Comments on: How to Cut

How to Cut

turbodog — Wed, 02 Feb 2005 14:51:42 -0800

How to Cut illustrates proper knife techniques for a variety of vegetables. [Via Lifehacker]

By: Igor XA

Igor XA — Wed, 02 Feb 2005 14:57:33 -0800

incredible resource. i worked as a cook last year, and it's good to see i have good technique. but i can still learn from this. excellent. [this is good]

By: theFlyingSquirrel

theFlyingSquirrel — Wed, 02 Feb 2005 15:00:46 -0800

I've long suspected that my knife skills were lacking. Time to test my trusty santoku!

By: swordfishtrombones

swordfishtrombones — Wed, 02 Feb 2005 15:04:01 -0800

That is excellent, now I finally have a reason to invest in a proper knive!

By: dflemingdotorg

dflemingdotorg — Wed, 02 Feb 2005 15:05:34 -0800

Wow, wonderful resource. I got a knife set for Christmas and this is just the resource I needed. Cheers!

By: Hobgoblin

Hobgoblin — Wed, 02 Feb 2005 15:08:12 -0800

This is one of the best-designed sites I've seen. The illustrations are simple, clear and, in some cases, beautiful. Also will doubtless improve my knifework.

By: Man O' Straw

Man O' Straw — Wed, 02 Feb 2005 15:10:44 -0800

Any way you slice it, this fpp doesn't cut it. [Sorry, had to - thanks for the link, turbodog!]

By: mathowie

mathowie — Wed, 02 Feb 2005 15:14:27 -0800

Wow, those are amazing illustrations for each vegetable. I can't believe someone went through all the trouble and effort to make that site.

By: O9scar

O9scar — Wed, 02 Feb 2005 15:19:08 -0800

Indeed - incredible attention to detail. Also worth checking out are the Food Network's Knife Skills videos.

By: jacquilynne

jacquilynne — Wed, 02 Feb 2005 15:27:00 -0800

Wonderfully wonderful.

By: Steve_at_Linnwood

Steve_at_Linnwood — Wed, 02 Feb 2005 15:30:20 -0800

Okay, this is cool! Thanks!

By: stacyhall1

stacyhall1 — Wed, 02 Feb 2005 15:31:16 -0800

Lovely illustrations - great idea to simply outline the photo imagery. But they left out a great ginger-prepping trick. After peeling the ginger, slice it into thin rounds (like thin carrot slices). Then roll a heavy bottle (I use a wine bottle) across each slice while pressing down firmly. You get perfectly pulverized ginger, with none of the chunks that happen with dicing.

By: ontic

ontic — Wed, 02 Feb 2005 15:50:01 -0800

Damn, three years ago I paid good money for a course on this. I should have just waited for the webpage. Thanks!

By: caddis

caddis — Wed, 02 Feb 2005 15:51:20 -0800

Awesome.

By: DakotaPaul

DakotaPaul — Wed, 02 Feb 2005 16:00:00 -0800

This is a wonderful resource. Great post!

By: fixedgear

fixedgear — Wed, 02 Feb 2005 16:01:16 -0800

This is very, very good. My wife is a chef (trained at the Restaurant School, Philadelphia) and she said two thumbs up. She's going to show this to some of her employees.

By: chrisabraham

chrisabraham — Wed, 02 Feb 2005 16:04:00 -0800

I went to cooking school for a couple courses with an ex, and I have to say that this is even a better way. All I learned is to how to julienne an onion.

By: freebird

freebird — Wed, 02 Feb 2005 16:11:48 -0800

[this is supadupa]

By: snsranch

snsranch — Wed, 02 Feb 2005 16:14:51 -0800

For years I've been watching various chefs on the Food Network trying to emulate their cutting styles. Alas, NO MORE!!! Yea!!!! Thank you. I now have food cutting freedom.

By: spock

spock — Wed, 02 Feb 2005 16:21:26 -0800

Anybody have a good video with instruction on the best way to cut nuts?

By: sled

sled — Wed, 02 Feb 2005 16:29:05 -0800

Tips in. All fine and good in words until you come home and the girl is missing the tip of her finger. Nonetheless, curl, and tip in.

By: WhiskeyTangoFoxtrot

WhiskeyTangoFoxtrot — Wed, 02 Feb 2005 16:30:56 -0800

Be sure to check out the main page and recipes.

By: WhiskeyTangoFoxtrot

WhiskeyTangoFoxtrot — Wed, 02 Feb 2005 16:38:14 -0800

Er, recipes.

By: goodnewsfortheinsane

goodnewsfortheinsane — Wed, 02 Feb 2005 16:41:28 -0800

Only a person who doesn't like food would dislike this site. (Or perhaps someone who eats out all the freaking time.) Now, would someone explain to me how to properly cut a coconut? I would much like to impress my monkey friends. This is good, turbodog.

By: baphomet

baphomet — Wed, 02 Feb 2005 17:01:24 -0800

As a vegetarian who cooks at least one meal a day you'd better believe this is one of the most useful links I've seen in a long time.

By: Man O' Straw

Man O' Straw — Wed, 02 Feb 2005 17:21:36 -0800

Has anyone seen anything comparable for knife techniques for cutting meats? I did see that there was some video on the subject at the Food Network site O9scar linked to, but now I'm spoiled by turbodog's diagrams.

By: ChasFile

ChasFile — Wed, 02 Feb 2005 17:26:02 -0800

While generally a pretty good guide, I've found that mincing and many fine-dice jobs can be accomplished dramatically faster and easier with a straight-bladed knife like a chinese cleaver than with a tapered chef's knife. Its a shame that the links to his knife selection page aren't more prominent, since having the right tool for the job is oftentimes more critical than having good form. Also, of course, this is the easy stuff. Learning how to properly slice a filet mignon from a whole tenderloin or to butcher and prepare a blowfish (ow!) is much more difficult.

By: jsavimbi

jsavimbi — Wed, 02 Feb 2005 17:28:51 -0800

chinese cleaver (the ultra-sharp $5 kind) aside, this was best link all day.

By: ChasFile

ChasFile — Wed, 02 Feb 2005 17:37:53 -0800

Now, would someone explain to me how to properly cut a coconut? I would much like to impress my monkey friends. To open a coconut, score the shell in a longitundinal manner - that is, in a big circle around the outside starting at the top, going through the bottom, and ending at the top again. Next, flip the knife around so that the sharp side is pointed at you (kids, get your parent's permission, first) and while holding the coconut up like Hamlet holding Yorrick's skull, bash the crap out of it with the blunt side of your knife. It may take a few whacks. Probably many. Make sure when you are whacking to hold the nut sideways so that when it breaks along the longitudinal score you made the milk stays in one half and is available for cooking or pina coladas. Yes I made that last sentence easy to take out of context intentionally. The final step is to get the meat out of the shell, which makes opening the shell itself look easy.

By: randomstriker

randomstriker — Wed, 02 Feb 2005 17:53:31 -0800

I dunno, some of the techniques he espouses are unnecessarily labourious. The quickest way to peel a clove of garlic is to place it flat on your chopping board, place the flat of your knife over it, and lightly pound once on the knife with the palm of your hand. The skin will come right off the clove. The quickest (and least wasteful) to peel ginger isn't to literally peel it, but to scrape it with a small knife. Finally, I guess this is more a matter of personal preference, but peeling potatoes is the biggest waste of time. The skin is tasty and nutritious -- just scrub it clean with a brush. Double finally, never cut / grate / blend basil unless you're using a non-metallic knife. Acids in the juices of the herb react with with the metal and spoil its flavour. Mash it with a pestle and mortar.

By: randomstriker

randomstriker — Wed, 02 Feb 2005 17:54:14 -0800

I guess, on the flip side, the last technique I promoted is MUCH more labourious.

By: LairBob

LairBob — Wed, 02 Feb 2005 18:02:17 -0800

You're totally right about the garlic, randomstriker, but I didn't actually know that about basil and metals. Good to know (and it explains a lot of past problems with minced basil tasting bad). Thanks.

By: Songdog

Songdog — Wed, 02 Feb 2005 18:14:12 -0800

Thank you, turbodog, for this link, and associated others for your good advice!

By: odinsdream

odinsdream — Wed, 02 Feb 2005 18:20:38 -0800

Thanks for the link, and thanks for the basil tip randomstriker.

By: Espoo2

Espoo2 — Wed, 02 Feb 2005 18:22:36 -0800

For garlic, if you are in a big rush, about 10 seconds in the microwave will make the skin come right off.

By: fatllama

fatllama — Wed, 02 Feb 2005 18:24:44 -0800

Great link. Also, this AskMeFi thread and, in particular, this comment were great inspirations to get a sharpening set and steel, learn some knife-ology, and have that much more fun cutting things.

By: CunningLinguist

CunningLinguist — Wed, 02 Feb 2005 18:26:34 -0800

Can I evangelize about ceramic knives some more now that the whole basil thing came up? No? You're ALL sick of me and the ceramic knives? Wow. Okay. Well, so I have a question. Every guide I've ever seen, and every trained chef I've seen both in reality and on TV always curl their fingers under. I can't seem to get the hang of this. I cook a lot and so far so good but am I guaranteed to lose the tips of my fingers at some point? (Those ceramic knives are sharp!)

By: Doohickie

Doohickie — Wed, 02 Feb 2005 18:27:08 -0800

Neat. I've been slicing and dicing more veggies (some of which I am not familiar with; I had my first parsnip the other night) since I started my diet. Knowing the right techniques will undoubtedly save time. Add this one to my bookmarks.

By: caddis

caddis — Wed, 02 Feb 2005 19:00:25 -0800

Curling your fingers under presents your nails towards the blade so that any slip is less damaging. With a sharp knife I can tell you from experience that nails are not that tough. I cut right through one of my nails with a sharp knife. Ouch! At least it was only the nail and not the tip of my finger.

By: Hands of Manos

Hands of Manos — Wed, 02 Feb 2005 19:06:02 -0800

I'm up for "damn this is cool!" as well. Very, very cool site!

By: graventy

graventy — Wed, 02 Feb 2005 19:28:11 -0800

Great site! Finally, my fingers can live in a pain free world.

By: JGreyNemo

JGreyNemo — Wed, 02 Feb 2005 19:41:37 -0800

This will totally garotte some people's finer preparations of cooking But any leafy herb like basil or coriander (cilantro) can be put into a glass jam jar and you can use a clean pair of kitchen scissors to chop them up, a very good technique if you don't have enough benchspace to cut up the herbs as well as the veggies. (I finally have a big enough kitchen in my apartment to negate having to do this.... although if I'm in a rush I do it anyway)

By: Bdave

Bdave — Wed, 02 Feb 2005 20:11:03 -0800

Neat. Makes me hungry. And I have difficulty curling the fingers under as well.

By: kamylyon

kamylyon — Wed, 02 Feb 2005 20:37:22 -0800

[this is good]

By: ktrey

ktrey — Wed, 02 Feb 2005 21:54:09 -0800

crunchland can cut a mean onion

By: Justinian

Justinian — Thu, 03 Feb 2005 00:53:51 -0800

Good link! For everyone concerned about cutting basil: I don't believe the thing about metal changing the taste is true. Mortar and Pestle is traditional for the purists and does have a slightly different flavor, but that's because the basil is crushed rather than chopped. Even professional chefs will often use a food processor when making pesto sauce. Anyway, I'd need some sort of proof before accepting that metal "reacts" with the basil. I've never heard it before and google doesn't turn up anything.

By: madman

madman — Thu, 03 Feb 2005 01:16:55 -0800

I'll give you free lessons with my chinese cleaver if you make it to my part of the world. ;) How to peel and mince garlic in 5 seconds... :) Get yourself a nice Chinese cleaver. It's worth it. (Or a Global if you like a nice sharp chef knife.) And remember, the sharper the knife, the less chance you'll cut yourself.

By: fixedgear

fixedgear — Thu, 03 Feb 2005 02:08:41 -0800

Basil + metal = bad is an urban legend. In Italy basil is commonly chopped with a mezaluna, which is a fine tool made of metal. We use a Cuisinart to make pesto, then freeze it. Mortar and pestle is cool, though. Also - I'm not sure I want to eat your DIY fugu, ChasFile. Japanese chefs train for something like three years to learn proper preparation. Smashing garlic with the flat side of a knife is the way to go, and every recipe I know says "heat up olive oil in a pan, add minced garlic."

By: pracowity

pracowity — Thu, 03 Feb 2005 02:24:23 -0800

Fetish.

By: laukf

laukf — Thu, 03 Feb 2005 03:29:02 -0800

I too have received a lovely new knife for Christmas and this resource makes me want to sharpen my skills. Learning to cut an onion properly has saved me ages! But surely tear basil rather than cut it? I'm also very impressed by the Lifehacker blog ... fun stuff.

By: briank

briank — Thu, 03 Feb 2005 05:11:07 -0800

Fantastic site. I have just started a year-long professional chef training program, and we did cover these same techniques in our (all-too-brief, IMHO) knife skills class. Having these illustrations as a reference would be a great guide, especially for people who aren't accustomed to the basics -- I'm going to bring this to the attention of the people at my cooking school to include in our course materials.

By: Yellowbeard

Yellowbeard — Thu, 03 Feb 2005 06:47:52 -0800

Excellent post. My knives are very very good (Wustoff classics) and I thought my knife skills were pretty good (they are ok, I find, but I have learned a lot, here). Thanks for this!

By: sciurus

sciurus — Thu, 03 Feb 2005 07:14:53 -0800

Thank you very much for showing us this. It will definitely help me out. I find the quickest way to get the skin off a clove of garlic is to rub it between my hands very quickly.

By: Yellowbeard

Yellowbeard — Thu, 03 Feb 2005 07:32:02 -0800

Actually (and I should probably be ashamed), I have found that the fastest way to get skin of garlic and to mince it is to buy it pre-minced in a big jar. I have been considering, lately, buying the peeled but unminced garlic instead. Can any purests tell me just how much this may be affecting my taste? I know I should probably be using the fresh stuff, but it's so /easy/ to just add a little more than is called for.

By: pracowity

pracowity — Thu, 03 Feb 2005 07:52:44 -0800

Can any purests tell me just how much this may be affecting my taste? If you're buying pre-minced garlic by the big jar, I can only suppose it's making you taste, or at least smell, a bit garlicky.

By: casu marzu

casu marzu — Thu, 03 Feb 2005 07:56:22 -0800

It can affect the taste quite a bit. minced garlic is vile, containing chemicals and other off-flavors, and does not come in the right form for many applications (i.e. when you need sliced, or whole cloves, obviously). Think about it: fresh garlic has a relatively long shelf-life compared with other produce, but its peak freshness only lasts a few weeks, followed by a gradual decline. What do you think is keeping the zombified jarred garlic in a state of relative flavor stasis? Two things: the state it's in is less than prime (thus there's less room for decline), and there are all kinds of stabilizers and other flavor-killers involved. Contrary to popular belief, fresh garlic comes in numerous varieties with a wide range of subtle flavors, often nutty. You won't find any of these in the jar, though. If there's one near you, I'd highly recommend that you seek out a nearby farmer's market. You'll find the largest variety of garlics in the fall -- the range of types and flavors is impressive. Jarred garlic is easy to overuse, thereby ruining whatever you put it in. Those jars are huge, aren't they? If you follow the instructions for peeling/cutting garlic given above, you'll find it takes very little time at all.

By: carter

carter — Thu, 03 Feb 2005 08:00:14 -0800

Nice stuff and nice looking site, thanks turbodog!

By: stp123

stp123 — Thu, 03 Feb 2005 08:43:47 -0800

I'm surprised by how many chefs on TV don't seem to know the "keep the root on" trick for cutting onions and garlic. I've even read cooking books with sections on knife skills that show inferior approaches. Odd. How does a simple, commonly needed best practice like this not propagate absolutely everywhere?

By: randomstriker

randomstriker — Thu, 03 Feb 2005 09:27:47 -0800

Well this is one of those instances I'm glad to be wrong about something. No more wasting my (girlfriend's) time with a mortar and pestle!

By: bradhill

bradhill — Thu, 03 Feb 2005 09:46:27 -0800

Basil, lettuce, etc. do react and discolor, but only if cut with a non-stainless steel knife. That oh-so-sharp but cheap Chinese cleaver is out for greens, but most modern kitchen knives are fine. The quickest and easiest way to peel ginger is with an ordinary spoon. Try it - it's amazing. This site misses the best and most common way to prepare an avocado. Cut in half, and remove the pit as shown, but then slice or cut into cubes in the skin, and scoop out carefully with a spoon. Not only is this easier and less damaging than peeling by hand, but you can advance prep a few and have them ready to scoop without the pieces going brown in the meantime. I'll also second the recommendation on Global knives, and point those looking for further instruction in the manner of this site to La Technique by Jacques Pepin. It is the classic text on kitchen techniques, fully photographed, step-by-step. Veggies are only the beginning - how to prepare meats, garnishes, flute mushrooms, work with meringue, etc. It's been around for a long time, so you should be able to pick up a copy for a few bucks at your local used book store.

By: five fresh fish

five fresh fish — Thu, 03 Feb 2005 10:31:00 -0800

I use a Microplane Grater for my garlic these days. Quick, easy.

By: surfdad2

surfdad2 — Thu, 03 Feb 2005 12:32:15 -0800

Every so I often I come across something which stops me in my tracks, and makes me think 'aren't humans fantastic!' This detailed and beautifully presented analysis of such a basic activity as cutting up our food has been one of them. I view with similar awe and wonder the work and effort, particularly on the net, which goes into describing, depicting and celebrating other basic human functions, such as procreation. (Could put in a few links here but as this is only my second comment I don't want to stir up the ire of those who watch over us.)

By: turbodog

turbodog — Thu, 03 Feb 2005 13:26:52 -0800

As I browsed deeper into the site, I found another good one: how to cut a chicken.

By: Man O' Straw

Man O' Straw — Thu, 03 Feb 2005 15:07:52 -0800

Awesome - thanks for the update!

By: uncanny hengeman

uncanny hengeman — Thu, 03 Feb 2005 16:11:46 -0800

Why the hell would you want to peel an onion like that? It looks laborious and slightly dangerous. My top secret method: 1. Chop off both ends. (using a cutting board, not holding the thing in your hands and cutting towards you!) 2. Make a shallow cut along the length of the onion. 3. Rip off ALL the skin in one go. 4. Slice'n'dice as desired. Too bloody easy.

By: turbodog

turbodog — Thu, 03 Feb 2005 16:32:11 -0800

I too am puzzled why he peels onions, shallots, etc. with a knife. Possibly his knife skills are so good that he can do it as quickly as other techniques. Ever seen one of the Iron Chefs (I.C. French?) peel an apple with a chef's knife in no time or Martin Yan debone a chicken in under 30 seconds?

By: uncanny hengeman

uncanny hengeman — Thu, 03 Feb 2005 16:56:08 -0800

Possibly his knife skills are so good that he can do it as quickly as other techniques. That's probably it. I'm too old to learn to do it properly, it would seem! I'll stick with my quaint method instead. Plus it honestly looks dangerous. I wouldn't trust myself.