9 Essential Knife Skills To Master | Epicurious 101

Summary

Frank, un chef profesional y instructor culinario, presenta una lección básica de técnicas de cuchillo para cocinar en casa. Explica cómo se sostiene el cuchillo y la mano que sostiene el ingrediente, destacando la importancia de una postura correcta y seguridad. Cubre cortes básicos como picar, cortar en dados, julianear, cortar en rodajas y en cubos. Resalta la necesidad de cuchillos afilados y la práctica constante para mejorar. Finalmente, advierte sobre los peligros de cortar de manera incorrecta, como lo demuestra Kendall Jenner.

Takeaways

• 🔪 Buenas habilidades con el cuchillo mejorarán tu cocina, no solo por presentación sino también para evitar desperdicios y cocinar de manera más segura.
• 🤝 El agarre correcto del cuchillo, conocido como 'agarrre de apretón de manos', proporciona mayor control y seguridad.
• 🦀 Mantener los dedos del otro mano enrollados hacia adentro, en una posición conocida como 'garra', para proteger los dedos mientras se corta.
• 🧍 Mantener una buena postura al cortar, con las rodillas ligeramente dobladas y el cuerpo alineado con el tablero de cortar.
• ⚔ Un cuchillo afilado es esencial para cortar de manera segura y precisa; honrar el cuchillo cada 10 minutos para mantenerlo en óptimas condiciones.
• 🥕 El 'corte alto' es ideal para objetos grandes y el 'corte bajo' para cortes más finos y precisos.
• 🍅 El corte en rodajas es útil para obtener capas delgadas y uniformes, ideales para sándwiches o hamburguesas.
• 🥕 El corte en juliana es un corte fino y largo, ideal para platos finos y adornos.
• 🥬 El chiffonade es un corte en tiras finas, comúnmente utilizado para hierbas y adornos.
• 🚫 Evitar cortar de manera peligrosa, como lo demuestra Kendall Jenner, que cubre su vista y aumenta el riesgo de lesiones.

Q & A

¿Qué habilidades básicas en uso de cuchillo enseña Frank en su lección?

Frank enseña habilidades como cortar en juliana, picar, hacer una chiffonade, hacer un cubo y cómo usar una cuchilla de chef de manera profesional.

¿Cuál es la importancia de tener buenas habilidades con el cuchillo según Frank?

Las buenas habilidades con el cuchillo mejoran la cocina, evitan desperdicios, hacen que los alimentos se cocinen de manera más uniforme y aumentan la seguridad en la cocina.

¿Cómo se debe sostener correctamente un cuchillo según Frank?

Se debe usar el agarre de apretón, donde se toma el cuchillo como si fuera una mano y se aprieta en la espina del mismo, con los dedos y el pulgar bien sujetos.

¿Qué se refiere Frank cuando habla del 'garra' y cómo afecta la seguridad al cortar?

El 'garra' es la forma de sostener el alimento que se está cortando, con los dedos y el pulgar bien sujetos y protegidos, lo que evita cortarse y aumenta la seguridad.

¿Por qué es importante mantener una buena postura al cortar alimentos según Frank?

Una buena postura evita el cansancio y reduce el riesgo de lesiones, al mismo tiempo que permite realizar cortes precisos y eficientes.

¿Qué tipos de cortes básicos cubre Frank en su lección de habilidades con el cuchillo?

Frank cubre cortes como el alto (chop), el bajo (rocking), el corte de dices, el corte de rodajas, el corte en juliana, el corte en batón y el corte en bias.

¿Cómo debe ser el primer paso antes de comenzar a cortar un vegetal redondo como una zanahoria?

Primero se debe cortar las extremidades para crear una superficie plana, lo que evita que el vegetal se desplace y se corten de manera segura y precisa.

¿Qué tipo de corte es el 'dice' y cómo se realiza?

El 'dice' es un corte de precisión que transforma un vegetal en cubos uniformes. Se realiza haciendo cortes en ambos sentidos hasta obtener un cubo, con la ayuda de un movimiento de alta y baja del cuchillo.

¿Cuál es la diferencia entre un corte de 'juliana' y un corte de 'batón'?

El corte de 'juliana' produce finas lonchas, mientras que el corte de 'batón' produce rodajas de forma rectangular, más gruesas y utilizadas generalmente como guarnición.

¿Qué lección de seguridad ofrece Frank sobre el uso de cuchillos afilados?

Frank enfatiza que un cuchillo afilado es más seguro que uno desafilado, ya que evita el esfuerzo excesivo que podría llevar a errores y lesiones. También recomienda afilar el cuchillo cada 10 minutos de uso.

Outlines

00:00

🍴 Introducción a las habilidades con cuchillos

Frank, un chef profesional e instructor culinario, presenta las habilidades esenciales con cuchillos para mejorar la cocina en casa. Explica cómo estas técnicas no solo mejoran la presentación, sino que también aumentan la seguridad, reducen el desperdicio y aseguran una cocción más uniforme. La clave para mejorar es practicar y aprender a usar correctamente el cuchillo del chef, comenzando por el agarre adecuado, llamado 'agarre de apretón de manos', y la importancia de una postura correcta mientras se corta.

05:00

🔪 Técnica para cortes precisos y seguros

Frank explica la importancia de mantener los dedos protegidos al sostener los alimentos con la mano contraria, utilizando la técnica de la 'garra'. También destaca la postura correcta frente a la tabla de cortar y el uso de cuchillos afilados para evitar accidentes. Además, menciona la importancia de afilar los cuchillos regularmente para mantener un corte eficiente. Finalmente, introduce dos cortes comunes: el corte alto para objetos grandes y el corte bajo para cortes finos.

10:04

🍅 Cortes precisos y eficientes con diversos ingredientes

En este párrafo, Frank muestra cómo realizar cortes precisos, como el dado, utilizando una calabaza. Explica cómo crear superficies planas para mayor seguridad y cómo ajustar los cortes para lograr formas uniformes. También detalla cómo usar un cuchillo para pelar eficientemente y realizar cortes uniformes para una mejor presentación, destacando la importancia de no aplastar los ingredientes y usar movimientos controlados.

Keywords

💡Cocina profesional

La 'cocina profesional' se refiere a un entorno de trabajo en el que se cocinan alimentos a gran escala, generalmente en restaurantes o instituciones. En el guion, se menciona que la técnica de cuchillo es crucial en una cocina profesional, ya que permite realizar cortes precisos y eficientes, lo que es fundamental para la calidad y presentación de los platos.

💡Técnicas de cuchillo

Las 'técnicas de cuchillo' son los diferentes métodos y estilos de usar un cuchillo en la cocina para cortar, picar o tallar alimentos de manera efectiva. El guion abarca varias de estas técnicas, como el 'chop', el 'dice', el 'julienne', entre otros, y cómo cada una de ellas se aplica para lograr cortes específicos y mejorar la experiencia culinaria.

💡Cuchillo de chef

El 'cuchillo de chef' es una herramienta esencial en la cocina, especialmente en entornos profesionales. Se caracteriza por su tamaño mediano y su habilidad para realizar una amplia variedad de cortes. En el guion, se destaca su importancia y se enseña cómo se debe manejar para obtener los mejores resultados.

💡Afilar cuchillos

El 'afilar cuchillos' es un proceso necesario para mantener la hoja del cuchillo en perfecto estado, lo que permite cortes más precisos y seguros. El guion menciona la importancia de tener cuchillos afilados y ofrece consejos para mantenerlos en buen estado durante el uso.

💡Postura

La 'postura' es fundamental para la seguridad y la eficiencia en la cocina. El guion describe cómo se debe posicionar el cuerpo, inclinarse ligeramente y mantener las rodillas flexionadas para evitar lesiones y mejorar la precisión en las técnicas de cuchillo.

💡Control de cuchillo

El 'control de cuchillo' implica la habilidad para manejar el cuchillo de manera segura y efectiva. Se menciona en el guion que un buen control reduce el riesgo de lesiones y mejora la calidad de los cortes, destacando la importancia de la 'grip de apretón de manos' para un mejor manejo.

💡Corte de precision

Un 'corte de precision' se refiere a técnicas de cuchillo que requieren un control fino y un corte uniforme, como el 'dice' o el 'julienne'. Estos cortes son cruciales para la presentación y la cocción uniforme de los alimentos, y el guion proporciona ejemplos de cómo realizarlos correctamente.

💡Corte de talla

El 'corte de talla' es una técnica de cuchillo utilizada para obtener trozos de tamaño y forma consistentes, como en el caso de los 'batons' o 'julienne'. El guion explica cómo se realiza este tipo de cortes para lograr una presentación y una cocción uniformes en los platos.

💡Seguridad en la cocina

La 'seguridad en la cocina' es un tema recurrente en el guion, subrayando la importancia de mantener una buena postura, usar cuchillos afilados y tener una visión clara de lo que se está cortando para evitar lesiones. Se enfatiza que una técnica de cuchillo correcta y prácticas seguras son esenciales en la cocina.

💡Practicar

La 'práctica' es un concepto clave en el guion, ya que se entiende que la mejora en las habilidades de cuchillo viene con el tiempo y el ejercicio. Se sugiere que la práctica regular es la clave para dominar las técnicas de cuchillo y mejorar la habilidad en la cocina.

Highlights

Introduction to essential knife skills for the kitchen.

Importance of good knife skills for cooking efficiency and safety.

The chef's knife as the most used tool in a professional kitchen.

Demonstration of the proper handshake grip for holding a knife.

Explanation of the 'claw' technique for holding food while cutting.

Importance of good posture and body alignment while using a knife.

The danger of using a dull knife and the need for regular sharpening.

Differentiating between high cut (chopping) and low cut (rocking) techniques.

Technique for cutting a flat surface on round objects for safety.

How cutting size affects cooking time and presentation.

The process of dicing vegetables for precision cuts.

Using the high cut and low cut for different stages of the dice.

The slice cut for thin even layers on tomatoes and onions.

Cutting large and heavy items like watermelons safely and efficiently.

The baton cut for garnishing dishes with matchstick shapes.

Julienne cut for creating fine matchsticks, often used as garnish.

Bias cut for creating angled slices, useful for garnishes and even cooking.

Mince cut for rapid, small-scale chopping of ingredients.

Chiffonade cut for creating thin shreds or threads of herbs.

Oblique cut for making even slices from unevenly shaped ingredients.

The dangers of improper cutting techniques demonstrated by a celebrity example.

Encouragement to practice knife skills and use visual aids for learning.

Transcripts

- Hi, I'm Frank.

I'm a professional chef and a culinary instructor

and I'm gonna show you the essential knife skills you need

in the kitchen.

We will slice, we will dice, we'll chiffonade.

We'll julienne, we might even cube some stuff.

I'll be going over the knife skills you need to

make restaurant quality dishes at home.

This is knife skills 101.

Having good knife skills is going to improve your cooking

and it's not just for presentation.

You're gonna waste less, your food's gonna cook more evenly

and you're gonna be safer in the kitchen.

The only way to get better at knife skills is to practice.

And today I'm gonna show you how to do that.

I'm gonna turn everything on this tray into this.

The chef's knife is the most used tool

in a professional kitchen

and you need to know how to use it.

Let's start with showing you how to properly hold a knife.

The most common grip is called the handshake grip.

So I'm gonna shake hands with this knife.

I put it in my hand, I wrap my fingers around

and I grab the knife basically on the spine.

A lot of times when people are starting out in the kitchen

they do the old finger here

people put the finger here thinking

that it gives them control

but eventually you're gonna get really tired

and being tired always leads to injury.

You look at the handshake grip

and it gives you lots of leverage, lots of control.

So tuck that finger in.

Regardless of what you choose

a good grip's gonna give you power, control and safety.

Now you know how to hold your knife

but you have a whole other hand.

The other hand is what holds the thing you're cutting.

So you wanna make sure that you keep those digits tucked in.

We call this the claw.

Fingers tucked in, thumb tucked under

the knife should always be resting

on your longest knuckle.

Whenever I stand in front of a cutting board

I'm making sure

that my shoulders are squared to the cutting board.

I bend my knees slightly

because you don't wanna stand with a stiff back.

I see a lot of people doing this.

The hunch, don't do the hunch.

Good posture is really important when you're chopping

and cutting, and a lot

of people will go on an angle, this is how I cut

but I always tell people when they start out

try and turn just slightly so that the back

of your spine is lined up with the cutting board.

So we have a 90 degree angle.

This allows you to start making accurate cuts, right?

Everything square.

One thing I want everyone to remember is

that a dull knife is a dangerous knife.

You should start out

with sharp knives and every few minutes

maybe 10 minutes as you're cutting, hone it over a steel.

If you wanna know how to sharpen knives

We did a whole video about that.

Check it out.

So now that you know how to hold the knife

I'm gonna show you all the different cuts

that you're gonna use the knife for.

The two most common cuts in the kitchen are the high cut

which is chopping, and the low cut which is rocking.

The high cuts usually for larger items

whereas the low cuts for smaller finer cutting.

This cut is the chop or the rough chop.

It's used for when you just need a lot

of vegetables in a short amount of time.

I have peeled carrot here.

I almost always start by cutting the ends off.

Anything that's round can be dangerous.

So what I like to do do make a flat surface

for that round object.

Usually the smaller the cut, the shorter the cook.

So if I'm gonna use this

for a sauce that cooks for about an hour, I'll cut it small.

If I'm gonna use this for a sauce that cooks

for three or four hours, I cut a little bit larger.

You'll notice that I go from the high cut to the low cut

high cut here, and then I turn and I go to the low cut.

One thing you wanna make sure is you're not

feeding the material into the knife

you're actually moving the knife down the vegetable.

This cut is the dice.

And what we want to do is take this butternut squash

which is kind of weirdly shaped

and making it into a nice precision cut, basically a cube.

Whenever I use a precision cut

the presentation is what's important.

What I like to do is get my knife set in the top

and kind of just tap it in and then I push down

and through with that high cut.

I turn it around, grip the squash really well.

Make an incision, give it a few taps

so that my knife is secure down and forward

in that high cut again.

This part of the squash

I'm gonna save for a rough chop.

You can almost never get a nice precision cut with this.

Don't throw it away, save it.

But we're gonna do precision cut

with the top part of the squash.

You can use peeler for this

but I find it really inefficient.

So what I like to do is get

on a flat surface and use my knife to peel.

So I'm using it more

like a saw because it's a very hard vegetable.

So now we're ready to dice.

Whenever you do precision cuts

you're gonna have usable trim.

What I mean by that is

this piece might not give me some nice dice

so I wanna put that aside and use it for something else.

Whenever I start to cut a dice, I start out with a slab.

I like to line up the spine of my knife

look straight down and cut all the way through.

I find that when people hesitate halfway through

they get wonky slices.

So you wanna line up, cut down and through.

So I'm pushing down and pushing forward.

At this point you can adjust.

You can see I'm a little wonky here

so I can always adjust to get that slab really nice.

If you don't have square slabs, you don't have square dice.

So then what I do is I line my knife up

and I'm basically trying to get a 90 degree angle

between my knife and the bottom of the slab.

You're gonna have a lot

of trim on these, save it, use it for soup.

Once we get to that stick, line it up

cut down and through and you get a nice large dice.

This cut is the slice

and what we're looking for is a very thin even layer

something you might put on a hamburger or on a sandwich.

Tomatoes are round, but they're easily gripped.

And what I like to do with a slice

is hold it nice and tight.

When you cut, I'm almost doing a little bit of a

a slicing motion or a sawing motion.

So I get a really nice even thin slice.

Going straight up and down.

I got a nice even slice

and my knife basically whispers through that tomato.

I'm gonna slice a red onion as well.

Now if you want this to be a ring

or flattened round like the tomato, you cut

off both ends and you can peel the skin off.

What I'm gonna do is something more for like a salad.

I cut it in half, again, that high cut.

I take the skin off.

If I cut it with the lines of the onion, it's a julienne

but if I cut it across the lines of the onion

that's my slice down and through.

So it's more like a sawing motion than a chopping motion.

This is gonna give you nice half moons instead

of an irregular cut

that you're gonna put onto your salad or sandwich.

How do you slice something that's really big

and heavy like a watermelon?

This is how I do it.

I like to take both ends off.

If your knife is not long enough

you can always just turn the watermelon down and through

and then we're starting with a nice flat surface again.

I'm gonna cut directly in half, and again

if my knife isn't long enough, I'll cut one side

give it a turn and cut the other side.

Then once we have this

we can always turn it onto its flat side and again,

cut it so it's nice and even.

Now you have a wedge and cut your slices.

This next cut is called a baton.

This shape is mainly used for garnish on a plate.

You might cut an apple for a salad in batons.

It's a match stick.

So basically what I'm doing

for the baton is I'm gonna take the ends

off and try and make them as square as possible.

I'm gonna stand my potato up and again

continue to square things off so that I start

off with a nice rectangular slab.

Down and through at a 90 degree angle

down and through at a 90 degree angle.

And now once we have our slabs, we can cut into our batons.

I start at the tip and go through and down.

So that is our batons.

A lot of the cuts that we do have the same technique

it's just the end shape that we're changing.

The next cup we're gonna do is a julienne

which is a fine match stick.

Normally with a julienne

I'm using it for a finished plated item.

Something that is pretty, it's a garnish.

It's another precision cut that you're using.

So the food looks good.

In order to julienne this pepper

I'm gonna take off both ends of the pepper

and then I'm going to cut out the center part of the pepper.

Cut it into a piece that's easily manageable.

I'm gonna press down on my knife lightly

and kind of saw away any excess pepper.

So I have a nice thin slab, my hands a little bit

in the way of the knife, but I'm not going so fast

that I'm gonna slip and hurt myself again.

I'm holding my pepper with the claw and I'm just going down

and through, right, so I'm not rocking.

I'm pushing this through.

So I have nice fine matchstick.

If you just kind of push down

you're kind of crunching into it

and crushing the the pepper, not getting a nice even cut.

So this is the bias cut.

The bias cut is basically a long shallow angle

with small things like green onions.

It's usually a garnish and we want it to look really good.

With larger items like a carrot, you're trying to

make more surface areas so that it cooks evenly.

So with the bias cut on our scallions,

I usually offset them

and then I'm gonna cut the stem end off.

I'm using that same high cut that we use

for precision cuts and push down and through.

You can adjust the thickness

by moving your claw hand in or out

but you'll notice the knife is resting on my knuckle.

A good bias cut 20 to 40 degrees.

You can make them longer and flatter if you want.

You can make them a little more shallow.

I usually go with about 45 degrees.

Make sure you have your pro tractor out

when you do this.

Chopping we're basically rocking the knife

here we're sliding it through.

Again if we chop this and go straight down

we get a little more of a crushing sound.

You're not getting a really nice smooth edge on our cut.

This next cut is a mince

and a mince is basically a rough chop on a very small scale.

We're not really worried

about getting a precise look to our product.

We just want to chop a lot of it in a quick amount of time.

When I start my mince, I want to take the skin off.

And this isn't necessarily a cut

but you'll see a lot of chefs do this.

You put your blade on top of the knife.

I always face my blade away just for safety

give it a little tap

and then the skin comes off fairly easily.

And then I just go in

with that low cut or the rocking cut.

Mince one way and then I go the opposite way.

The pivot point of my knife is usually the tip of the knife.

I'm lifting the back and chopping

down with the back of the knife.

If it gets caught on the blade

wipe it off the blade and then chop.

The next cut is chiffonade

and chiffonade is mainly used for garnishes.

And what that is is a very thin shred

or a very thin thread of herbs.

The way that I do chiffonade is I pick a few leaves,

we're using basil

and then what I do is stack them up nice and flat

and then we do a little bit of a roll into a nice bundle.

This not only makes the process go quicker

you're getting even slices all the way through.

And here what's important is

that we slice through and don't bruise the herb.

So having a sharp knife is important.

You're gonna do that same high cut straight through.

If you just chop down on this

you're gonna get bruised and it's gonna turn black.

And there is our chiffonade.

This next cut is the oblique cut.

It sometimes referred to as a rondel or a roll cut.

We use the oblique cut to take something that's thick

on one end and thin on the other

and try and make the slices even.

And the way that I start this out is I cut the tip

off here and then what I'm gonna do is I'm going to roll it

towards myself so that I can see the face

of my cut go almost all the way down to the end

of that cut and roll towards me, see the face of my cut.

This is kind of like a rotating bias cut.

And you can see, even

though I'm getting to the thicker spot on the carrot

it's basically staying the same size as the thinner pieces.

And that is the oblique or the rondel.

And there you have it.

That's the way to hold and handle a knife.

And many of the cuts that we use in professional kitchen

I have a tool that if you're really serious

about getting good at this, it's a visual cut kit.

You can find these online.

It's a visual representation of most of the cuts.

Practice as much as you can

and you're gonna get better at it.

This cut is called the Kendall Jenner

and here's why you should never cut like that.

She starts out by taking the cucumber and putting her hand

over the cucumber and trying to cut like this.

Basically what she's done is make yourself blind

to what she's cutting, and that is super dangerous.

Whenever you're cutting, you should be able to

see where the knife is and what you're cutting at all times.

Swing it out.

Use your claw.

Now you can cut safely.