[Sca-cooks] Another knife question

[Stefan li Rous]

  Adamantius commented:
> Since this part of the discussion to some extent stems from
> imprecision on my part, I guess we should discuss grip for a bit. I'm
> willing to risk going over material we're all familiar with in our
> sleep if it helps one person. As UlfR mentions, this is the preferred
> grip (at least for a chef's knife) among more experienced cooks. One
> of the things I always get a secret giggle out of in movies and
> television is watching an actor who is clearly unfamiliar with using
> a chef's knife clutching it in his fist and using it in a manner that
> must be cheerfully endorsed by the World Association of Carpal Tunnel
> Surgeons. This involves a stroke of the knife wherein the heel of the
> blade does most of the work, which is as it should be, but the force
> is decreased by either following with the point at some later date
> (essentially absorbing shock by flexing the wrist), or even by using
> the Dread Sawing Motion.
>
> Ideally, though, for chopping and much slicing (depending on what the
> item is), the preferred ideal motion involves keeping the point more
> or less anchored on or near the surface of the cutting board, and
> sliding it about two inches or so from side to side in a sort of
> invisible track, while moving the center and heel of the blade in a
> circular motion that looks a bit like watching the wheels on a
> steam-driven locomotive.
Thank you! I have, I think, been using my knives all wrong. I can't 
quite figure out what you exactly are describing but perhaps I will 
with some more rereading. This is a chopping motion with a bit of 
horizontal movement? I'm not quite sure which parts of the knife move 
and in which direction and which ones don't.

I've never liked prepping my ingredients. This is one reason I bought a 
food processor. Perhaps improving my knife work will improve things. 
Certainly something I should do before I invest in better knives, since 
I want the knives to fit the better motion and not buy for what feels 
good with  my current motion and then have an improved motion the new 
ones don't work with.

Stefan
--------
THLord Stefan li Rous    Barony of Bryn Gwlad    Kingdom of Ansteorra
    Mark S. Harris           Austin, Texas          
StefanliRous at austin.rr.com
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