Friday, December 20, 2019

How to cook like the pros and master your knife skills

How to cook like the pros and master your knife skills

large group cooking class - kitchen on fire

A home cook can make mouthwatering meals without ever learning to cut properly. Many adults lack proper culinary knowledge, especially when it comes to knife skills. And because the knife is the most used tool in the kitchen, it’s important to master your chef knife skills. Enrolling for large group cooking classes is a great way to start learning how to cook like a pro and enhance your cutting speed and techniques from the ground up. Here are key reasons to learn how to use knives like a pro.


Safety

By learning the tricks employed by professional chefs, you can protect your hands and fingers as you cut food. Many people with basic knife skills tend to use the knives very slowly, dragging preparation time for a recipe or try to cut too fast and injure themselves. In a cooking class, you learn how to properly hold the knife and curl your fingers in order to cut food without the knife slipping and cutting your fingertips.

Speed and Efficiency

The chef’s knife grip has evolved over the years to increase efficiency and speed. The grip lets you use the weight and sharpness of the knife as well as your body weight to move the knife instead of the arm or hand. And professional chefs rarely peel food before cutting- they use the knife to carve off the sides. You can learn to chop and slice faster, which saves time and makes for even cuts. The pros have to be very fast so as to get food ready within a reasonable time. If you learn how to grip the knife like a professional, you can likely increase your speed and efficiency when cooking.

Make the Food Better

Taking large group cooking classes in professional knife skills can improve the result of the meal. Learning better chopping and slicing techniques allows you to cut your pieces in the same size. Uniformly cut and shaped pieces cook evenly and at the same rate. The final dish can have a prettier look.

Choosing a Proper Chef Knife

Learning professional knife skills also involves exposure to different styles of blades. Knowing how to choose quality knives for different applications is paramount to your speed and preservation of the knife. For instance, if you’re always using a serrated knife instead of a meat cleaver, you could end up running the knife or injuring yourself. The force you have to use for a knife that can’t slice through efficiently will cause the knife to slip or break. In a cooking class, you will also learn how to choose the right weight, size, length, and blade thickness of the knife.

Gripping the Knife Like a Pro

When it comes to safe, fast, and accurate knives, your grip is everything. You want to hold your knife in a manner that gives you complete control, minimizes fatigue, and provides an excellent range of motion. Holding the knife at the tang and handle creates an imbalance and increases the risk of accidental injury. It’s important to learn how to hold the knife and keep your digits out of harm's way.

Maintaining Your Chef Knife

Your knife skills would not be complete without learning proper maintenance. This includes washing the knife, caring for the handles, getting rid of rust, avoiding bent blades and dents, and steeling your knife before and after use. While basic knife skills can keep your knives in good shape, doing it like a pro could help make your knives last a longer. You also need to know how to sharpen and hone your knife. Both roles are equally important and the equipment used for each is different. These skills are not taught at home or in basic cooking classes. You can learn them in large group cooking classes that focus on professional knife skills. Mastering knife skills is a matter of practice and muscle memory. In time, you will be cutting, slicing, chopping, dicing, and mincing with speed and confidence.