277725 Fri Apr 29 11:00:42 -0700 2005 5 31 Home Cooking 0 1468325 I love cooking. But my knife skills are painfully mediocre, and I feel like food prep is taking me much longer than necessary since I'm very slow with my slicing, dicing, chopping, etc. Any tips on how to improve my knife skills and increase my speed? I'm not asking for Yan Can Cook lightening knife moves, but enough so that I'm accurate and quick. Fri Apr 29 11:00:42 -0700 2005 0 CK 1 1468328 The Culinary Institute of America smells knife skills DVDs that may help you learn technique, but they are not cheap. Once you have the proper technique down you can increase your speed. There are also videos you can download from the food tv website for free. Link: http://www.ciachef.edu/enthusiasts/fbi/video/knife.html Fri Apr 29 11:37:37 -0700 2005 1468325 0 panapet 1 1468343 1.) Make sure you have a very sharp knife that feels comfortable in your hand. 2.) Make sure you hold the knife properly and keep your fingers curled back on your other hand. 3.) Use a large cutting board. If it slides around on your countertop, stabilize it with some wet paper towels underneath. You can then use these for wiping down the countertop when you're done. I think I learned this from the Cook's Illustrated folks. 4.) Buy a lot of cheap vegetables and practice a lot. Perhaps you could buy a 10# bag of potatoes for a few bucks and cut them up in to a small dice. ---Matt Fri Apr 29 14:11:15 -0700 2005 1468325 0 Mortadella Bodywrap 2 1468387 Good for you! Nothing is more important than basic knife skills. The Jen and Matt hit all the points exactly. Keep up your enthusiasm and in a few months you'll be selling you food processor and mandolin in a garage sale. Now, if I can just convince everyone to get rid of their microwaves... Sat Apr 30 08:39:33 -0700 2005 1468343 0 DK 3 1468395 I agree all the points have been said, but I for one like mircowaves they have a place in the kitchen. I have found that mircowaves can replace a steamer in some Chinese dishes and is a lot faster. I would like to add that pactice, pactice and pactice is all you need. I am sure that Martin Yan has cut himself more than once. You do not have to cut that fast, it a show. Nothing helps a presentation than knife skills. Sat Apr 30 12:05:18 -0700 2005 1468387 0 yimster 1 1468381 Depending on where you live, the local adult ed or culinary institute often offers a basic knife skills course. Fri Apr 29 21:58:42 -0700 2005 1468325 0 JB