Knife skills and your perfect body.
Doesn’t matter if you want to burn fat, build muscle or a combination of the two. Diet is going to play a major role. Don’t get that right and you’ll be spinning your wheels like a car stuck in the mud.
The best way to get unstuck is to get in the kitchen and start cooking.
I know this can sound intimidating but making tasty meals that help you get that perfect body is easier than you think. Get a few basic knife skills and things will be that much easier.
Trust me.
One year for my birthday the Mrs. sent me to a knife skills class.
It was kind of cool.
We learned how to hold a knife and a bunch of fancy ways to cut fruits and veggies.
(I’ve been holding it wrong all this time. The first example was me.)
How To Hold Your Knife
How To Chop And Cut Like A Chef
How to hold a knife wasn’t the biggest take away from my knife skills class. Nor was it cutting an onion with the minimum amount of tears. Nor was it the fancy ways to cut my veggies.
It was the knife.
As part of the class everyone got their own knife.
A Classic 8” Wusthof Cook’s knife.
This was the first time using a high end knife.
My life hasn’t been the same since.
Nothing beats a sharp knife in the kitchen. Not only is it safer but it makes slicing and dicing easier and more enjoyable.
Picking A Knife
Picking the right knife isn’t easy.
Knives run the gamut in price, brand, and style. There’s practically a knife for every job in the kitchen. And sets can run in the thousands of dollars.
Though there’s no need to break the bank when choosing your perfect knife. It’s possible to get a great knife at a great price. All you need is one that gets sharp and stays sharp. What they like to call in the biz and holding an edge.
This edge is what makes all the difference.
Practically any knife you buy will be sharp. But the problem comes in keeping it sharp. Cheap knives dull quickly. The quality of the steel just isn’t there.
The other consideration is how it feels in your hand.
Don’t fuss or the type of knife. There’s only one…
a 10″ chef’s knife.
This bad boy will handle about 90% of your cutting needs.
One more knife
When you pick things up to cut them a chef’s knife is too much. For these occasions a paring knife is perfect.
think pealing, trimming fat, and seeding.
They’re cheap, and handy I recommend you pick one up. Again prices are all over the map. But at $7.95 this one is a no brainer.
Choosing the right kitchen knife
There are a lot of different knives in this video. If you’re on a budget stick with the two mentioned above.
Keeping Your Knives Sharp
The whole idea behind a good knife is keeping it sharp. To do that you’ll need a sharpening steel.
Cutting and chopping bang up the fine edge of the blade making it dull so the sharpening steel is something you’ll use on a regular basis.
That doesn’t mean you have to buy the best of the best. I believe all sharpening steels are about equal. No need to break the bank. You can pick up on Amazon for $10 and it will serve you well.
How To Keep An Edge On Your Knife
A sharpening steel does two things to keep your knife sharp
- it smooths out the rough edge
- it helps straighten that edge after you’ve been cutting, slicing or chopping for a while
Because it’s only removing imperfections you’ll need to put a new edge on your knife every 6 months to a year, depending on how often you use it.
When the time comes you have two choices:
[A] take it somewhere to have it done.[B] grab a knife sharpener.
At less than 10 for a bargain Knife Sharpener it’s a no brainier to do it yourself. To have a professional sharpen just one knife one time will run about the same price as the knife sharpener. So save yourself the time money and trouble. Grab a Knife Sharpener.
Cutting Surface
The last thing necessity is a cutting board.
Again. You can go fancy or keep it simple.
However.
You don’t want to go too cheap. A bad board will ruin your knives. So it’s worth it to spend a few dollars on it.
While it isn’t pretty, a decent plastic board will do.
At 25 bucks it’s a good idea to get 2…
[1] One for meat.[2] Another for vegetables.
I guarantee a good knife will change your life. If you hate cooking a good knife will make all the difference.
And the more time you spend in the kitchen the better your body will look.
Happy choppin’ and stay strong,
Coach Jason
The Athlete’s Physique™
What you’ll need to improve your knife skills to make cooking easy and more enjoyable:
[+] Budget Priced Chef’s Knife[+] High Priced Chef’s Knife
[+] 4-Inch Paring Knife
[+] Cutting and Carving Board
[+] Bargain Knife Sharpener
[+] Standard Sharpening Steel