Hey all you scruffy looking Nerf Herders,
As promised, I’ve been trying to figure out the best way to post a video of the knife skills I discussed towards the end of Post #3. Unfortunately, I found that I don’t really have the facilities to produce a quality video for you. Needless to say, I’m going to be working on this for the future. In the meantime, I think I’ll steal from some of my close friends and some people that I have a lot of respect for in the culinary community.
My friend, Chef Jacob Burton from Stella Culinary and the Stella Culinary School Podcast, has produced some fantastic videos on today’s topic. I highly recommend everything that Chef Jacob is doing to anyone that is interested in learning a little bit more about the culinary field and culinary skills.
So, first we’re going to visit and talk about How to hold a Chef’s Knife. The “Pinch Grip” that Chef Jacob demonstrates in the video is the most commonly accepted professional way to hold a knife. The “Hammer Grip” that is most common among culinary laymen is not efficient and, in my opinion, extremely dangerous. I feel that it is dangerous because there is the chance that the knife grip can roll in your hand. This could lead to the blade sliding sideways off of the item you’re cutting. This could damage your knife, or worse damage YOU.
Recently, when I have shown this technique to a few people I was working in a kitchen with, I got some fantastic feedback about the technique. Every person that I have shown this proper method to has said that it was amazing how much better it felt and that they would use this method from now on.
Now lets talk about that other hand. We call this your “Guide Hand”. Your guide hand is what holds the item you’re cutting. Unless you want to julienne your fingers, I highly recommend using a proper guide hand technique. Now back to Chef Jacob for the video on How to Use Your Guide Hand.
Hopefully you enjoyed those videos. For the guide hand, which is sometimes called the “Claw Hand”, I thought a picture might help.
Thanks for stopping by. Remember you can comment or contact me directly if you have any questions, topic suggestions. You are what makes this all fun and possible for me… revel in it, and…
May The Food Be With You.