Culinary knife skills -- the very first thing you're taught at a professional culinary school, is also the first subject covered in the Stella Culinary School Podcast.
Whether you're a home enthusiast looking to take your culinary game to the next level or a professional cook, you need to have good knife skills. There's no way around; it doesn't matter how well equipped your kitchen is, how fancy the equipment is you use, if you don't have good knife skills, you aren't a competent cook.
This episode of the Stella Culinary School podcast gives you the foundational understanding necessary to develop excellent knife skills. Pair that with the 40+ instructional videos found in our culinary knife skills video index, and you'll be well on your way to mastering your knife skills.
In the discussion segment:
- What two knives you really need.
- How to choose a knife that's right for you.
- The difference between Japanese and German Knife Manufacturing.
- How important is a full tang knife?
In the technique segment:
- How to hold your chef's knife.
- How to use your guide hand for safety and accurate cutting .
- How to dice, julienne, brunoise and batonnet .
Homework Assignment:
- Buy a 20# sack of potatoes and practice your dice, julienne, brunoise and batonnet .
- Bonus homework assignment: slice up at least three different types of large fruit and display on a large platter, mirror or wooden cutting board.
Ready to test your knife skills knowledge?
- Take The Culinary Knife Skills Quiz
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The Stella Culinary School Podcast is our core curriculum and the most effective method to gain knowledge and take your cooking to the next level. You can view and listen to all episodes by visiting the Stella Culinary School Podcast Index.
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There are 15 Comments
Thanks for the correction. I
Thanks for the correction. I just awarded you 10 extra Stella Stars for catching that.
For home use; hot soapy water
For home use; hot soapy water followed by a mild bleach solution (usually about 10:1). For a professional kitchen, hot soapy water followed by an appropriate sanitizer solution normally provided by the same people who service the dish washer.
Just saw your questions about
Just saw your questions about the cake knife. Obviously you already got it answered over on the forum. Here's a link to that forum topic for anyone else who's interested:
http://www.stellaculinary.com/forum/podcast-questions-and-comments/culin...
No, I haven't covered fluting
No, I haven't covered fluting yet. Maybe will in a future episode.
Hi Newengladdaughter, My
Hi Newengladdaughter,
My suggestion is to just find what you like to cook, and then apply the appropriate knifes skills and cooking techniques.
Look through our knife skills video index, and also through our kitchen prep video index, and just pick out some vegetables you want to play with.
Also, if you have an specific vegetable in mind, let me know, and I can add it to my video shoot list.
Hey Randy, Make sure add my
Hey Randy,
Make sure add my e-mail address, jacob@stellaculinary.com, to your contact list (adress book). Once you do that, shoot me an e-mail, and I'll resend The Guide To Flavor Structure.
@ Sterling08, Looks like the
@ Sterling08,
Looks like the link was broken, but I just fixed it: http://stellaculinary.com/quiz/culinary-knife-skills-quiz
Thanks for the heads up, and please let me know if you run into any more issues.
By the way, welcome to Stella Culinary. Please feel free to create a new forum topic if you have a question, and don't hesitate to ask for help or share your successes/failures as you work your way through our content.
@ J.., You can joint a
@ J..,
You can joint a chicken wing faster using a utility knife or chefs knife. Get a German blade that feels good in your hand.
I would go with a Wusthof 10"
I would go with a Wusthof 10" Chef's Knife if you're willing to spend the money. Durable, easy to sharpen, and great as an all purpose prep knife.