What are some good resources for learning knife skills? Specifically, is there anywhere that I can see video demonstration of different slicing techniques and when those techniques are appropriate?
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@DanielMoura, always wear a helmet, when drinking heavily. Also: How should I care for my knives.– VoracCommented Jul 3, 2014 at 9:45
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discussion of possible closure: meta.cooking.stackexchange.com/questions/3289/…– Cascabel ♦Commented Oct 16, 2016 at 3:32
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1Closed as too broad since it's probably the best of the canned reasons, but note that in general requests for resources are not a great fit for stackexchange either. It's better to ask about specific problems, so that we can curate the answers and knowledge here. And indeed, more specific questions on knife skills (specific techniques, handling a specific kind of knife, etc) are most welcome!– Cascabel ♦Commented Oct 17, 2016 at 17:16
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7 Answers
Why bother paying for instruction or books. The best way to learn is watching a video and practicing.
Youtube
Youtube has a great wealth of videos on knife skills. I'm more a visual learner. I like to see a video. A book are not going to help me squat.
- Knife Skills: Julliene with Ann Burrell
- Knife Skills: Chiffonade with Ann Burrell
- Knife SKills: Slicing with Ann Burelle and Beau
- Knife Skills: Bias Cuts with Ann Burrelle and Beau
- Honing a knife with Gordon Ramsey (video is labeled as sharpening although he is showing a knife being honed)
- Rick Theory, well respected on knife forums for good technique
- Sundry old Martin Yan episodes across youtube. Cleaver centric technique that requires paying attention to do safely, but can achieve a lot.
Chowhound
Chowhound has a great wealth of knife skill videos.
- How to make a chiffonade cut
- How to chop
- How to dice
- How to hone a knife
- Roll Cuts
- Know your Knife Cuts
- How to make julienne and batonnet cuts
- How to cut with a chef's knife:
- 5 Simply knife safety tips
- How to hold a knife
- Not totally related but - Should i buy a knife set
- Knife Skills troubleshooting
- How to make a bias cut
Other
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6Unfortunately, the Food Network videos are not available outside of the US - at least not in Denmark. Commented Nov 7, 2014 at 10:17
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3The first four videos are all unavailable now (set to private). The Chowhound vidoes are decent, but how does anyone expect to learn a skill like this in videos 30 seconds in length? There is simply more to it.– dpollittCommented Oct 8, 2016 at 14:12
I really like the book "Knife skills Illustrated"; it is a bit annoying that it has left and right handed versions of everything, though.
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5
The Good Eats episode American Slicer was devoted entirely to knife usage.
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Unfortunately, finding old good eats videos is hard. They never did a cohesive box set or anything.– BatmanCommented Oct 16, 2016 at 2:31
The absolute best way to pick this up is to do it with the help of an in-person instructor. It is a motor skill that is best learned by trial, error, and the emulation of experts.
Your local culinary institutes might offer courses or one-day workshops on various topics for the general public and cooking enthusiasts.
For instance, here's a place in Maryland that offers classes: L'Academie de Cuisine. I once gave my wife a gift certificate for their "knife skills" workshop. She can now chop circles around anyone who isn't a chef!
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The advantage to having someone watching you is that they can identify mistakes that you might be making, and offer corrections.– JoeCommented Jul 22, 2014 at 23:11
Epicurious have some useful videos on knife skills, they can be found at:
Another interesting source is Rouxbe, they have a large number of cooking lesson videos online, which include knife skills. This site, however, requires a subscription:
Serious Eats has some videos and what not in their Knife Skills section.
The basic skills are covered in this article (slice, chop, rock chop). Other things to note include how to carve meats, how to cut herbs and tomatoes.
America's Test Kitchen is pretty good as well, since they go slow and show things visually though they often don't narrate their knife skills verbally.
I've also seen good material in Gordon Ramsay's Ultimate Cookery Course and Home Cooking, though he's a bit faster and less detailed. Some of the stuff is on his youtube channel.
Finally, I'd like to recommend Jaques Pepin's New Complete Techniques (though the original complete techniques is fine, the new one is in color). He's very careful in explaining how to do things.
Mastering Knife Skills: The Essential Guide to the Most Important Tools in Your Kitchen by Norman Weinstein is a great picture book demonstrating technique for specific fruits, vegetables, and meats.