Quality Kitchen Cutlery

Knife blocks are important for storing your knife sets.  The blocks are recommended as a safe means for storing the knives to protect both the knife and user.  Knife blocks usually come in bamboo or hardwood with wood grains and wood colors.  However, Ginsu also offers a black knife block with some of their knife block sets which would add a contemporary look,  style, and color coordination to your kitchen if you did not want the wood color.

Chef knives are a good all-purpose knife and sometimes referred to as the “Cook’s Knife.”  A chef’s knife can be used for other cutting tasks but is used mainly for chopping, dicing, slicing, and mincing.    The blade of the chef’s knife is curved and allows the cook to rock the knife on the cutting board for a more controlled precise cut.  The length of the chef’s knife can be found with different lengths anywhere from 6 - 12 inches, although 8 inches is the most common.  It is usually recommended using the size that is most comfortable for the cook’s hands.  Larger knives can be more difficult to handle but they can cut more and are versatile.

The best way to peel an apple while minimizing any risk of nicking yourself with a paring knife or a vegetable peeler is to core the apple first. After you core the apple, insert your index finger into the apple’s center, and begin removing the skin with a peeler, switching from one end of the apple to another to peel completely. Upon finishing, slice the apple according to your particular recipe’s instructions.

There are a number of apple corers available in supermarkets and department stores. Some are thin with a circular cutting tool at the end that is pushed straight through the fruit by its handle, while others are able to core and slice the apple at the same time. You can also cut an apple in half and use a melon baller or a teaspoon to remove the core if you don’t have an apple corer.

Keeping your knives sharp is imperative when you own kitchen cutlery.  If you have dull knives, they will fall to age and lack of care.  Here are some tips on how to sharpen your knives:Hold the steel firmly in your left hand with the guard positioned to stop the blade should it slip.

Hold the knife in your right hand and place on top part of steel as shown.

Raise back of the blade one-eight inch.

Now, moving the blade only, draw it across the steel in an arching curve, pivoted at your wrist. The blade tip should leave the steel about two-thirds of the way down.

Repeat the same action with the blade on the bottom side of the steel. Always maintain the same pressure and angle on both sides of the steel.

Repeat five or six times.

The great art and science of cooking has been an on-going progression from the earliest discovery.  It offers an ever enticing experience of tasting and experimenting with thousands of different flavors, foods, and seasonings.

Let us consider the volumes and volumes of various recipes from great cooks around the world including our mothers and grandmothers.  These great artists have passed their experiences and experiments on and on thru the generations so that we may experience the tastes and benefit from their knowledge. 

These experiences continue today in the finest cooking schools of France, Italy, and yes, in the USA.  Fine restaurants require their chefs to go thru many rigid hours of training so they may maintain the quality of their fine cooking.

What a vacation to experiment and experience the many tastes and to entice man’s taste buds to the delightful aroma and flavorful delicacies, desserts, and meals.  Doesn’t that make you want to get out in your kitchen and put your knives to work cutting, chopping, and dicing to create a flavorful masterpiece for your family tonight?

Whether using carving knives, paring knives, chef knives or any other type of sharp knife, it is important to properly clean your knives.  For best results and by all means the safest, hand wash your knives with a nonabrasive soapy cloth or sponge , rinse well, and dry immediately.  Soaking wood-handled knives in water can remove  the natural oils and damaging the attractiveness of the knives.  Dishwashing may cause nicks on the blades or points and the blades and handles are made of different materials which will expand and contract differently.   Additionally, the heat and detergent may have a corrosive effect on the handles.   If the knife should happen to become discolored, you can use a little silver polish to clean. 

After hand washing the knives, towel dry thoroughly and store in a dry, safe place, preferably in a knife block or sheath.

No matter what knife you may use in your kitchen knife set, safety must always be practiced.  A good quality knife is very sharp and can be very dangerous if not handled with care.  On the other hand, a dull knife is more dangerous than a sharp knife.  A dull knife requires more  pressure for cutting which can cause the knife to slip.  Therefore, you want to keep your knives sharp at all times.

Always keep the blade and point of the knife angled away from you.  If you ever have to hand a knife to someone, always hand the handle to them.  Never hand a knife with the point or blade toward anyone.   After handling a knife, lay it down in a cleared area with the blade and point away from the body and a safe distance from the edge of your cutting area to avoid the possibility of falling.    If a knife should happen to fall, never try to catch it.  Allow the knife to fall staying alert to the direction it’s falling and step out of the way.    Wait for the knife to come to a complete rest before picking it up.  It’s better to let the knife fall than to try to catch it resulting in a disasterous injury.

It’s important to use the proper size and type of knife for the task.  Always use a cutting board, preferably a wooden cutting board, when cutting , chopping, dicing, mincing, etc., and be sure the cutting board has plenty of space to work while completing the job.   Also,  you want to make sure the cutting board is sitting level and firmly placed so that it doesn’t slip or slide.  Sometimes putting a dampened towel under the cutting board will help prevent slippage.   Never try cutting anything while in your hand.  When cutting, chopping or whatever the task, always cut away from the body when possible. 

Knives should not be stored in a drawer as stated in my previous blog.  If they are stored loosely in a drawer, never reach blindly for a knife; reach deliberately for the handle.  Knives are safest stored in a knife block.

Do not use a knife to stab, pull or lift materials.  Don’t attempt to open a can or bottlewith a knife.   Knives are not made to act as can openers, screw drivers, ice picks, or for prying apart frozen food.  Don’t use a knife to cut string, metal or paper.  This can dull or even damage the blade.

Lastly, never drop knives into a sink filled with sudsy water.  Reaching into the water, you cannot see the blade and you can easily grab the knife by the blade resulting in a severe cut.   Always hold knives by the handles, hand wash them carefully, and dry thoroughly.

Kitchen knife storage is important.  First of all, knives are very sharp and without proper storage they can be very dangerous.  If they are just laying loose in a drawer, they could cause injury when reaching into the drawer.  To be safe, the knives need to be stored in their own sheath or in some type of a container such as a knife block.  Also when knives are stored loosely in drawers, contact with hard objects can dull the blades or damage the points.  It is recommended that good quality knives be stored in hardwood blocks for convenience as well as safety.  

Blocks are available in a variety of woods and styles.   Chicago Cutlery offers a hardwood block and Ginsu offers a variety of knife sets in a variety of blocks for countertop, wall mounted, or space saving under-the-counter. 

What the caveman knew or did not know about cooking we truly do not know.  We do know that this great art and science of cooking has been an intriguing and continuing adventure through every age from the iron rod spit used by early man for broiling, to the soapstone pot of the ancient Egyptians, to the birch bark kettles used by American Indians,  to the modern ingenuity of the crafters of today’s cookware and utilsils and cutlery such as stainless steel knives.

To our knowledge the Ancient Egyptians had six forms of cooking.  They did baking, broiling, roasting, frying, boiling, and stewing.  The early Jewish people quite clearly used the art of roasting as did Rebecca in Genesis 27 when she roasted Venison.  Through the middle ages and early Babylonia, brazing and boiling were quite common.  The Romans used charcoal grills and stone hearths.  Kettles and fireplaces were used for many years especially into early America.  These great fireplaces can be seen in many of our tours of early American homes today.

Ovens for baking, though used less commonly in earlier years, began with perhaps the Beehive Oven, afforded only by the wealth, became quite an adventure for the first excited bakers of history.  What an excitement it must have been to taste the first hot bread from the oven or the first tasty rolls with cinnamon and sugar.  Wouldn’t you like to have been there?  What baker is there who would not have been thrilled to have been part of this great experiment?

The first Cast Iron Stove was built in 1490 and the first Cookstove in early 1800.  Perhaps some of you older readers can remember Grandma’s old Wood-burning Stove and oven where many delicious meals were cooked and many tasty corn muffins baked not to mention the aromatic pot of beans and ham from the top of that old stove.  It makes you want to go back and sample some doesn’t it?  Well, this old cast iron stove was quite popular during early America and is truly part of our heritage.

There is more to be said about the great discoveries of the knives, cutlery, pots, pans, spoons, silver, dishes, and other equipment invented and used to make cooking and dining so much better.  Check out some of our other blogs for more information and still more to come.

So what about the beginning of this great art and science of cooking?  Where did it all begin?  How did man ever come to realize that steak, fish, and potatoes tastes better cooked than raw?  Was it the result of a piece of meat falling into a fire, was it the result of an accidental roasted pig during a fire?  There are numerous theories and speculations about it.  Even writings on the walls of ancient Egyptian tombs show that cooking was known at a very early time.

When did it all begin?  To be rational about it, whether you believe in the Darwin Theory or God’s Creation, cooking had to begin with the earliest man capable of recognizing that steak tastes better cooked than raw.  It makes no difference whether it’s cooked by roasting, broiling, or baking, there is something in your taste buds that is turned on when you smell the aroma of good cooked food.

Where did man find his first tools?  When did he discover and invent cookware, kitchen knives, cutlery sets and tools for this great art?  Look for more information in my next Blog.