5 ms·

I find some basic knife skills to be a huge labor saver. I've had the same decent (ie, not serrated) $25 chef's knife for decades and can plow through basic ve

by imglorp 10y ago

I find some basic knife skills to be a huge labor saver. I've had the same decent (ie, not serrated) $25 chef's knife for decades and can plow through basic veg prep in a few minutes. I don't like all the extra gadgets except a peeler. When I factor in setting up and washing some chopping or slicing machine, I'm way faster with just a knife and board. Two things to wash. And the board is also used to hold stuff on its way to the pot, so that cuts down on temp bowls too. Watch one good video on how to dice an onion an you're 90pct there.

ghaff 10y ago
I mostly agree. I do have a food processor but, unless I'm doing a lot of chopping and don't care if it's pretty uneven, I find that just using a good knife is less total work and gives better results.
tonyarkles 10y ago
While I did mention the food processor in the sibling post, I have to agree with you here too. A great sharp knife with a modicum of skill goes a long way. And the cleanup is definitely simple!
turnip123942 10y ago
Agreed! One thing to add: Learn to keep your knives sharp. A sharp knife is a safe knife and makes the whole prep process go faster.
- pjc50 10y ago
  Any tips on this?
  - yojo 10y ago
    I've had great results with a Japanese water stone. https://youtu.be/kSKpz1UqIl4?t=4m13s https://youtu.be/kSKpz1UqIl4?t=4m13s has overkill levels of detail (and some marketing upsell) but communicates the idea well.
    - exDM69 10y ago
      I sharpen woodworking tools so my point of view is slightly different, but I'd recommend diamond plates over water stones. I've had great results with both but water stones need to be soaked in water before use (instructions say 10 minutes, but my experience is more like 30 minutes), they release a messy slurry when they wear and they don't stay flat for very long (flatness isn't that much of an issue with knifes I suppose, but essential for woodworking tools) and wear down as you use and re-flatten them. Diamond plates stay dead flat, need very little maintenance, ready to use (just wet them, no soaking) and last 10 years or more in my infrequent use. I have big 8" plates for my woodworking tools, but I intend to buy a small 1200 grit sharpener for kitchen for about $6 from here: https://www.fine-tools.com/ezelap-diasharpener.html https://www.fine-tools.com/ezelap-diasharpener.html 1200 grit isn't super fine (compared to water stones) but is enough for basic kitchen sharpening (you don't need coarser ones unless you sharpen damaged blades and you don't need a finer one to get decent sharpness). I'd add a leather strop and some honing compound (chromium oxide) if I needed to get them sharp enough to shave (like I do with my tools). That's about $20 for diamond plate + strop + compound, you can't get a decent water stone for that price. But the real difference between sharp and kinda-sharp is practicing the skill of honing the blade. Sharpen a little at a time, test frequently and do it often.
  - mywittyname 10y ago
    A basic electric knife sharpener will produce very sharp knives, certainly sharp enough for most people. Purist will call them crap, but I use both a traditional whetstone and an electric sharpener and the electric gets 90% of my usage. It takes a few minutes to take a knife from "very dull" to "pretty sharp". The whetstone definitely gets them sharper, but it takes a lot longer and you only notice your knives are dull when you're right in the middle of making dinner.
    - udfalkso 10y ago
      Which electric sharpener do you use? Thanks!
  - Afton 10y ago
    Keeping the angle consistent is the problem with use a simple sharpening stone. I recommend a jig that keeps the angle for you. I use a spyderco sharpmaker (https://www.amazon.com/Spyderco-Tri-Angle-Sharpmaker/dp/B004HIZKHE https://www.amazon.com/Spyderco-Tri-Angle-Sharpmaker/dp/B004...), but there are others. I enjoy eating steak with a super sharp knife, so I have it out frequently for sharpening our set of steak-knives, and less frequently for our chef's knives.
ska 10y ago
Food processors (proper ones, not hand "choppers" and the like - those are nearly pointless) are a terrible replacement for basic knife skills. What they are mostly great at is a few things that are so labor intensive (ever made hummus by hand?) you otherwise might not bother. Also a good time saver for things like pasta dough.
- haikuginger 10y ago
  Great for hummus; great for purees; great for pastry doughs.
- nikdaheratik 10y ago
  Good for making mayo and the like by hand and for thin slicing potatoes and carrots. The biggest issue for me is setup + cleanup >> use time for most cases.
- HelloMcFly 10y ago
  Good for homemade bread.
weaksauce 10y ago
There's a great, free, video series online that teaches you how to cut[1]. Also, misen knives are excellent for the money.[2] 1. http://www.thekitchn.com/brendan-mcdermotts-knife-skills-class-will-teach-you-everything-you-need-to-know-tips-from-the-kitchn-212443 http://www.thekitchn.com/brendan-mcdermotts-knife-skills-cla... 2. Misen.co and http://www.seriouseats.com/2015/09/best-cheap-chefs-knives-misen-equipment-review.html http://www.seriouseats.com/2015/09/best-cheap-chefs-knives-m...
bostonvaulter2 10y ago
New York Times has a really good set of cooking videos: https://cooking.nytimes.com/guides/23-basic-knife-skills https://cooking.nytimes.com/guides/23-basic-knife-skills

by imglorp 10y ago

ghaff 10y ago

I mostly agree. I do have a food processor but, unless I'm doing a lot of chopping and don't care if it's pretty uneven, I find that just using a good knife is less total work and gives better results.

tonyarkles 10y ago

While I did mention the food processor in the sibling post, I have to agree with you here too. A great sharp knife with a modicum of skill goes a long way. And the cleanup is definitely simple!

turnip123942 10y ago

Agreed! One thing to add: Learn to keep your knives sharp. A sharp knife is a safe knife and makes the whole prep process go faster.

pjc50 10y ago
Any tips on this?
- yojo 10y ago
  I've had great results with a Japanese water stone. https://youtu.be/kSKpz1UqIl4?t=4m13s https://youtu.be/kSKpz1UqIl4?t=4m13s has overkill levels of detail (and some marketing upsell) but communicates the idea well.
  - exDM69 10y ago
    I sharpen woodworking tools so my point of view is slightly different, but I'd recommend diamond plates over water stones. I've had great results with both but water stones need to be soaked in water before use (instructions say 10 minutes, but my experience is more like 30 minutes), they release a messy slurry when they wear and they don't stay flat for very long (flatness isn't that much of an issue with knifes I suppose, but essential for woodworking tools) and wear down as you use and re-flatten them. Diamond plates stay dead flat, need very little maintenance, ready to use (just wet them, no soaking) and last 10 years or more in my infrequent use. I have big 8" plates for my woodworking tools, but I intend to buy a small 1200 grit sharpener for kitchen for about $6 from here: https://www.fine-tools.com/ezelap-diasharpener.html https://www.fine-tools.com/ezelap-diasharpener.html 1200 grit isn't super fine (compared to water stones) but is enough for basic kitchen sharpening (you don't need coarser ones unless you sharpen damaged blades and you don't need a finer one to get decent sharpness). I'd add a leather strop and some honing compound (chromium oxide) if I needed to get them sharp enough to shave (like I do with my tools). That's about $20 for diamond plate + strop + compound, you can't get a decent water stone for that price. But the real difference between sharp and kinda-sharp is practicing the skill of honing the blade. Sharpen a little at a time, test frequently and do it often.
- mywittyname 10y ago
  A basic electric knife sharpener will produce very sharp knives, certainly sharp enough for most people. Purist will call them crap, but I use both a traditional whetstone and an electric sharpener and the electric gets 90% of my usage. It takes a few minutes to take a knife from "very dull" to "pretty sharp". The whetstone definitely gets them sharper, but it takes a lot longer and you only notice your knives are dull when you're right in the middle of making dinner.
  - udfalkso 10y ago
    Which electric sharpener do you use? Thanks!
- Afton 10y ago
  Keeping the angle consistent is the problem with use a simple sharpening stone. I recommend a jig that keeps the angle for you. I use a spyderco sharpmaker (https://www.amazon.com/Spyderco-Tri-Angle-Sharpmaker/dp/B004HIZKHE https://www.amazon.com/Spyderco-Tri-Angle-Sharpmaker/dp/B004...), but there are others. I enjoy eating steak with a super sharp knife, so I have it out frequently for sharpening our set of steak-knives, and less frequently for our chef's knives.

ska 10y ago

Food processors (proper ones, not hand "choppers" and the like - those are nearly pointless) are a terrible replacement for basic knife skills. What they are mostly great at is a few things that are so labor intensive (ever made hummus by hand?) you otherwise might not bother. Also a good time saver for things like pasta dough.

haikuginger 10y ago
Great for hummus; great for purees; great for pastry doughs.
nikdaheratik 10y ago
Good for making mayo and the like by hand and for thin slicing potatoes and carrots. The biggest issue for me is setup + cleanup >> use time for most cases.
HelloMcFly 10y ago
Good for homemade bread.

weaksauce 10y ago

There's a great, free, video series online that teaches you how to cut[1]. Also, misen knives are excellent for the money.[2] 1. http://www.thekitchn.com/brendan-mcdermotts-knife-skills-class-will-teach-you-everything-you-need-to-know-tips-from-the-kitchn-212443 http://www.thekitchn.com/brendan-mcdermotts-knife-skills-cla... 2. Misen.co and http://www.seriouseats.com/2015/09/best-cheap-chefs-knives-misen-equipment-review.html http://www.seriouseats.com/2015/09/best-cheap-chefs-knives-m...

bostonvaulter2 10y ago

New York Times has a really good set of cooking videos: https://cooking.nytimes.com/guides/23-basic-knife-skills https://cooking.nytimes.com/guides/23-basic-knife-skills