Archive for the ‘Knives’ Category
Chopped Chocolate Made Easy
The best pastry chefs know to use fresh chocolate when making tasty treats like brownies and fudge. But, fresh chocolate comes in blocks and must be finely chopped in preparation for the melting process. Chefs hate nothing more than spending a valuable hour prepping chocolate.
Serrated knives are a pastry chef’s best friend. The grooved “teeth” on a serrated knife work perfectly to chop brittle chocolate blocks. Serrated knives also tend to be sharper than typical chef’s knives because they’re used less frequently.
How Good Are Ceramic Knives
I have the problem that within a short period of time after cutting/slicing apples, they start discoloring and turning brown. I’m sure that I’m not the only one who has experience this problem. After doing some research, I have found that the kind of material the knife’s blade is made of will make a huge affect on the type of food you cut or slice.
Most kitchen knife blades are made of steel. As with ceramic knives, the blades are made of zirconium oxide which makes it extremely hard. Since diamonds are the hardest substance on earth, the ceramic material is rated right behind diamonds. The ceramic material itself is zirconium oxide that’s been heated in a process called sintering, which bonds the ceramic powder particles together by closing its pores.
Since the ceramic blades are “chemically inert”, they will have no effect on flavor or appearance of the foods they come in contact with. Since the pores are so tightly closed, you will not transfer the taste or smell of between foods, such as garlic and apples. Compared to your steel blades, ceramic blades will not react to food acids which causes the food to have a metallic taste or smell. By handwashing and drying your ceramic knife, you will have maximum results and extend the life of the knife.
Ceramic knives are very lightweight and keep their like-new appearance a whole lot longer than steel knives because they will not rust or corrode. If you want a good quality ceramic knife that will last you years and year to come may require spending a little extra.
Kitchen Knives 101
Contrary to what some of us may believe, kitchen knives are not divided into two basic types – sharp or dull. In reality, kitchen knives are to the kitchen what handsaws are to a woodworking shop. There are numerous types of kitchen knives, each with their own purpose and design. In the same way you wouldn’t use a chainsaw to trim a picture frame, you wouldn’t use a meat cleaver to peel potatoes, for instance. Each blade performs a specific task, so knowing the different types of kitchen knives can help a cook work more efficiently and safely.
There are boning knives, carving knives, pairing knives, and an oyster knife among other types out on the market.
Electric Knife Does The Job
Now that the holidays are behind us, did you find yourself struggling when carving the ham or turkey with a knife? The slices were not clean, all shredded or had the looks of someone had butchered the ham or turkey. I had fixed a roasted turkey for our Christmas Eve gathering and my husband remembered that we had an electric knife to do all the work.
The electric knife definitely made the carving job a whole lot easier compared to a carving knife plus it made the slices neater. The electric knife has 2 serrated blades that clip together. Once turned on, the blades slide back and forth to provide the sawing action. We do not have to limit ourselves to just a turkey or ham when using an electric knife. You can use it for slicing other meats as well.
Knife Makes Cutting Bread More Easy
We all know that there are many different kinds of knives that we should have in the kitchen to make our food preparation a lot easier. Some of the types of knives are boning, filleting, chef, cleaver, ceramic, paring and your bread knives. Bread knives are a special type of knife that is serrated and comes in different lengths. This knife can be used to cut foods that have a hard crust and a soft interior like bread. The serrated edge makes small saw cuts to enable you to cut the hard crush. A regular knife will slide through the hard crust and with applied pressure, you will end up smashing the bread since the interior is soft; therefore, your appearance will not look appetizing even though you don’t change the taste.
This type of knife can also be used for cutting fibrous fruits and vegetables like tomatoes which will enable you to cut through the skin without having to smash the tomato. Based on your budget will determine whether you want to buy one that is less expensive and replace it once the serrated edge becomes dull or you rather invest a more expensive one that needs to have the edge taken care of.
What Knife Should I Use
Have you ever been in a situation and can’t figure out which kitchen knife to use especially when cutting through a bone on a cut of meat whether it’s beef, poultry or any other type of meat. I have found that a meat cleaver works the best. It’s a large wide-thick dull blade that varies in size. Because of its weight, the cleaver is able to cut through tough food with a chopping motion.
A meat cleaver can also be used as a mallet to flatten your meat such as veal for very thin slices as well as crushing seeds and mashing garlic.
Carving the Roasted Turkey
First of all, I would like to wish everyone a safe & blessed Happy New Year. Hope your holidays were exciting & able to spend them with your family & friends. We had hosted our Christmas Eve gathering with all of my side of the family gathering our our home. Our tradition is that everyone brings a dish whether it’s meat, vegetable, snacks or dessert.
This year I fixed a roasted turkey. I had injected a butter flavor marinade in the turkey prior to cooking it. Since I had purchased a Nuwave Infared Oven, I wanted to try it out. It worked great. It took about 3 hrs to cook a 13 pound turkey. My husband used an electric knife to carve it especially the breast meat. Using the electric knife made the carving job go a lot quicker than if he had used a sharp knife & everyone enjoyed eating the turkey.
Get Dependable Blades
A good ceramic blade is about 50% harder than stainless steel. Thus, ceramic knives have started gaining popularity. The ceramic material is made of heated zirconium oxide. The process is called sintering where ceramic powder particles are bonded together.
High quality ceramic knives won’t need to be re-sharpened for years. Since they’re made of very hard materials, the blades won’t yield to the wear and tear of daily use unlike stainless steel. Ceramic also has no effect on the flavor or appearance of food. Moreover, there will be no transfer of taste or smell between different types of foods.
Paring Knives – What I Use the Most
Paring Knives are knives that every household must have in their kitchen. These knives are small & precise in cutting, peeling and slicing all types of vegetables and fruits. Everyone has their favorite paring knife. I have a variety of these knives but I have found that the set of paring knives with the colored handles, red, green, brown & yellow, are the ones that I use the most.
I have had these for 15 – 20 years and the best thing about these is that they are always sharp. I have never had to sharpen these. I use these paring knives for peeling vegetables, coring fruit such as apples, chopping & slicing all kinds of vegetables – you name it.
Chopped Chocolate Made Easy
The best pastry chefs know to use fresh chocolate when making tasty treats like brownies and fudge. But, fresh chocolate comes in blocks and must be finely chopped in preparation for the melting process. Chefs hate nothing more than spending a valuable hour prepping chocolate.
Serrated kitchen knives are a pastry chef’s best friend. The grooved “teeth” on a serrated knife work perfectly to chop brittle chocolate blocks. Serrated knives also tend to be sharper than typical chef’s knives because they’re used less frequently