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November 10, 2021 | FRIEDR. DICK KNIVES
Advanced Knife Skills For Home Chefs
Are you ready to level up your knife skills? Before you get started, you’ll need to make sure you have the proper tools. A good chef’s knife is a great all-purpose blade because it’s great for various essential kitchen tasks. You can dice, chop, slice and mince with this one handy knife.
The 1905 - An F.Dick Chef’s Knife
As experts in food and hospitality, we’ve tried out many knives, and one of our all-time favourites is the F.Dick 1905. It's a basic chef's knife that's anything but basic. Like a typical F.Dick knife, it’s high quality, constructed to last a lifetime, using quality materials to produce a hard blade with superior edge retention.
How to Keep Knives Sharp
Before starting any sort of cutting job, ensure your blade is sharp. While it might seem surprising, a sharper knife is safer, because it requires less pushing and pressure, which can cause the blade to slip and nick you.
Most knife sets will come with a sharpening steel, or you can purchase one separately. F.Dick sharpening steels come in traditional rod form, or as a smaller, quick-sharpen gadget for quick and foolproof maintenance, no learning curve required!
Need a bit more guidance? This video will give you a quick primer on how to sharpen knives quickly and properly.
Basic Knife Handling
Your favourite knife is sharpened and ready to go! Take a quick check: are you gripping the knife properly?
1. You can choose to hold your knife with the handle grip, where you make a fist around the handle, with all fingers tucked around it and the thumb in front. This is ideal for novice cooks or those with smaller hands.
2. You can try the blade grip, which involves having your back three fingers curled around the handle. Your thumb is pressed against one side of the blade, near the top, and the side of your pointer finger rests against it directly on the other side. This grip can feel a bit intimidating but offers better control.
Hone your chopping technique
Even a cut as basic as chopping can involve different techniques. Try your hand at The Lever and The Hammer! Over time, you might find these techniques becoming second nature for you in the kitchen.
The Lever
This technique is good for melons, squashes, and pumpkin—any type of hard food with both a stiff exterior and interior. It uses strength from both hands to complete a cut.
To try The Lever:
- position the knife where you want to make a cut
- use the palm of other hand along the top of the blade, near the end
- push down cleanly through the food item.
Need a visual? Check out our video to hone your technique.
The Hammer
The Hammer technique has some similarity to dicing. To try out the Hammer, simply make a quick and even downward motion to cut through the food.
Use it to cut the food item down to a manageable size before continuing this method to chop it down to desired dimensions.
Take a look at our video to see The Hammer in action.
Practice these cuts in your everyday cooking and for preparation of upcoming family meals you may be enjoying for the holiday season