Knife work is the processes of cutting food into specific shapes and sizes. Knife work is important because the size and shape of the food will determines how the food cooks. If a cook cuts vegetables is into uneven sizes, the vegetables will cook for different amount of time.
For instance, small pieces of vegetables will cook quick and become mushy, while large pieces will take longer to cook and will remain crunchy. By preparing vegetables with even, consistent knife cuts, cooks can ensure that the vegetables will cook to the same level of doneness at the same time. There are many type of knife cuts.
Knife Cuts and Safety for Cooking
These cuts can be categorized according to their dimensions. For instance, cooks create julienne cuts with long, thin strips of food that is used for cooking vegetables quickly. If the strips are thicker, cooks can produce batonnet cuts for vegetables that will be roasted or fried.
If the julienne strips is cut into cubes, cooks can produce a brunoise cut for vegetables that will cook very quick. Batonnet cuts can also be prepared into cubes to create a small dice for cooking vegetables slowly. Brunoise cuts will cook faster then small dice with larger cubes.
The type of cut cooks use on vegetables depends on the shape of the vegetables. For instance, leafy vegetables such as basil can be chopped into chiffonade cuts. Rolling the leaves and slicing them into thin ribbons creates chiffonade cuts.
Rondelle cuts are used for vegetables with a circular shape, such as zucchinis. These cuts are circular in shape. Another cut cooks can use is the bias cut, where cooks hold the knife at a 45 degree angle from the vegetable to create the oval shapes.
Yet another cut is the chiffonade cut, which cooks can use to avoid bruising the delicate vegetables. Bruising the leaves will cause them to turn black. The cooking method should match the size of the knife cuts cooks use.
For instance, cooks can use a fine brunoise for vinaigrette based sauces since the brunoise will soften quickly. Yet a large dice is suitable for stews that will cook slow over a long period. For making stocks, cooks can use a rough chop so that the vegetables can be strained from the liquid later.
Mince garlic with a sharp knife to ensure its flavor is evenly distributed throughout the dish. Whatever cooking method cooks use, knife cuts must match to achieve the proper texture of the food. The type of knife cooks use to prepare food is also important.
Chefs use chef’s knives to prepare most of their ingredient. Chef knives have curved blades that allow cooks to rock the knife back and forth when cutting. Santoku knives are used for precise food preparation.
These knives have dimples on their blades that allow cooks to prevent food from sticking to the blade. For cooks that want to use rondelle cuts for their vegetables, a nakiri knife can be helpful. This knife has a flat edge to the blade that cooks can use to create rondelle cuts.
All knives should be sharp so that cooks can easily slice the food. A dull knife will tear the food, which is undesirable and dangerous to use. To prepare food safely, cooks should use the claw grip with their knives.
This grip ensures that the chefs fingertip will not be near the sharp cutting edge of the knife. Cooks should also square off round vegetables before using them. A squared off vegetable will not roll on the cutting board, whereas rolling the vegetable may cause cooks to cut themselves.
Cooks can secure the cutting board by placing a damp towel on the cutting board so that it does not move while cooks are preparing their ingredient. By mastering these knife cuts and adhering to the safety rules cooks must follow, cooks will be able to prepare their dishes more efficient. Using even cuts will lead to even cooking.
Even cooking will result in better tasting food. Additionally, cooks should use the technique of mise en place. This means that cooks should prepare and cut their ingredients before they begin to cook the food.
By doing so, cooks can focus on cooking their food to perfection since their knife work is already complete. Finally, cooks can use the scraps they leave behind from their knife work to make stocks. These stocks contain the flavors of the vegetables that cooks used in their preparation and can be used in other recipes.