Sharp wit, sharp skills, no problem?

[Food Network Fan]

Sharp wit, sharp skills, no problem?
Times Daily (subscription), AL - 6 hours ago
It seemed like a good idea when I first heard it.

I mean, in articles about what it takes to be a good at-home cook (who needs Paula or Rachael or Giada, anyway?), the authors always say that knife skills are essential.

You know: How you can take one multi-purpose knife - not even an expensive one - and do everything with it.

If you've got the expertise, the thinking goes, with your trusty knife you can carve a roast, peel a potato, take a chicken apart and then create a delicate and fragile radish rose for a grand-finale decoration. ...

[BerryBaby]

Don't know of one person who hasn't cut themself at one time or another. It's all part of the cooking process, at least for me.

The very first time I cut my finger badly was our first Thanksgiving. I was carving the turkey. We were living in the Bay Area and wouldn't you know it, it wasn't my clumsiness, we were having an earthquake! Talk about perfect timing.

Can't say the rest of the kitchen battle scars are from earthquakes. Just very sharp knives and not paying attention. It's hard to be Italian and not talk with your hands. I just need to put the knife down first.:screama:

[isilzha]

I cut my finger at work the other day. I was off sick the day before, and still not feeling well and made a stupid mistake. Whoops.

[Chefnot]

I would love to have a dollar for every stitch I have in my hands. Man was I young and dumb.

I pretty much use one knife for everything in the kitchen. The Chef knife is there, but I seldon use it.

[Food Network Fan]

I use the chef's knife for nearly everything.

[BerryBaby]

I have a chef knife, but use the smaller paring knives for most things. Well, not bread, I use the serrated edge one.

[MayQueen]

I try to really concentrate when I'm using a knife. A cut finger could have a drastic effect on my career. I've been lucky so far. But I did burn my finger tips over the holidays. Even almost two months later they are still not back to normal and the sensitivity in them is altered.

[Food Network Fan]

Have you seen the guards they have for your fingers? I don't know if I would be comfortable using it, it might be helpful to you though.

Shop Stainless Steel Finger Guard at CHEFS.

[BerryBaby]

It isn't the chopping that gets me, it's the tip of the knives when I go to talk and use the hands. Think I need thick gloves. Kind of like these!

[bakerman]

I use the santuku knife often and a paring knife, when I have a bunch of stuff to cut or I want to cut up a big chunk of meat, the chef's knife comes out.

I don't often cut myself, but leveled off the end of my thumb once, boy did that hurt, it took over a year for it to round off again!

I rented "The French Chef" from Netflix recently, Julia had some great knife skills. On her French onion soup show, she gave some instruction on knife handling, and care, it was neat to see.

MAC