Knife skills

Well, now that I started to use my knives for a while it became apparent that I am a bit lacking in knife skills. What would be a good resource to improve them. Mine main mistakes were
cutting too far back ( mixture between chopping and proper push cuts which should happen further up the blade.)
Holding the knife too tight which caused steering.
Not being positioned correctly so I could see exactly what I am cutting.
Inconsistent slices.

I am wondering what else I am doing wrong and would like to look at the right stuff rather than try to unlearn stuff down the track.

Have you checked out theory or saltys you tube videos? Pretty good place to start .

I think this is a good video:

[video=youtube;HaEYZZapaTs]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HaEYZZapaTs[/video]

As far as body, hand & food (on board) position. Being relaxed and having rhythm. Using light pressure.

Jacques Pepin videos (tons on Youtube) always are filled w/ good technique and they will make you hungry.

Practice. I asked one of my first chefs how to cut swordfish, his answer was cut 1000 pieces. I would look into volunteering at a local soup kitchen and just go to town doing prep for them.

lots lots lots lots of repetition lots lots lots more repetition, many bandaids along the way.

panda said:

lots lots lots lots of repetition lots lots lots more repetition, many bandaids along the way.

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Yep. Went to town lat night with 2 cabbages and a shig usuba. Shredded both, better at the end than the start I think.

As it was mentioned before your cutting ability is largely depended on practice. To build up the right feeling or call it muscle memory I suggest you start off with a dull knife. No fun to use, but you keep all of your fingers until you reach the point where you get accustomed to it. From then on it's a no-look-movement.
Well, pretty much.

What's the fun in that.

I was cutting almost everyday for a long time and it didn't help much because my technique was so bad and my knives were blunt. I was hacking and sawing most of the time.

You can join Rouxbe for a free trial. It has pretty good online videos showing you how to cut and cook.

I improved my basic cuts by making every single brunoise dish out there. Minestrone, Macedoine, salsa, etc. The brunoise lets you practise all your basic cuts.

rami_m said:

Yep. Went to town lat night with 2 cabbages and a shig usuba. Shredded both, better at the end than the start I think.

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You can help me make sauerkraut for our oktoberfest (300-500 pax), I will happily have you in the corner instead of the robocoupe with the slicer attachment

That'll build a solid patina on your shiggy

Which I proceeded to clean off with finger stones today as it was almost black. Not my cup of tea

zoze said:

I suggest you start off with a dull knife. No fun to use, but you keep all of your fingers.

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Very bad idea. More injuries occur from dull knives than sharp ones. You end up trying to force the knife through food... Dangerous!
A sharp knife and a soft grip with appropriate technique is what you need.

Practice is all well and good but it pays to practice good technique. No point doing something 1000 times the wrong way
You should just quit your job and go work for merl. Then he can ditch the robot coupe for good

zoze said:

start off with a dull knife.

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What? No, just no. This is terrible advice. Dull knives require more force. More force equals less accuracy. Bad combination.

Geo87 said:

Have you checked out theory or saltys you tube videos? Pretty good place to start .

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I knew Salty had one, but didn't know theory did. Any help in what it is called on youtube?

zoze said:

To build up the right feeling or call it muscle memory I suggest you start off with a dull knife.

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Cuts from sharp knives heal faster. Since I leveled up my sharpening skills to below mediocre (is horizontal cut of tomato good?) the times of slipping and losing knife control were reduced a lot. A much better approach I think is - sharpen, food giving you resistance - sharpen better until you glide and not wrestle with the produce.

A key to practice for me is to maintain a compost pile. "Why are you cutting up cantalope peel?" Cause it composts faster. "Why are you dicing broccoli stems?" Cause they will break down faster. Etc. Gotta let em cling to the notion I'm normal.

erickso1 said:

I knew Salty had one, but didn't know theory did. Any help in what it is called on youtube?

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http://m.youtube.com/user/PCCkitchen

daveb:
You should eat the broccoli stems not enough people do. You can dice them , julienne then, shave them. Steam, pan fry , stir fry whatever .
Seriously underrated. why compost 1/3 to 1/2 of the broccoli when you can eat it

Geo87 said:

http://m.youtube.com/user/PCCkitchen

daveb:
You should eat the broccoli stems not enough people do. You can dice them , julienne then, shave them. Steam, pan fry , stir fry whatever .
Seriously underrated. why compost 1/3 to 1/2 of the broccoli when you can eat it

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I thought it was mostly the stems that were used to make broccoli-cheddar soup?

I've eaten a brocc stem or two - favorites include brunoise and add to mashed taters, chips in stirfry. Poorly made point was, can practice cutting on any and all veg destined to discard.

Z, I thought it was mostly beer that is used to make broccoli-cheddar soup?

daveb said:

Z, I thought it was mostly beer that is used to make broccoli-cheddar soup?

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good point.

Geo87 said:

http://m.youtube.com/user/PCCkitchen

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Meh..

I just picked up something new (pics forthcoming) and was itching for something to cut up when I brought it home. The onion had to be the first sacrifice, then celery, then most demanding test of he day, thinly sliced half cabbage starting at the root end. It's a tuffy but easy to see your results and you can get a lot of slices if their paper thin.