Ah okay, I get it. Yes, I’m used to washing knives inbetween cutting tasks. Carbon steel and all that.
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Hi Saregama,
That’s how I reason.
Ray
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Wait….i am missing something. How did death get in this conversation?
Hi HappyOnion,
Contamination is extremely rare–but when it happens, it’s a catastrophe.
It’s not that difficult to take precautions.
Ray
Hi RD,
Not much fun, but could be much worse–you haven’t lost a member.
Ray
Stressed by what (I just want to understand it) - preparing some vegetables and meat ?
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Hi blondanonima,
Here in SOCAL, the claw is a basketball player for the Los Angeles Clippers–LOL
I don’t do it very well, so I keep it slow.
Ray
Is this a Bobbitt joke?
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Hi honkman,
Could be most anything. I do lots of things beside cook.
Ray
Hi bbqboy,
I hope not. I almost lost one of my big toes to an axe–still has a mark–so I’m very sympathetic.
Ray
Different strokes for different folks.
I worked a job where I got home regularly sometime between 8 and 10pm - the difference between takeout and home cooked dinner was whether things were already prepped.
I have friends and family with kids where the difference between enough vegetables being eaten or not is whether they were prepped ahead.
Salad greens can be prepped at home – yet, bagged salad greens are popular. Same idea as stores selling cut vegetables. If enough people didn’t find them useful and time-saving enough to buy them, they’d stop.
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Hi JustCharlie.
One thing a home cook needs the most is grabbability–as I illustrated with my home picture. The knife is already sharp and in place–prepped, so to speak–so it can be grabbed in a moment–safely–the correct way–used–hand washed–and put back–dry.
If the metal is soft, the steel is right there for honing. No matter what your stroke might be, the right knife is there–even the hard steel upgrades.
I built my project around the octopus concept–everything within reach–and it works pretty well.
Hi Vecchiouomo,
You don’t mention specific vegetable or meat preps, cutting boards, management, compatibility with stroke–or grabbability.
What’s your system for keeping yourself and every knife safe and grabbable?
+1 Damiano. Keep it clean, know where you’re going, and maintain your equipment.
I liked Charlie’s take. Handle slippage is the big red flag.
I cut my veg the day of. Most meats I marinate in one way or another, or I brine them. Then again, a brine really is a marinade. So, I’ll prep meats a day ahead; never veg. Fresh is everything with veggies.
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Hi damiano,
As I suggested above, before you prep your meal, you need to prep the knives that you will use so that they’re grabbably ready. Since you have a mixture of softer and harder knives, IMO, you should have a ready in place hone to use on the softer knives, and some idea of how many hours of work it has been since you sharpened the harder knives.
I have just recently separated out my softer knives to make that possible.
I think you should seriously consider separate cutting boards for vegetables and meat. I use my large poly board exclusively for bloody meats next to or on the sink to be washed down the drain.
In addition to grabbability, you might want to evaluate the type of strokes you will be using for the task–and the best knife for that stroke and/or strokes. I still rock chop-especially with my Wusthof, but Dr. H is converting me more and more to push cutting using my hard steel knives. I reserve vertical chops for my cleavers.
If the knife prepping goes well, everything else will proceed smoothly–with almost no safety risk.
Hi Tom, it seems like an unusually high percentage of centenarians thereabouts.
More seriously, I worked as a kid in my grandad’s general store and one of my common evening duties was scrubbing down the butcher block. IIRC, it mostly consisted of kosher salt, lemon juice, a dough scraper and after the first bunch had been scrubbed in well and then removed/discarded, repeat with a stiff wire brush (with more salt and lemon juice, I mean), then back to the dough scraper to get all the salt and juice off, wipe dry with a clean cloth.
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there’s a serious preponderance of people who do not accept that OMG scenario.
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I have my knives in a single block, an arm’s length to my left from the stove. I have three cutting boards three feet on the other side. My main working space is behind me when I am at the stove. I clean as I go. The sink is next to the knife block. Since all my cutting boards are double sided, there is always a clean surface within reach. My knives are always sharp. I hone after use, not before. I use the same boards and knives for vegetables, fruits, or proteins. After cutting proteins I squirt them with Mrs. Meyer’s, scrub 'em with a tampico bristled brush, and rinse with hot water. Same treatment for the knives.
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I never keep track of it. When something feels dull I sharpen it and try to cut off my finger in the process. Pretty straight forward strategy that works for me.
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An afterthought…for most knives, they can all rock, push, draw, chop, whatever. You can even rock a knife with no belly by working from the point. The only knives I find to be completely specialized are the serrated bread knife and the big meat cleaver. Even the boning knife can be used a lot of ways. If a chef’s knife can’t do it all, something is amiss.
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