"knife tips" news and stories

It's easy to get lost in the plethora of kitchen tools available for the home gourmand, but as "Everyday Exotic" Chef Roger Mooking reminds us, "Your hands are your most powerful tools in the kitchen."

Yep. Not that lemon squeezer, not that electric chopper and not even that beautiful cast-iron pan. Rather than spend an arm and a leg on every latest gadget, spend some time on your knife skills -- and keep every one of those precious digits intact.

In this video, Mooking does a super-quick primer on important knife basics: Make sure your knife is sharp (using the tried-and-true fingernail test -- it works!) and then use your knuckles, with fingertips safely curled under, as a flat "guide" for the blade. With these two rules and a little practice, we'll all be handling steel like a pro -- and won't ever have to dive for the Band-Aids again.

[Via YouTube]

Because of my post yesterday about my new knives, I got pointed (thanks André) in the direction of Grocery Guy's blog and his video on the best way to sharpen a knife at home. He offers some fantastic advice and makes the process of sharpening your steel easy to understand. Sharpening your knives at home is initially a bit of a time commitment, but is worth the effort because having good tools makes your time in the kitchen better spent. Oh, and the story of his quest to acquire the Jesus knife is worth the read. It makes me regret not buying myself a vegetable slicer or two when I was in Hong Kong six years ago.