The 3 Knives To Have Ready For A Better Holidays!
If you're anything like me, as the holidays draw nearer I begin to ponder what kind of culinary delicacies i'm going to whip up for the table this year. Over the years many of the recipes I use are locked in my brain and much to the dismay of family, have never been written down.
One thing is for certain, after years of practice and the trials of culinary school, there is one thing I have learned. Three properly prepared knives can make all the difference between perfectly plated culinary glory, or having to submerge meat that looks like I carved a turkey with a chain saw.
The first one you should have sharp and ready is your trusty Chef’s Knife!
Common in most kitchens your chefs knife will do most of the work from chopping carrots to mincing garlic and prepping most of your meals ingredients. If you can only pick one, go for the chefs knife! Make sure its good and sharp, and don’t forget to give it a quick run over with a strop or honing iron every couple of hours of use time!
The next knife you should have ready is a boning knife.
Boning knives are more flexible and much thinner than a chefs knife. This allows you to pass the edge along the bones and remove more meat. If you struggle to get all of the meat off of a turkey then a good boning knife will change the game entirely.
If you really want to wow a crowd in presentation, try this technique for removing breast meat off a turkey.
Take the tip of your boning knife and slice down the center bone between the breast meat. Then using long strokes, slice toward the wings while keeping the face of the blade almost flat against the ribs. This should allow you to remove almost the entire breast intact keeping the crispy skin on.
Finally, having a trusty paring knife is crucial.
I have run into plenty of spots where I wasn’t able to get the full use of a chefs knife and had to turn to my paring knife for help. It allows you to have more control in tighter spaces. Plus its very handy if you have bread stuck to the sides of your baking loaf pan.
Make sure you’re ready this holiday season!
Are your knives looking a little dull? Not getting the cut quality you want? Don't worry, if your stone just isn't sharpening like it used to grab our sharpening methodology below!
