Harmless Cooking: Life Saving Kitchen Hacks

Kitchen Knives Part 2.

(photo by author)

I no longer use any other kitchen knives but these you see above.

Like I said in my previous blog on Kitchen Knives, I`ve spent a little fortune on knives in my life.

From the first moment I`ve seen proper kitchen knives back in 1972, I`ve been hooked on them big time. It started with buying just one chefs knife but as any other addiction, it became a runaway train in years to come.

I`d turned into a knife fanatic(blaming it on my profession of course)who simply had to have the next and the next fancy chefs` knife that came out. This went on for about 4 decades and I am not joking!

I`d even travelled to Germany just to complete my extensive armoury of German knife set that was missing a giant cleaver. As I couldn`t get hold of this particular cleaver here in the UK, I had to go to Solingen the City of Blades where it was made. I know it`s sad! Wait, there`s more: I have never once used that cleaver! That`s even more sad, I can see it now!

Anyway once these 3 became my podium winners ( about 10 years ago)I`ve given all my precious collection away to family, friends and colleagues who appreciated them.

Behold my podium winner trio of Kitchen Knives that I`ll ever need!

(You can find them by most knife manufacturers whether German, Swiss, Japanese or others).

The general rule is that the smaller the item you are working with, the smaller knife you should be using. For example use the Serrated Utility/Paring Knife for peeling garlic( or anything small) but use the Bread Knife for cutting up a cabbage or a Cauliflower( anything large). It`s common sense!

It`s time for me to introduce you to my knives:

Lets start with the smallest one here.

Its a really cheap SERRATED UTILITY/PARING KNIFE

Since I`ve seen it being used by a demo chef at the Bristol Vegan Fayre about 10 years ago, I`ve been using it all the time. It has proven itself to me thousands of times. When I pull out my kitchen drawer, most of the time I am reaching for this mini wonder. I find it ever so handy, versatile and practical. I even use it to peel vegetables such as spuds or sweet potatoes etc( even though primarily it`s not a peeler knife). This little wonder had stolen the show! It made my potato peeler and many other small knives of mine completely obsolete. Basically when I want to peel or cut up anything that is the size of my fist or smaller, I always use it. Its also great to scrape garlic into a paste and also to spread hummus, dairy free butter/cream cheeses/pate/jam etc onto bread or crackers. This little wonder is an all rounder!

The one in the middle is a SLICER KNIFE

Its blade is quite thin and therefore it`s a flexible knife. Its great to peel/slice larger vegetables such as butternut squashes, pumpkins, vegetable marrow, water melon etc. Anything that`s larger than your fist. When I peel these I aim for about 2 mm thick peelings. Any thicker and you are wasting them, unless you bake them up separately to make them like a crunchy plant `bacon`. All peelings can be baked and crisped up, I will put up some of my recipes on these later on.

I also use this Slicer Knife to finely chop up fresh herbs. Some chefs use them to finely chop up garlic with them (with a pinch of salt). I prefer to crush and scrape my garlic for its far more flavoursome that way. Try it out, compare the two methods and you will be amazed at the difference!

The largest knife here is the BREAD KNIFE

This is somewhat heavier and a much more rigid knife. I mainly use it to slice bread, loaves, nut/seed etc plant based roasts. Its great to cut up cabbages, Cauliflowers and any larger vegetables.

This bread knife often comes out to the dining room table when we have guests and we slice/carve up a large plant based Wellington or a Mock Roast Ham in front of everybody. It`s also the ideal tool to cut up large birthday cakes, again in front of the watching crowd! Food is also about showmanship after all! For that, this Knife is perfect as it oozes presence and party time is written all over it.

Also this is the best Knife to peel and slice up your fresh pineapples.

This Knife is to be used lake a saw with steady slow movements without adding much pressure to it. But make sure you have a strong grip on what you are slicing and you really concentrate! It`s extremely sharp and you can easily cut your fingers.

I reiterate, please watch videos on how to use kitchen knives efficiently and safely!

Last but not least is the Sharpener.

The same applies to using a knife sharpener as to using kitchen knives: please watch a video that shows you the best and safest way to do it before you get going.

All knives go blunt from use, regardless. They need to be sharpened regularly. Professional chefs sharpen their knives at least once a day, some before each use.

After sharpening, wipe both the knife and the sharpener down with a dry kitchen paper as they ( especially the sharpener) will have some very fine steel dust on them.

Each of these knives are genius in their own ways, specializing in different tasks. However there are at least a hundred other brilliant knife types out there. I know because like I said, I used to own most of them. My aim is not to talk you out of them as they may work better for you.

All I am saying here is that if I were to look for new Kitchen Knives today, these above are the ones I would get. They`re not even that expensive! They would cost you around £200 today all in all. They`ll save you a lot more than that in years to come, for you might never have to spend a penny on Kitchen Knives again.

I wish someone had told me this 52 years ago!

Takeaway:

If you want to cut the mustard, you`ll need great kitchen skills and quality knives.

Love them and see them as your magic kitchen wands(but don`t swing them around!)

They`re like a chisel & hammer to a sculptor, a fine brush to a painter or a musical instrument to a musician.

For the art of cooking, they`re the penultimate kitchen tools!

In this series of Harmless Cooking, I intend to help you building up your kitchen confidence. If you take my advice on board, after a while you`ll cook like a pro! Once you`ve mastered your kitchen, you will feel like a brand new universe has opened up to you. And you`ll not be wrong!

You`ll be eating far better and healthier foods at a far less cost to you and to your environment. I know as a chef I would say this, but I cannot think of any other more useful skill then knowing how to cook some hearty Vegan meals for yourself and for your loved ones.

Thank you for reading.

I am soon launching a series of podcasts here on Substack and I would love you to listen in.