to wash first.
Health experts recommend asking your murderer to wash their hands before any murderous procedures, in order to reduce the risk of infection.
I think that most of heebie's students would be quite safe from the depredations of a mastermind-murderer.
I demonstrated my incomparable knife skills last night by reaching my hand into a sink fully of sudsy water and cutting my finger on a knife.
One of my go-to moves.
54: Maybe your knives have harder steel than mine, or maybe you actually bother to use a steel. Or maybe you just don't like your knives wicked sharp--I like mine so sharp I don't have to bother with the serrated knife for tomatoes. Of course, I've noticed a definite reduction in the width of my knife blades since I started using the electric sharpener a year and a half ago, so your route might be more effective if you're interested in a longer working life for your knives.
do the cut parallel to the cutting surface first
You don't really need this cut at all (his whole method seems very fussy): onions are already layered.
You'll never master the brunoise with that attitude.
On the contrary, I'll have more time for my brunoise if I'm not duplicating nature's work.
You don't know what a brunoise is, do you.
106: I use a steel probably once every 3-5 times I pick up the knife. It is always sharp enough to slice tomato or eggplant without effort or tearing.
Seriously, the steel is the more important part. If you ever watch a butcher work, you'll see they steel before nearly every cut.
I always assumed that was an affectation they only did when watched.
115: the sharper the edge is, the more often it needs a hone. Same principal with regular stropping of a straight razor, although all it impacts is hair...
Seriously, the steel is the more important part
I feel thoroughly not up to the task of the steel (I've got Parenthetical's same shaky hand/questionable angle problem). I should find someone to give me lovingly thorough hands-on instruction with the process.
tbh I have never found regular steel-use all that important and my most-used knife is high carbon steel.
119: typical kitchen knives are 420 stainless and much, much softer than your high carbon. You are probably happy enough with it in a somewhat dulled state, but a steel will still keep it at nearly its just sharpened edge for months with daily household use. It will take much longer to become annoyingly dulled, assuming your cutting against something reasonable.
I should find someone to give me lovingly thorough hands-on instruction with the process.
Where was rfts in the grapefruit thread? This sounds hotter!
I can put the hook on a cabinet scraper better than I can take it off a neglected knife. Puzzling & embarrassing.
We have a friend who learned knife-sharpening from the Dwarf Lord & far surpassed him. When we have friend over for dinner we flatter him into sharpening everything in the kitchen.
Here's a trick if you find using a steel daunting or awkward:
Place the pint of the steel on your cutting board and hold it still, straight up. Hone the knife towards the board (not much pressure) alternating sides. This way there is only one thing moving and you can concentrate on the angle. Don't push hard, you are trying to straighten the edge, not create it.
Where was rfts in the grapefruit thread? This sounds hotter!
Rrrow.