Craftsy Knife Class Lesson 3

Lesson 3: The Board and Basic cuts

This was a good video, and I learned and refreshed some finer points of knife skills. I'm enjoying this class.

Cutting Board

Interesting he's using an edge/side grain board, not an end grain. End grain is usually what is espoused by wood aficionados. End grain self heals better but costs more. Edge grain can be prettier to my taste anyway. Also, I dispute his claim that pros prefer wood. Very few Health Departments allow wood cutting boards for professional food prep in contravention of his claims of harboring bacteria. Why? Because you can sterilize a plastic board, but not the wood ones. Sure there's the widely disseminated studies that show wood kills off bacteria on the cutting board. And while that's true to a certain extent compared to plastic, it doesn't kill ENOUGH bacteria to be safe. You have to wash your boards either way.

Grip and board stance

This is a topic that gets very little discussion. He offers very good grip info, good approach to the board. I'd have liked to see some discussion about using the whole board. Because of the angles of the arms in how you use the board, you have dead space, particularly in the corners. You can use that to store cut items, scraps and such to be efficient in your meal prep.

Low Cut

Slicing action--think Guillotine and Glide. The knife comes down, then slides forward to finish.  it's more elliptical than circular I think. Listen to the sound of his cuts. There's more of a swishing rub than the whack of a chop. He's doing it right.

His point about really only using the back half of the knife is important. It is for this reason that you are more efficient with a larger knife. Also, with a larger knife, the angles you work through are smaller reducing motion and work.

Another note, because he's cutting for the camera,  he deviates from the 45 degree angle he taught. Don't be fooled by the necessities of the filming.  the 45 degree work on the board is important for comfort, speed and safety.

When he's demonstrating the claw grip of the guide hand, note how awkward it becomes to raise the knife higher than the knuckle. The pinch and claw, guillotine and glide techniques work to keep you safe and efficient.

When he gets to the low cut summary at just past 12 minutes, the first bullet point is to keep the knife in contact with the board. This maintains the pivot point for the elliptical motion of the cut and is why correct technique for the low cut is so quiet. The knife glides on the board rather than impacting the board.


High Cut

When he demonstrates the high cut, there will be more noise, but not as much as you might think. Noise is a side effect of excess energy and poor technique. Use it as feedback on your technique.

Horizontal cuts in the onion. Notice he uses multiple strokes to make this cut. It' simplest, safest and more accurate this way until you develop a high level of skill. I still use multiple strokes on this cut particularly to not cut all the way through the root.

Onion, vertical and horizontal cuts
When he starts to pull back the knife for the second horizontal stroke. Notice how his knife thins from the heel to the tip. This is the distal taper. It's why you can easily pull back on the blade after it starts to wedge and get stuck. There are many subtle and important features to a chef's knife.

You'll see different chefs do vertical cuts before the horizontal cuts. I don't know that it really makes a difference, but probably I've seen more make the vertical cuts first on TV. I however, make horizontal cuts first. I find it easier. Do what you find easier but do try both methods.

On the vertical cuts, again notice that when he demonstrates poor technique, it gets louder.

Garlic-- this is one reason I don't like wood boards. It's very hard to get onion and garlic flavors out of the wood. As to his peeling technique, I've used it. It bruises the garlic and is not good if you only need a few cloves. Bruised garlic in the fridge gets really pungent and strong. I do use this technique when I need to prepare a lot of garlic for something.

He uses classic French technique for mincing garlic. It works, it's mostly for high end cheffing in my  opinion where the chef demands it.  For a full mince/paste I prefer the crush with the flat of the blade technique. His crush demonstration was too weak. Hit it harder and slide the knife a bit so the garlic comes apart more completely. Then the following mince doesn't have those large pieces. Alternatively, a press or a salt mince is good too.

While he doesn't mention it, he demonstrates another aspect of good knife technique. His knife is SHARP. He never forces the knife. Most of the work is from the geometry of the blade,  the sharpness, it's own weight and some light added pressure. This is also related to his onion commentary on good technique reducing tearing. The sharp knife helps a lot with this as well.