2. Knife Skills 12

3. Objective
Prepare a workstation for knife work.

4. Preparing the Workstation
Follow these steps to prepare your workstation:
Select a cleaned and sanitized cutting board
Place a damp towel between the cutting board and worktable to prevent the board from shifting
Adjust the height of the worktable and cutting board as necessary
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5. Preparing the Workstation
Select the appropriate knife and make sure the edge is sharp
Stand with feet shoulder-width apart and weight evenly distributed on both feet facing the worktable

6. Objective
Execute the proper technique for cutting with a chef’s knife.

7. Using the Chef’s Knife
The chef’s knife is the most important knife in the kitchen
A chef’s knife can be used to chop, slice, cut, and mince a wide range of foods
The most common sizes are 8- and 10-inch knives

8. The Knife Grip Grip the knife with your dominant hand
Grasp the portion of the knife blade just next to the end of the handle with the thumb and forefinger
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9. The Knife Grip
Wrap remaining fingers comfortably around the handle

10. The Guiding Hand Positioning the guiding hand
Curl fingertips under slightly to protect the fingertips
Place your thumb and pinkie finger behind the other fingers to grasp the object during cutting

11. The Cutting Motion
The knife stroke used with a chef’s knife is a combination of a downward and forward motion
Begin your stroke with the tip of the chef knife pointed toward the cutting board
The knife glides forward as the handle of the knife descends toward the cutting board

12. Technique: Cutting with the Chef Knife
Position guiding hand on one or more smaller objects. Thumb and pinkie are holding the object(s) securely and are behind the other fingers. Front fingers are curved. Finger position determines the location of the cut.
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13. Technique: Cutting with the Chef Knife
Place flat side of chef’s knife against middle joint of the front fingers of the guiding hand. The knife blade should be resting on the object(s).
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14. Technique: Cutting with the Chef Knife
Gently glide chef’s knife in a forward and down motion until the entire blade of the knife is resting on the cutting board. The object(s) should be completely cut.
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15. Technique: Cutting with the Chef Knife
Lift the back end of the knife so the tip remains pointing down. Slide guiding hand to the location of the next cut. Verify the position of the guiding hand and begin again at step one.

16. Objective
Execute the three basic knife cuts.

17. Basic Knife Cuts
Foodservice professionals must be able to produce consistently cut shapes
The three basic knife cuts are
slice
stick
dice
Chefs become proficient at producing basic knife cuts with practice

18. Slices Slices should be the same thickness
Rondelles are often ¼-inch (6 mm) thick
Lightly trim one side of the food so one side is flat to prevent rolling while cutting

19. Sticks Most common stick cuts
Batonnet (bat ohn AY) — 2 x 1/4 x 1/4 inches (50 x 6 x 6 mm) Julienne (joo lee EHN) — 2 x 1/8 x 1/8 inches (50 x 3 x 3 mm)

20. Dices To make a dice, cut across stick cuts to make cubes
Most common dice cuts
Large dice Medium dice
Small dice
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21. Dices Most common dice cuts (continued)
Brunoise (broon WAHZ) Paysanne (pay ZAHN)

22. Technique: Preparing Stick and Dice Cuts
Trim food item so it is flat on one side.
Trim the other five sides of the food to create a rectangular box.
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23. Technique: Preparing Stick and Dice Cuts
Cut lengthwise slices according to the thickness required for the specific stick cut.
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24. Technique: Preparing Stick and Dice Cuts
Cut each slice lengthwise into uniformly sized sticks based on the dimensions of the desired stick cut.
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25. Technique: Preparing Stick and Dice Cuts
Cut sticks into cubes to create dice cuts.

26. Mincing
The chef’s knife is also used for mincing foods, such as fresh herbs, garlic, and olives
Remove food that sticks to the blade during mincing by dragging a finger from the back of the knife toward the edge
Drag the knife blade across the cutting board to push food back into a neat pile

27. Technique: Mincing
Place tip of knife on cutting board. Place guiding hand on the back of the tip of the knife. Keep fingers of the guiding hand away from the blade.
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28. Technique: Mincing
To mince a product, lower and raise the chef knife repeatedly while pivoting the knife on the rounded front section of the blade.

29. Objective
Apply the correct techniques for using a boning knife.

30. Using the Boning Knife
There are three methods for gripping a boning knife
All fingers grip the handle of the knife
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31. Using the Boning Knife
All fingers except the index finger grip the handle. Index finger rests on the back of the blade.
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32. Using the Boning Knife
3. All fingers wrap around the handle with the blade pointing down.
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33. Using the Boning Knife
The guiding hand manipulates the fish or meat during the cutting process
A cut-resistant glove may reduce the chance of an accident

34. Objective
Demonstrate the correct use of a paring knife.

35. Using the Paring Knife
The paring knife can be used for a wide variety of small tasks such as
carving, trimming, or peeling vegetables and fruits
making the classical knife cut called a tourné

36. Technique: Preparing Vegetable Tournés
Cut the vegetable to approximate desired length of the tourné.
Hold trimmed vegetable in the guiding hand.
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37. Technique: Preparing Vegetable Tournés
Place thumb of the knife hand on or near the end of the vegetable. Make one continuous cut starting at the top of the vegetable drawing the knife toward the bottom in a slightly rounded fashion.
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38. Technique: Preparing Vegetable Tournés
Turn vegetable 1/7th revolution and make another cut. Right-handed cooks turn the vegetable counterclockwise, while left-handed cooks turn the vegetable clockwise. Finished tourné should have seven equal sides.

39. Objective
Implement the proper technique when using a slicer or serrated bread knife.

40. Using the Slicer and Serrated Bread Knife
To use a slicer or serrated bread knife,
wrap your hand around the handle with no fingers on the blade
use a long, sawing motion with minimal downward pressure

41. Review
Describe the procedures for preparing a workstation for knife work
Clean and sanitize cutting board; place damp towel between cutting board and worktable to prevent board from shifting; adjust height of worktable or cutting board, if necessary; select appropriate knife; use correct stance
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42. Review Explain the proper technique for cutting with a chef knife
When cutting, fingertips of the guiding hand are curled under for safety and accuracy
Guiding hand guides the knife as it makes uniform cuts using a smooth, forward and downward motion
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43. Review What types of knife cuts are made with the chef’s knife?
Slices, sticks, dices, mince
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44. Review Describe the proper technique for using a boning knife
All fingers grip handle; all fingers grip handle except for index finger resting on back of blade; or all fingers wrap around handle with blade pointing down
During cutting, the guiding hand maneuvers the food item being cut
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45. Review What is the paring knife commonly used for?
carving, peeling, trimming, and making tournés
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46. Review
Explain the correct technique for cutting with a slicer or serrated bread knife
Sawing motion with little downward pressure; product should not be smashed