Knife – Use it wisely for piece !!
My sword in the kitchen
Any kind of knife excites me and I have a pretty satisfactory collection. My favourite possesion though is my cutting knife. I keep it very finely sharp and honed. Maybe not to the extent of a professional level but enough for home use. I don’t believe in the middle ground. Either they are sharp or they are blunt. If it’s anything in between, they frankly scare me as more cuts and injuries happen when a knife is not sharp but not blunt either. For a collection of my knives click here. I got this interesting knife from my parents.
A good chef knife is expensive and requires a good thought before investing in it. It can be either driven by the business need or by passion. When you buy this, isn’t it a wate of money if it’s not maintained well? It can lose its sheen and edge over time but really bad usage or manhandling will end its life sooner.
Using all parts of the knife
Also if used skillfully, you will need at the max 2-3 kind of knives to meet any kind of requirement. Right so we were talking about the business end of a knife. Did you know the blunt edge is also a good handy tool? Let’s look at some ways of how the blunt edge can be used smartly
- Gathering – I start with this as this is where most people ruin their chef knives without even realizing it. After cutting the vegetables please please please use the blunt edge to gather and transfer it to a container from the chopping board. DO NOT use the sharp edge..
- Cracking coconuts – Now most houses especially in the coastal areas and traditional families have a kind of blunt cleaver to help break coconuts. However did you know that the blunt edge of a chefs knife is good enough to break it open? Try it to believe it. Here is an interesting coconut jack I came across. Makes sense in the west but I will be laughed out of my house if I used that here :). DO NOT use this for plucking up the pieces from the shell after you break it. Use a smaller knife. No don’t use your enemies head for breaking it either. This might include your spouse or your ex !
- Scaling Fish – Now most fish shops use a kind of brush with metal bristles to remove the scales. I was intrigued when one fish monger used the back of his knife and started removing it in the same speed. Yes I never realized the blunt edge could be used this way. He kind of scaled up didn’t he?
- Bruising – I use the blunt edge or the flat edge for bruising ginger and garlic when I don’t want them finely chopped (for soups especially).
- Mallet – Use the blunt edge and flat edge as a mallet on your steak to tenderize it. It works.. Really 🙂
Can you think of other ways to use the blunt portion of your knife? Comment and I will add to this list.
Linked to ABC Wednesday (M) with Meet the Knife
Sensible. And very good uses of the blunt edge i must say…
I dont do the fish !! 🙂
My husband also enjoys sharpening knives and ensuring they are at optimum sharpness when he cuts/dices his vegetables. Something about the smoothness of the cut, I think.
Such interesting insights, Pheno!
Indeed. The right cut and stroke is very important. I use the food processor only if there is too much to be cut otherwise I enjoy cutting and the rhythm of the cut. 🙂
Wah ! Those are some really wonderful idea of using the blunt knife. Definitely I will bookmark the blog and refer in future 🙂
For me using the knife is an art. I might be bad at sketching and painting or aesthetics but I try to make up for it with my knife 😉
This was a very interesting post.I am guilty of scraping the vegetable board with sharp end sometimes.
I used to do that few years ago myself till I started investing in really sharp and expensive knives
So many things I’ve learned about knife. Will try the tips to break the coconut
Yeah breaking coconuts is something I do very commonly at home as the cleaver is always misplaced 🙂 The knife has to be a little heavy and balanced though
I love sharp knives. Blunt edges of sharp knives I definitely use to bruise ginger and garlic. I didn’t know we could scale a fish or use it as a meat tenderiser. Interesting article.
Yeah I was thrilled seeing it’s use myself, though I have never scaled a fish and might never ever try at home.. Shudder. Imagine the mess at home
Wow I never know so many things about a chef’s knife. This is quite an interesting read
Thanks..It’s in my constant watchlist how others use their knives 🙂
Thanks for linking up at http://image-in-ing.blogspot.com/
never knew this… not that strange considering I hardley even cook so almost never use a knife 😉