How many knives do you have in your kitchen? I don't mean knives you use for eating meals, but the ones you use for preparing them.
Most people have a selection, but tend to stick to only one, which may or may not be suitable for the task.
Chefs tend to have a wide selection, often costing hundreds of dollars, which they use with varying degrees of skill. Conventional knives are not easy to use either well or safely.
The truth is that for most people the long-bladed knife with a pointed end is more of a handicap than a help in the kitchen. It's unwieldy, difficult to control, stabs unwary fingers and the tapered shape means the tip of the blade often disappears from view, making life hazardous for the cook's fingers.
The cleaver-style blades favored by Asian chefs, on the other hand, are quite simply a brilliant design and can be used expertly by anyone.
* Blades are the same width all the way along - no more surprises for unwary fingers.
* The broad blade is easy to guide and control
* Chopping is a snap. Just rock the blade up and down while keeping your free hand on top
* No point to stab into the food or into you!
* The blades are broad enough to use as a scoop after you've chopped your veggies
* They're as cheap as chips.
They're so inexpensive, in fact, that you can afford to test drive one and see how much you like it. I think you'll love it. There's just a few things to watch out for:
1. Make sure that any knife you buy is either of one-piece construction, or that the blade continues on through the full length of the handle.
2. Also check to ensure that the blade is rigid. Blades that flex easily are extremely dangerous in the kitchen and should be avoided.
3. Hold your knife so that your thumb and forefinger are actually gripping the blade itself, not just the handle. This will give you much better control and power.
4. Make sure your knives are razor sharp!
That last point is important. It's blunt knives that cut you because it takes a lot of pressure to use them and they slip easily. That's a pretty lethal combination.
Here's a test. Hold a tomato by its stalk and try to slice it with light downward pressure. If the stalk comes away from the tomato, your knife is too blunt!
Sharpen it using a steel. One that has a proper hand guard and is at least 15" in length.
The best way to use a steel is to hold it in front and pointing away from you. A bit like a sword. Now hold the knife - sharp edge towards you - on top of the steel at the handle end and at an angle of roughly 30 degrees.
The trick is to draw the steel towards your body while at the same time drawing the blade of the knife across it. Then do the same thing again but holding the blade under the steel.
Do this 3 or 4 times and your blade will be razor sharp and ready for action.
Playing the Mandoline
This could become one of your favorite pieces of kitchen equipment. It could also become one of your most feared.
Just ask English chef Rick Stein. He once sliced his fingers on one in the middle of a TV show. But that was because, as in most professional kitchens, the safety handle was missing. You won't make that mistake.
What am I talking about?
A mandoline is a bit like a kid's slide (or slippery dip as we call them in Australia).
The most expensive ones are made of stainless steel and have a blade two thirds of the way down that can be adjusted for height, making wafer thin slices of any vegetable a snap to produce. You just slide the fruit or vegetable you’re cutting up and down the chute. It's that easy.
They can also be set up to produce potato chips, French fries of varying size and those delicate match-sticks of carrot that chefs like to dazzle you with.
As a matter of fact, a mandoline is so versatile I'm pretty sure the only reason they are not used more is because of the price. They're not cheap. Not the good ones anyway, and there really is little point in getting one of the cheap versions – with one exception!
And that’s the one that I use.
It’s cheap, basic, made of plastic and has outlasted 20 years of almost continuous use. It’s made by Borner and as far as I’m aware the style hasn’t changed in the last 30 years or more. The V-shaped blade slices easily and evenly, the inserts produce juliennes or chips and the whole thing can be cleaned by rinsing in cold water.
If you do buy one, please take care with it and, as I'm sure Rick Stein would be the first to agree, always use the safety handle when cutting.
Food Processors
Okay, I'll admit it, I'm not a great fan.
In the first place I find that by the time I've set one up, used it and then cleaned it I could have chopped my vegetables by hand several times over!
I also don't think they do a very good job because, strange as it may sound, they are too efficient.
Both the discs and the blade slice and chop at an incredible rate, but they also damage the pieces they produce, bruising them and causing them to lose water.
As a result, the food tends to turn into mush the moment it’s cooked. Hand box graters have a similar effect although it’s not so pronounced.
So for best results, my advice is still to use a mandoline in preference to one of these mechanical marvels, with a couple of exceptions; they are just great for turning meat, both raw and cooked, into mince. And they produce superb dips and purees.
You don't need a particularly large one for that - a one liter capacity is fine unless you're running a hostel - and you don't need all the fancy attachments either.
Just be sure if you do buy one that it has sufficient power for the purpose. Around 600 watts is minimum. Less than that and it could be struggling with some jobs, especially if you're trying to puree something and you don't want to add too much liquid.
Mediterranean hummus is a good case in point. Blending a tin of chick peas, tahini, olive oil, lemon juice and salt is simple enough, but it takes a fair bit of power to get the right texture without making the mix too sloppy.
