By: Mountainman

Kitchen knives come in all sizes and shapes. Each small variation results in a different use. There are long ones, short ones, wide ones, narrow ones, curved ones, angled ones and the list goes on and on. They are made from carbon steel, stainless steel, stamped steel, ceramic or even plastic. The better knives are balanced so as they are being used they do not feel awkward. By awkward I mean they feel heavy or light at the pointed end. Proper balance eases the strain on the user. Grips or handles have made great advances further easing the strain on the user. Sharpness is also a key factor in easing the strain on the user. The type of edge used for a particular cutting or slicing project is very important.

Styles

The size and shape of the knife determines its primary use. The cook’s or chef’s knife is used for the heavy duty cutting needed in the kitchen. It is normally a longer, heavy constructed knife that will handle the abuse of the overzealous cook. Slicing, dicing, and chopping are some of the primary uses of the cook’s knife. The slicing knife is for use in slicing food such as ham or large cuts of meat. The Bread knife normally has a thin serrated blade. The serrated blade allows it to easily slice through a loaf of bread or a tomato without crushing or tearing. The steak knife is normally a smaller version of the slicing knife, designed for individual use. The knife used most often by any cook is the paring knife. It is a small knife that is easy to handle and can be used for cutting, peeling and dicing fruits, vegetables, meats, cheeses, etc.

Construction

The way knives are constructed determines several things. There are several types of material used in the manufacturing of the blade material.

Carbon Steel blades are made from iron with about 2% carbon. This blade is easily sharpened and holds its edge well. The down side of this is they tend rust if they are not dried immediately after washing. Over time they obtain a dark color considered to be the sign of a quality knife. The higher the percentage of carbon to iron, the better the blade.

Stainless Steel blades are made from an alloy of iron with 10-15 % chromium, maybe some nickel and molybdenum with only a very small amount of carbon. This type of material cannot be sharpened as sharp as the carbon steel blade, but it is very resistant to staining and discoloration. Some people think the discoloration imparts a flavor into the food.

High Carbon Stainless Steel blades combine the best of both worlds. They do not discolor like the carbon blades, but they can be sharpened to a keen edge that is long lasting. They do not impart any flavor into your food.

Titanium alloy blades are lighter and more flexible than steel blades. The carbon in the alloy allows them to be heat treated so they will hold an edge well. They do not impart any flavor into your food, either.

Ceramic blades are made from ceramic. They are extremely hard and will hold their edge for a long time. They will cut the glaze on a dinner plate and should only be used on a cutting board. The down side is that they must be professionally sharpened.

Plastic blades are not very sharp and are specialized in the use in the kitchen. They are used to cut vegetables so they don’t turn dark.

Laminate blades are made by layering different materials together. The number of possibilities is endless. The only way to decide if you want one of these types is to buy and try.

Steel blades are either forged or stamped.

Forged blades are made in a detailed process that takes a lot of time and is accomplished by skilled craftsman. I will not go into detail here, but this type of blade is more often than not preferred by chefs.

Stamped blades are designed to be made in mass. The quality of the metal used is such that it can be worked quickly into a finished product. This type of knife is less expensive than the forged one, but it must be replaced on a regular basis.

The Business Edge

The type and design of the knife edge determines how it should be used.

Flat ground blades are tapered from the backbone to the edge. This blade is very strong but is heavy.

Hollow ground blades look a lot like the flat ground except starting about halfway up the blade it is ground into a concave shape. It is weaker than the flat ground blade but has the advantage of being lighter.

The Serrated blade looks like a saw. It is ideal for cutting things that are hard on the outside and soft on the inside. It actually tears the food rather than cutting, so it should not be used for all kinds of food.

Handle

The handle of your knife can be made from an array of different materials. The basic handles are wood, plastic, composite and Stainless Steel.

Wood handles are made from hardwoods. Wooden handles are the most attractive and do not become slick when wet. Some individuals claim the porosity of the wood retains bacteria and refuse to use them. This is up to the individual as whether this factor is included in the decision process.

Plastic handles can be molded into almost any shape you can imagine. The modern plastic handle has evolved into ergonomically designed units designed by a computer. They fit your hand nicely, but a lot of pole people complain about the “one-size-fits-all” concept. Also, plastic handles can be slippery when wet.

Composite handles incorporate the best of the wood and plastic materials. They are easy to care for and some chefs will use nothing else.

Stainless Steel handles are by far the most durable. They are the most sanitary but can be tricky to handle when wet. Manufacturers form them with bumps and finger grooves to help eliminate this problem.

Conclusion

This information is not by any means everything there is to know. It should give you the basic information you need to make a qualified decision. There are many variations to the ones listed. Choosing your knife will be determined by several factors. How often will you use a particular knife, what will it will be used for, and how much are you willing to spend are just a few of the things you should look at. Hopefully the information given will give you a basic understanding and an idea of what you might look for when purchasing your kitchen cutlery.

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Johnny Shaw (Mountainman) Born and raised in a small town in Oklahoma. He married in 1971 and then joined the Air Force in 1977. After traveling the world, he retired in 1997 after 20 years of service and has recently moved back to Oklahoma. His rule to live by “Never give up, Never surrender.” His web sites are: Your Home and Garden Store , Property for Sale in Hot Springs Village, Ark and Information on using a wood burning store

Two Methods of Chicken Cut - Simply and Professionally

There are two ways in which chickens or poultry can be cut up, one for home use and the other for professional use. The technique can be learned quite easily and it's a useful skill to have.

The advantages are that it is more economical to cut up chicken or poultry yourself than buying in portions, and you can cut the way you want them in any various combinations such as drumsticks with or without the thigh, or breasts with or with the wings, etc.

A key point to remember is to feel the joints when you have to sever sinews and cartilage. To cut through bones, ideally a serrated knife or poultry shears are used.

The method that is common and popular amongst home cooks is as follows:

Basically there are eight steps to cut up the chicken or poultry. Firstly, by using a large sharp knife, free the leg by carefully cutting the skin between the body and the leg. Cut through the skin as far as the joint, bending the leg outwards with the hand. Then twist the leg until the ball of the joint springs out. After that, cut through the joint, pressing lightly. Cut through the leg at the knee joint to separate the thigh from the drumstick. Separate the wing at the shoulder joint, cutting off a small part of the breast with it. Press quite firmly to split the collarbone and divide the back parallel to the backbone. Cut across the back at the middle point, breaking the backbone with short movements of the knife. Finally to separate the breasts, carefully cut left and right along the length of the breastbone.

The professional cooks have a different method of cutting up chickens or poulty and the following method is based on 1-3/4 pounds poultry, in order to achieve portions of equal size:

In eight steps, firstly make a cut approximately 3/8 inch deep across the back under the shoulder blades. Cut along the backbone at a right angle to this and remove the "chicken oysters", which is the tender part whose quality matches that of the breasts. Cut through the skin between the body and the leg. Spread out the leg and cut through the joint. Chop off the outermost section of each wing, cutting through the joint with a small chopper or large knife.

Remove the wings with some breast meat, along the breastbone and wishbone as far as the joint. To remove the breasts, first hold the chicken firmly by the wishbone and cut along the breastbone. Turn the carcass 180 degree, then loosen the breast from the front along the wishbone as far as the joint. Take off the breast, making a cut from the joint to the end of the breastbone.

The legs are left in one piece and the wing tips are removed, for the sake of appearance.

The number of individual pieces depends on the size of the chicken. You can use the remainder of the carcass to make stock, soups and sauces.

The two methods above are simple to master and whether you choose to cut your chickens simply or professionally, these are the correct methods to follow.

Article Source: http://www.kokkada.com

Noraini Maskuri enjoys cooking and has professional training in bakery. She owns MyCookery.com and if you wish to receive free Chicken Cookbook with 300 chicken recipes, you can download from this site: mycookery.com/blog For more cooking and baking tips and recipes, please also visit: recipehome.nmaskuri.com

The Meanings of Different Cooking Terms

Cooking can be very satisfying, and learning about the different ways to cook and finding new; different recipes to experiment in the kitchen is exciting. This had led to a bunch of television programmes appearing and even more cookbooks arriving to offer chefs tips, advice, and recipes. However, a good starting point for many wanting to get into the kitchen and to begin putting recipes into practice is to know the different terminologies used with cooking.

Learning the different cooking terminologies is important as a dish may be prepared in a number of ways, and each of the preparation methods can result in varying flavours. Here are just a few of the terms cooking recipes may require you to perform:

Grilled

This is a more common term that many will already know, even if they don’t often cook. When a recipe requires you to grill a food item, it will basically mean that you need to cook over an open flame, whether it is by gas or charcoal. Obviously the most ideal place to do food grilling is over a grill.

Frying and Deep-frying

These are terms that are often confused, but they are actually quite different. Frying can be done using a frying pan and with oil or butter, whereas deep-frying on the other hand means that the food needs to be submerged in boiling oil until it is cooked. This can often be seen in fast food chains where the food is placed in a basket and submerged into the boiling oil, often to produce french fries, tender breaded chicken, and funnel cakes.

Sautéing

An alternative to frying is sautéing, to produce strong flavours from your food. To sauté food, cook quickly using a small amount of fat (oil or butter), and use a frying pan to receive best results when using this cooking method.

Broiled

When a recipe calls for the food to be broiled, it means that the food should be cooked by direct exposure to a flame or heat element. You may find the "broil" setting on many ovens, although it is important to place the food on the top rack when using this setting.

For those that cook and prepare meals regularly or just beginning to become interested in cooking, familiarize yourself with the many different preparation and cooking terms. At least learn the basic terms so that you can prepare the food in the way that the recipe intended, and also, before you start cooking a new recipe or dish, firstly read through the recipe instructions so that you know the cooking terms and exactly how to execute them. This is especially important if you are cooking to time schedule.

Article Source: http://www.kokkada.com

For more information on cooking, we encourage you to visit www.cookingschoolrecipes.info Justin Brown has put together some great, informative articles for those wanting to find out more. Justin Brown also runs a great site on wedding invitations at www.weddinginvitationsinfo.info, and a resource for free content and article submissions at www.articleblotter.com

There are many reasons for which people tend to be or change themselves to vegans. Some may be for religion, poverty, health or politics. But a common thought prevailing in all minds is the delicacy and good balanced nutrition. There are people who are pure vegans and some are occasional meat eaters. Here are some tips to make your vegetarian cooking meet the requirement of good and nutritional aspects. Don't substitute soy with a meat based recipe unaltered. Soy is basically a primary source for textured vegetable protein which are highly costly, rich in fat and also high in processing.

In order to cook a delicious vegetarian soup add some oil to it. Though oil has fat content it is good for your body metabolism. So in case you are using vegetables especially sautéed onions, the taste is enhanced. Use of oils which are liquid at room temperature such as grape seed, vegetable oil or olive oil are healthier and prevents many ailments.

The main ingredient for a fabulous taste of a vegetarian food is the use of sea salt. It has a mineral content in its natural form unlike the chemicals found in the processed table salts. The major point to be noted is that the salt should be added to the dish while it is being cooked rather than using it while serving since the heat brings in a lot of difference in flavor and quality of the dish cooked. It is mandatory to use lot of vegetables in your diet in order to have a healthy body. The greater the range of colors in vegetables the more they are rich in nutrition.

Leafy vegetables such as spinach, lettuce and chard prove to be fibrous which helps in cleaning up your bowels. Vegetables in the form of roots (carrots, radish beetroot, yam etc), leaves (cabbage, spinach etc), flower (cauliflower) and stems (celery, pepper, eggplant etc) are very good for health and also rich in taste and nutrition. Don't over cook them and never deep fry them since they tend to lose their nutritional value.

Researchers have found that green leafy vegetables are the most effective vegetable in slowing down the cognitive decline rate. Consuming fruits did not alter the cognitive rate and this was due to the presence of high levels of vitamin E in green leafy vegetables that helped in lowering down the risk of cognitive decline.

Using The Right Oils In Your Cooking

You’ve heard all over the place that too much oil in your cooking is really unhealthy. However, using the right oils sparingly adds a wonderful flavor to all your recipes.

The right oils in moderation are healthy for you. Let’s review some of the oils commonly available so that you can make the right choice.

Olive oil: A personal favorite. The flavor is excellent and it has plenty of monounsaturated fat. This makes it better for your heart than many other oils. You can use it while cooking, but it is also great in salad dressings.

Canola oil: This one has the least saturated fat of all the oils reviewed here. Only olive oil has more monounsaturated fat, which is good for your cholesterol level.

You may have heard some myths about the dangers of canola oil, to which my response is visit http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/canola.asp to get the facts of the matter.

Vegetable oil: Oils just labeled as vegetable oils don’t have anything in particular to recommend them healthwise. They have more monounsaturated fat than healthier oils. The flavor isn’t bad, but there are better tasting oils out there.

Butter: Yes, butter belongs in this category. It has some advantages when you’re cooking, as it does well at higher temperatures. It isn’t exactly what you think of when you’re talking about oil, but since it is used in similar ways at times, it is worth considering.

Butter comes from milk, of course, so it has some great nutrients. You can use it when you’re stir frying, and of course you use it in baking, sauces or to spread on bread. It has a lot of fat, so it may not be the healthiest choice.

Margarine: Margarine was once thought to be a healthy alternative to butter, but we have since discovered that trans fats, which margarine contains a lot of, increases your cholesterol, so it is not so healthy as once thought.

However, it still has less fat than many oils and butter, and has a good flavor.

Choosing the right oil is one of the simplest ways to eat healthier, along with simply using less oil. You might be surprised at how little you really need to use.