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Cooking is hard.
At least, that’s what a lot of people tend to believe. But the truth is, it’s not – as long as you know what you’re doing. Especially when it comes to knife skills.
Knives can be an intimidating tool to use in the kitchen. But if you ever want to move past toast, cereal, and scrambled eggs, you need to learn proper cutting skills.
But never fear. As long as you know the basics of using a knife, you won’t have to worry. Here are five basic knife skills everyone should know.
Different Types of Knives
There are lots of different knives that you’ll be using in the kitchen. Before we move into our list of the best knife skills, let’s look at some.
Chef’s Knife
The chef’s knife is one of the most versatile and commonly used knives in the kitchen. In general, a chef’s knife has a broad and flat blade. It is mainly used for common kitchen tasks like cutting meat, dicing vegetables, and chopping nuts, to name a few.
Paring Knife
Paring knives are smaller and typically used for more intricate tasks. The blades are short and precise and are used for peeling fruit and vegetables, cutting out potato eyes, or deveining shrimp.
Serrated Knife
Serrated knives are good for slicing bread and cutting sandwiches. The serrated edge also means that they’re good for cutting more delicate vegetables, like tomatoes or eggplants.
It’s important that you have the right tool for the job in the kitchen. To get the best cookware for different knife cuts, look into knife sets with lots of variety, like the sets that imarku boasts.
1. Proper Knife Grip
To avoid injury, knowing the proper knife grip and finger placement is essential.
Keep your index finger and your thumb at the base of the knife. Your other three fingers should wrap around the handle. This gives you more control to keep accidents from happening.
2. Proper Cutting Technique
Chopping isn’t just about going up and down. For clean, even cuts, you should move your knife back and forth in a rocking motion. Start at the tip and roll the knife backward.
You also need to know how to position your helping hand. If you lay your palm flat on the cutting board, it puts all your fingers in the way of the blade.
Instead, curl your fingers underneath your palm and use your knuckles to keep the ingredient in place. This will keep your fingers out of harm’s way.
3. How to Dice
Dicing is a very common cut. It chops your vegetables into small cubes.
To dice an onion, for example, half it through the root end, then lay it flat side down. Cut first horizontally, then vertically. Then rotate the onion 90 degrees and chop away to dice it!
4. How to Mince
Mincing is another common cut. Typically, garlic is minced.
To mince garlic, squish it against the cutting board with the flat of the knife to peel away the skin more easily. After that, you’ll chop the garlic up into tiny pieces to mince it. The tinier, the better.
5. How to Julienne
To julienne means to cut something long and thin. Vegetables like carrots and celery are typically julienned.
Slice your vegetable into roughly 2-inch-long pieces. Cut lengthwise along the piece, with the curved side facing upward, until you have a handful of thin slices.
Learn More Knife Skills
This is just a taste of the knife skills you can unlock when you learn how to properly use a knife! If you follow these cutting tips, you’ll become a master chef in no time.
Read more articles to learn more about kitchen techniques!
