Chef’s Knife: Most Important Knife In The Kitchen
Thursday, April 12th, 2012A chef knives. A chef’s knife these days is an all purpose kitchen knife, though it was initially designed to cut big slices of beef. But how to determine which knife is for the chef and which is just an ordinary utility knife for the kitchen? Can an ordinary cook like you safely use a chef’s knife? Read on and know the answers of the following questions.
What is a chef’s knife?
A kitchen is not a kitchen, if it has no knife. However, only a few people understand what a knife really is to appreciate the type of knife they own. Material used in chef’s knife comprise of edge, rivet, bolster, tang etc. One of the several types of kitchen knife is the chef’s knife. It is usually 20 cm long and 4 cm wide, though there are other chef’s knives that are 15 to 36 cm long.
A chef’s knife from Germany, France and Japan are quite different from each other both in the materials used for the blades and size. Japanese chef’s knife is also widely used, though the French knife has been popularly used for years. It is no longer important how long or wide the chef’s knife is. As long as it functions like an all-purpose-cut-all kitchen knife, it’s fine.
A method of using a chef’s knife
Today, chef’s knife is used to slice almost every food. chef’s knife is not only used for slicing, it is good for mincing or chopping vegetables or spice and disjointing meat. It is simple enough to use a knife, but there are techniques that can be done to prevent injury and to slice quickly.
Learn how to hold it correctly
The proper way to hold a chef’s knife is use the thumb to grip the knife on one side while your index finger holding the other side at the heel of the blade. Grip it while the rest of the fingers are wrapped around the bolster and your palm around the handle of the knife. This method will enable you to have more control with the knife’s movements.
The guiding hand
Learning how to guide your chef’s knife in cutting or slicing the vegetables or meat will help you slice your food faster and efficiently. The hand not holding the knife is the guiding hand. The guiding hand must secure the food on the board and guide the knife in its slicing motions. You need to know how to guide the knife properly so you will not be injured while slicing the food.
Learning how to do a claw grip will help you in this area. The claw grip is done by curling your fingers inward so that you can hold the vegetables or meat securely with your fingernails. Let one side of the blade to rest slightly on your guiding hand’s knuckles so that you can keep the knife’s blade at a 90 degrees angle with the cutting board.
Keep your fingers curled in. Practice this technique starting with slicing your food slowly and gradually make it faster.
Purchasing chef’s knife requires knowledge
If you want to have a good deal when you buy your chef’s knife, know what materials are best to make such knife. This way, you will know if your chef knife could really cut your food or if they are just some imitations. chef’s knife is just the name of a kitchen knife’s type, so you can buy it anytime for your kitchen. And if you want to maximize the use of your chef’s knife, learn the techniques on how to use it properly. A chef’s knife is an all-purpose, multifunction kitchen knife, so you can save a lot if you buy it for your kitchen.