Knife Techniques/ Types of Knives
Types:
- 8"-10" Chef's knife: Your kitchen workhorse for slicing, dicing, chopping, and mincing. Prices can vary from $30 to well over $100. But note: This is definitely a tool worth investing in.
- Bread (serrated) knife: A must-have for cutting tomatoes and slicing bread. Serrated knives cut these items easily, without crushing the food.
- Paring knife: Great for smaller cutting jobs, like slicing lemons or cheese. When entertaining, your paring knife can also be set out with a bar cutting board for guests to cut garnishes
- Slice: Lay vegetable on clean cutting board and slowly cut down from the top to create uniform pieces.
- Julienne: cutting into long, thin strips
- Dice: to cut into small cubes
- Cross Chop: to quickly chop into tiny pieces
- Rock Chop: Similar to the cross chop, hold the handle of the blade and keep the tip of the knife down on the board. But with the rock chop, you use your other hand to move the ingredient. As you chop, you will be keeping the blade still whilst you push the vegetable forward.Remember to curl your fingers to keep them safe from the blade.
Baking Tips
- Cheesecake do not over mix because it incorporates to much air causing it to puff while baking then collapse when its out of the oven cause cracks
- run knife around edge because if cheesecake sticks it collapses in the middle causing crack
- Use room- temperature ingredients
- butter or flour pans generously
- use salt
- let it cool completely (unless you can't)
- use substitutions at your own risk
- Grate butter for a quick and more even distribution
- a little sour cream can bring out a lot of flavor
While Cooking Tips/ Methods
- when cooking pasta cook it about 1 minutes less because when you add it to the pan and sauce it cooks all the way through
- pre-soak pasta noodles and they will cook quicker
- butter or spray grater for a more easy shredding
- the higher the temperature the less the time
- higher temperature means to shorten the time
- higher temperature means to shorten the time
Storage Tips
- Store spices in a cool, dark place, not above your stove. Humidity, light and heat will cause herbs and spices to lose their flavor.
- put flour, sugar, etc, in air tight containers for a pretty look and a cleaner way to scoop
- replace equipment if they are cracked or have lots of scratches because bacteria can hid in those spaces
Conversion Chart
Have fun cooking, and remember mistakes happen, but as you learn from these mistakes your dishes will improve.