Cooking Skills: Sharp Knives

Vocabulary and key concepts covering kitchen knife selection, safety techniques, and food preparation tools.

Chef's knife

A versatile knife used for tasks such as slicing carrots for a stew, mincing green onions, and slicing zucchini for grilling.

Paring knife/Peeler

A tool used for paring potatoes when preparing mashed potatoes.

Boning Knife

A specialized knife used for taking the bones out of a chicken thigh or breast.

Bread knife

A knife designed for tasks such as cutting open hamburger buns and dicing bread for a stuffing.

Food processer

An appliance used for tasks like grinding nuts into a paste and processing dry food into powder.

Blender

An appliance used primarily for processing wet food, such as sauce.

Claw method

A knife cutting technique that keeps your fingers from getting cut and helps guide your cuts.

Rocking motion

A continuous cutting movement important for achieving smooth cutting.

Stabilizing round vegetables

Cutting a thin piece off the vegetable (such as zucchini) before slicing so it does not roll around on the cutting board.

Dull knife risk

A safety hazard where a knife is more likely to cut you because it is harder to cut with.