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Questions tagged [knife-skills]

99 questions
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4 answers

How can I safely improve my cutting technique

I'm not bad with knives if I should say so myself. My cutting speed is definitely above average, but I've have never been trained by professionals. Most of what I know, I have picked a long the way, trying out some different stuff, practice etc. I…
user239
12
votes
3 answers

What is the advantage to using a knife beveled on one side only?

In European tradition, knives are beveled on both sides of the blade; coming to a point in the middle. In Japanese tradition, however, the bevel is only formed on one side (usually the right-hand side). What is the purpose and/or advantage of this?
razumny
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What is the difference between "mince" and "dice"?

Some recipes use the term to dice, and other recipes use the term to mince. What is the difference between to dice, and to mince used in culinary?
apaderno
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6
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Cooking one-handed: things to watch out for

I'm temporarily without the use of my left, non-dominant, hand (broken shoulder after a bike crash). Obviously my cooking will be rather limited but I still want to make some home made food. What should I be careful of? I'm mainly thinking of main…
Chris H
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4
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Claw grip to cut a convex body (Half onions , half tomatoes etc)

I am running into a problem when I try to cut onions/tomatoes using claw grips. I will try describe my problem using a picture. When I begin at one end and start moving to the mid line of the piece it's all fine: However, when I reach the midline,…
tryst with freedom
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How to hold a santoku?

I am trying to grasp the very basics of using a (westernized) santoku knife. First things first: how to hold it. This is the balance point: This is my interpretation of "pinch grip"(grossly exaggerated). I imagine the remaining fingers are there…
Vorac
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What is a tourne knife used for?

For my birthday, I was given a collection of more or less esoteric knives, such as two mezzalunas (one with one handle, and one with two), a sicle knife and a tourne knife. My question is this; what is the latter, the tourne knife, used for?
razumny
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3
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How to slice smoked salmon really thinly?

I have recently decided to try to home smoke fresh salmon (FYI using a half-size school locker). Once I have the product, though, I am not sure how to slice it thinly, as it is commonly sold commercially. I have a half-baked idea that I could freeze…
Doug
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What are the advantages of a long knife?

A while back, I had a conversation with a purveyor of knives. I asked her to recommend two knives; a general purpose knife and something to use to carve a turkey, steak etc. Both her recommendations surprised me; one was a 175 mm Santoku, the other…
razumny
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Honing Steel Forward or Backward

I'm really confused before I thought when you hone a knife you bring the edge towards you however the other day I was watching gordon ramsay bringing the edge away when honing. I tried searching on this topic however couldn't find anything. Could…
simplyjon
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