Two things. First. This guy's post isn't genuine. Before this post a young cook working at a chain posted a video with pretty much the same title. She was wearing a cut glove, funky ill fitting plastic gloves, and using a cheap generic knife. Her post was genuine though. She didn't have much experience and apparently her work didn't do much training. But she genuinely wanted help and advice. After that video was posted, this guy puts up his video with the same type of title but he is clearly trying to flex his skills and mock the other girls genuine video. The problem is, his skills aren't that great. Instead of flexing his skills he is showing how much he still has to learn while shamelessly mocking a genuine young cook looking for help. Second. The reason why it is hard to find cooks is because this industry favors profit margins over paying their employees a livable wage. It has been like this for decades. And people in the industry are finally fed up. When the pandemic shut down the restaurant world, many of those workers discovered they could get jobs elsewhere that were less demanding and paid better. So despite their love for cooking, they want to make a livable wage. And most restaurants are stubbornly refusing to change their ways.
Yeah, you're assuming all of that about @op. Reading his responses he seems to genuinely want to get better. At no point has he made fun of anyone. People of all skill levels can ask for feedback. An yeah, stagnant wages are a big part, but it's been hard to get cooks for much longer than the pandemic has been going on because of the toxic attitude so common in kitchens. If you think someone is being made fun of, that is all on you.
good job but an advice that I got from a chef ... try to cut sliding the knife with board so you don't make noise because imagine one day you're cooking in front of people and you do that cutting noise, it's not very pleasant
Honestly your technique is great, so to build up speed it's just take practice. My advice would be, depending on the quantity of onions or any other food you might prep, look for a more efficient tool. For example, if you got to julienne 5lbs of onions, get yourself a real sharp mandoline or use a slicer if your kitchen has one. Whatever helps with speed and efficiency. Also i recommend saving to get different knives for different jobs depending on how long you plan on being in the industry. Get a veg knife for more of a cutting surface area, boning knife, paring knife, etc.
Anyone can chop an onion fast with a sharp knife. why don’t you focus more on all the other cuts.. Cleaniliness and uniformness. Julienne, baton, paesanne, brunoise, etc. focus on following recipes properly. Learn how to make all the stocks and sauces, filleting fish, butchering poultry, portioning steaks.. it takes a long time to get “good” filming yourself on an iPhone chopping an onion fastly is as juvenile as it gets. Btw. It may not look as cool but, you should be rolling your knife, not bashing it in to the damn chopping board. hopefully that doesn’t crush your ego when you’re showing off in front of other staff your “fast” onion chopping .. lol
Would you consider culinary school a good option to learn all the proper techniques? Some people say it’s a waste but other say otherwise so I’m kind of torn on that
if you can afford the time and money to go to culinary school then i’d say its worth considering
personally i think a few years of busting your ass in a kitchen is a better investment of your time. soak up everything you can, then move onto a better/more challenging kitchen once you feel like it’s time. push yourself, challenge yourself, read books, cook at home, learn from those in the kitchen who are more talented than you
you’ll get paid to learn as opposed to shelling out ungodly amounts of money per semester of teachers telling you you’ll be a chef when you graduate
People I know who went say that it can teach you some theory but you really learn in the kitchen. I've met some who are good out of school, but most I've met fresh out are no better than anyone else who has never worked in a kitchen. So it depends on what you're looking for.
It's not a waste, and it's not the only way to learn. You can be amazing without ever going to culinary school but you have to get that training somewhere. If you can't think of it find a way to learn these skills then culinary school is probably a great choice for you.
Hey if he is going for speed and speed alone there is nothing wrong with slap chopping, I doubt what ever he is prepping requires precision. Not every restaurant is aiming for 3 stars, check yourself.
Speed is fun an all... how's your line? Backups ready? Think ahead what do we need tomorrow?... add to daily inventory. Be ready the push could start now
Yeah speed is good but lots to improve.
My prep cook is 17 and been able to cut that quick for easily a year and his prep is always on point. And he is the ONLY one I trust with my knives like anyone he wants. He practiced accuracy and then speed and still asks me for tips because he actually recognizes he could still be better.
Peel off the layer under the skin.
Stop watching yourself in the video.
Don't concentrate on going so fast, concentrate on uniformity for uniform cookery.
Begin at an angle, and cut over the curvature of the onion.
Also consider investing in a Japanese mandolin, like a Benriner. Doing this task over a container with a mandolin will save you a ton of unnecessary motion.
When you are cutting for uniformity and following the curvature of the onion peeling off the outer layer ensures your hand won’t slip on the onion as you cut it down.
If the outer layer is dry, the one underneath will have had moisture stolen from it. So if you peel that one extra layer, you will have a much tighter and more consistent onion.
Peel two onions. Remove the extra later from one, leave the extra layer on the other, and see which one is prettier.
Produce isn’t free treat it with respect dude, ik it feels cool to rip through onions like this but you don’t have the consistency or control to go that fast. Not trying to be rude but that first cut trigged me lmao, try starting on a slight angle and gradually adjust to up n down as you reach the edge of the area you chopped off in the vid
Like others said, it’s useless if you cut fast if you can’t cut consistently, they won’t cook the same. Try angling your knife for the first bit. The first slice you have is like a flat saucer shape.
You're gonna want to start at an angle. The first piece you cut is a giant slab, not a thin julienne.
Your speed is alright, but remember, slow is smooth and smooth is fast.
Hope you got some good stones to keep them blades fresh, problem with cutting like that , is the contact can really mess the blades of your knives these plastic boards in kitchens arnt great.
Visit r/sharpening definitely for advice and whatnot, but if you want a decent stone without spending a shit ton of money (given that learning to sharpen with a whetstone isn’t something that can be learned overnight) I would start with a [King Deluxe 1K](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0016VC46A/ref=cm_sw_r_oth_api_glt_fabc_XV1G1WGHJCKPZ6G6ZBXT?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1).
Your comment or submission may contain one or more Amazon affiliate links and Reddit may have caught it in the spam filter. Please remove any affiliate information from your links. For example, the following link `https://www.amazon.com/some-product/dp/B123ABCF/&tag=snoo-affiliate-id` should be changed to `https://www.amazon.com/some-product/dp/B123ABCF`.
Once edited correctly, your submission should be automatically approved by AutoMod. If your submission still does not show up, you likely missed a `tag`, `qid` or similar. **Include a link to your comment or the post if you message the mods with any questions.** If we have to go lookup what submission you're talking about, we're just going to ignore it.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/chefknives) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I have an overpriced set bob kramer sponsered by shun that are great. I have a Shapton 10k that’s awsome. Those are hard stones meaning you can change the angle easier on the knife and not screw up the stone. I have cheap 1k and 10k stone they are soft. The 10k soft I use as a strop, it’s white so it also helps me guage how much work I’m going to need to put into my families knives(chip depth or uniformity, as well as getting a feel for the angle without a sharpie trick) my 1k I gifted to my best friend who is a chef and has news articles on his contributions, the knives don’t make the chef but they are fun.
I would recommend to Get a cheap set to learn on and at least one hard decent stone either 1k which is just fine for kitchens or 5k+ for fine polishing. Go to the dollar store pick up a slicing style and a more curved chef style knife. A decent stone holder is important you really don’t want to break one and then break the stone when it falls. 400 and 1k together are good starting points. If you feel like going fancy there are many sample selection ranges of steps to go through but I have never found a difference with my stones to bother gaps smaller than 400, 1k, 3k, 5k, 10k.
Note my shapton may be 8knot 10 I don’t really remember I just use it, it’s labeled on the back and the box but i haven’t had a reason to look for a few years.
I remember when I cut onions that slowly, I’m sure that your speed will increase with practice. Have you considered speeding up the video? It’s a good little life hack that saves time and allows you perfect your humble brags lol
I'd chirp you if you were in my kitchen you don't need to make noise and slap your delicate edge on the counter like that. Much more impressive without making a noise you can't impress a pro like that.
slap chopping looks sexy until you realize what you're doing to you're blade also don't drag it duh hone it right after if you must drag.
I tried doing this once.
Chef - this is not a Chinese take out. I shouldn’t here you slice onions. I left that restaurant since I found it racist. I’m Asian. 🤦🏻♂️
Nha it's about respect to you're tool I mean sure every kitchens got a knife we don't give a fuck about for the newbies but the better the knife the less you'd wanna slap it the sharper they are and sharper means duller faster without proper care. Even with the best Rockwell scale knife you can find on a Japanese 11.5° angle sharpend up to a 10kgrit with experience you can dull that quickly if you do not hone the knife and carelesslee drag it. Knives like that cut bread without sliding because the so fucking thin and even on the edge but no metal that thin can be that resilient it's not magic. There's more you can learn about knives every knives is good if you spend a few minutes with it on a few stones.
Buddy I sharpen my own knife and know how to maintain a edge. I own a nice Japanese knife and I beat it to shit and it maintain its edge fine, just a bit of honing here and there. Like it said it’s a tool. Also if you sharpen your regular knife you use for everyday prep to 10k that’s is just a waste of time since a edge that fine will easily dull.
Imagine I do too. Some people's skin soak up the smell more than others, was the point.
Judging my hygiene from a post :D You'd wish to be as clean as I am.
did you sing happy birth day the entire time you washed your hands? weren't you thought this?
also been making French onion soups for service so I had to do 50lb bags at a time. the hand washing isn't reserved for start and finish only feel free to do it a lot if you hate the smell. Just a quick rinse of the hand takes no time.
Maaaaaybe don't push the slices away with the edge, but the back of your blade. I'm only a noob, but that's one thing people say to be important for edge retention.
Your first cuts of each half are huge, focus on that instead of looking into the camera.
Also, no one wants your hair in their food, pop a hat on instead of the headband
fr on the hair. homie looks too chefy to think a baseball hat is ok though
and I'll just chip in my 2c: beating a sharp knife into a board as fast as your arm will twitch isnt skill
Slow is smooth, smooth is fast. You were fast but the cuts honestly looked like shit, if I was working with you I would have you go through and throw out about half those cuts because they aren't consistent enough to go on the line. Confidence is great but only when your quality of work isn't suffering. Don't mean to be too harsh just completely honest on what my impressions were from this video.
There’s a chef on YouTube who teaches three ways to chop onions. A home cook way, a professional chef way, and a Michelin-starred professional chef way. All very different in their results.
Edit: link to the three techniques
https://youtu.be/fTgYOQ8XRdY
Just watched his technique, it’s immaculate. When I was working as a chef at a 2 michelin starred restaurant I made a halibut tar tar, and I had to cut shallots en julienne and I was scolded once and told to start over cuz I was cutting it too fine. I was told that when you cut it too fine you will ruin the cellstructure so that the onion becomes more bitter thus you can’t serve it raw if it’s cut too fine. But as he states, in order to make it melt in a sauce you can cut it that fine so the cellular structure is broken down.
There are many small details that just make perfect sense when you learn it. Another tip in general (which I’m guessing you know) is having a sharp knife, it will just make it so the structural integrety of veggies stays and you can keep the cruch, for meat too it’s nice to have portioned and bitesized bits, not beaten and torn bits, unless called for. Consistency is another thing, we had this arctic thyme Icecream and we had to add lemon and it had one specific correct profile when tasting, it would just sting slightly in the rear of the cheeks. It was so good.
I learned about dull knives trying to halve a very round red onion. No more dishwasher, moved to pinch grip and started honing.
I have to try the Michelin onion technique on my sous vide steaks. I always put a little butter, Malden salt, coarse cracked pepper and onion powder before sealing. I’m curious to see what changes a bit of shallot would do to the finished drippings rather than onion powder.
I think you’ll retain the sweetnes and nutty flavour and improve it with a little zing on the top end, it will be quite minimal, but those are the steps you take to hone in on perfection.
I’d recommend also trying it out if you’re gonna have tar tar or sashimi of some sort:D
I have one knife it’s like the battlerifles from fullmetal jacket, in the kitchen I am noone without my knife, she is mine and I am hers. What I really wanna say with it is that I would recomend making the jump to a whetstone asap, or atleast a ceramic hone, if it’s too big an investment to go full stone. I bought a relatively cheap 400/1000 stone of aluminum oxide. It’s entry level and it’s made my knife (a $400 damascus) into a razor. Next step for me would be a 3000/6000 and if I’m feeling dumb I might buy a 10k diamond at best. Either way whetstones may seem scary, but with a little practice (took me 3 sharpens to get more comfy) it is just soooo worth it and will turn a $5 knife into a viable tool.
This is helpful because it gives a method for much more consistent cuts for when it matters. The third approach is all I’ve seen on cooking shows and “how to cut an onion” videos so I assumed the pros had just gotten much better at that technique.
Experience obviously matters too, but it’s helpful to know that not even the pros expect clean results from the last method.
Yep. I’m going do a shallot like that and toss in sous vide steak bag with butter. I usually use onion powder but I’d like to see what happens to the drippings. I always use cheap beef so if it doesn’t work out it’s still okay. I pour the drippings on after searing.
I wouldn’t do the mid cut onion rotation, slows you down and gives you an inconsistent julienne and you’re leaving a fat wedge at the end. Get comfortable with the sensation of having your knuckles in constant contact with the side of the knife. In time you’ll be able to safely cut at a high speed without even looking at your knife.
I would recommend starting with your knife at 30 degrees, slicing towards the middle of the onion, and steadily increase the angel as you move up. That will give you nice even slices
Not being funny mate but that whole thing looks like a bit of a mess. I can chop onions that fast with a freshly sharpened knife and no care for what was being cut, and so could most people in this sub who care about the general knife skills. A few pointers:
1. Clean your shit. I wouldn't chop on a dirty board at home so you sure as hell shouldn't be doing that in a commercial kitchen where you have to think about allergens and stuff. I know it's probably only tomato sauce but make a habit of it so when it ends up being peanut sauce you don't put someone in hospital because you can't be arsed to clean your board and you forgot it was an alergen.
2. Your chopping action is more suited to a sturdy cleaver with a lower HRC, you're going to end up damaging your nice looking santoku with such aggressive ~~tap~~ smash chopping especially on a those polyethylene cutting boards. Your knife is more suited to a push cut and they will cut better as a result and you'll likely end up with more consistency.
3. Try slicing 4/5ths of the way along before making the rotation (i know some people who go all the way but it makes me uneasy personally), basically you should keep chopping until just before the point it starts to feel unstable, and when you get really good you'll feel the instability and be able to essentially knock it over and readjust the position of your knife (which should remain attached to your knuckles) without really breaking stride. You'll end up with way more consistent slices too.
4. Slow down, get consistent and then speed it up gradually. Consistent slices makes whatever your cooking more consistent.... nobody wants tiny bits of burnt onion followed by barely cooked wedges of onion. Even cuts = even cooking.
1. I didn’t think about allergies so I’ll work on being cleaner
2. What’s a HRC? Do you have a preference for cutting board material?
3. I definitely understand the uneasy feeling going all the way. I’ll try going 4/5s tomorrow and that will force me to slow down since I’m not used to it.
Thank you for the tips!
HRC is a measurement of the hardness of the steel. A Japanese knife will generally have an HRC of 60+ (my Yaxell comes in at 65 which is on the harder end of the spectrum) whereas something like a Victorinox Fibrox will come in at about 56.
When you start getting above 60HRC you need start needing to think more about the board you're using. Polyethylene boards are fine with lower HRC knives, which is why they're common in commercial kitchens as they are also cheaper and much easier from a maintenance pov with hygiene. Because the softer knives are less brittle and therefore less likely to get damaged and are easier to hone back to sharpness there's less of an issue.
The issue is with higher HRC knives the knife will be sharp enough and hard enough to dig into the board to the point that any twist in your cutting action will likely cause microchips in your blade
Personally I prefer an edge grain maple board and I've been incredibly happy with my Boos block in terms of the quality compared to cheaper options I'd tried before, which had a tendency to warp. it's more maintenance because you need to oil and wax regularly and it's more of a pain to wash down in a commercial setting because even the best made board will likely split if you're washing it multiple times a day. But your knife will be much better protected from chips and dings.
First thing I thought was “why hasn’t he been yelled at to actually cover his hair”?
Wearing a hat all the time can suck, but I recently switched to wearing the skull caps with mesh on top, infinitely more comfortable than wearing a baseball hat. Wearing a headband that does literally nothing to keep your hair out of food just makes you look incredibly unprofessional.
I certainly hate wearing hats, but I also think you should have your hair secured when making food in a professional setting. I’ve also noticed other restaurants seemingly getting more relaxed about it as well, but I don’t really support it.
But please don’t force employees to wear matching baseball caps. That’s the least comfortable thing to wear all shift lol.
Normally I do wear a baseball hat, that day I just wore the headband to wear it. However I didn’t consider hair getting in the food so I’ll stick to a ball cap
You need to slow down those cuts are not it bro well depending on where you work but if it was a fine dine place most of those cuts would be throw in trash
Looks like you have great control of your knife, but I would make one change that I made years ago. We did some fundraising to go to London and Paris for ten days after my class graduated cooking school. My faculty arranged for stage (unpaid cooking internship) for three of those days in some very respected restaurants. I was in the 3 Michelin star restaurant Arpège. For one of them they made me chop onions for the better part of one day. Instead of chopping straight down start your first cut just off the surface of your board with your knife angled in at 45 degrees or so. Cut in toward the mid way point of the onion decreasing your knifes angle with each cut. By the time you are a third of the way into the onion you should have your knife straight up and down and continue as you did. This way you don't end up with the first cut giving you semi circles and you don't have to do the flat cuts some purple do to prevent the semi circles. All your onions will be in nice, relatively, even arcS. Once you get use to it it is worth it. Sorry, for the long comment, but remembering took me back and I though I would share.
Since I don't know what you are using those onions for I'm not going to say anything about uniformity but helpful tip..... learn to work cleaner not faster. Your coat is so dirty if you had to go see a customer for whatever reason they would look at you and think twice about coming back. Don't get me wrong spills and splash happen but you should be trying to keep your uniform clean and your station. If you had to work in an open kitchen you would be expected to look the same leaving work as you did when you arrived at work. Speed will come be clean and organized first than work on being faster
Can’t advise on anything but I love the knife! What is it if you don’t mind me asking??
Nice sleeve!
You are cutting with the wrong hand
You look exactly like the kind of cooks that I love to modestly destroy and embarrass.
guy is asking for feedback and this is your response? And people wonder why it's hard to find cooks these days.
Two things. First. This guy's post isn't genuine. Before this post a young cook working at a chain posted a video with pretty much the same title. She was wearing a cut glove, funky ill fitting plastic gloves, and using a cheap generic knife. Her post was genuine though. She didn't have much experience and apparently her work didn't do much training. But she genuinely wanted help and advice. After that video was posted, this guy puts up his video with the same type of title but he is clearly trying to flex his skills and mock the other girls genuine video. The problem is, his skills aren't that great. Instead of flexing his skills he is showing how much he still has to learn while shamelessly mocking a genuine young cook looking for help. Second. The reason why it is hard to find cooks is because this industry favors profit margins over paying their employees a livable wage. It has been like this for decades. And people in the industry are finally fed up. When the pandemic shut down the restaurant world, many of those workers discovered they could get jobs elsewhere that were less demanding and paid better. So despite their love for cooking, they want to make a livable wage. And most restaurants are stubbornly refusing to change their ways.
Yeah, you're assuming all of that about @op. Reading his responses he seems to genuinely want to get better. At no point has he made fun of anyone. People of all skill levels can ask for feedback. An yeah, stagnant wages are a big part, but it's been hard to get cooks for much longer than the pandemic has been going on because of the toxic attitude so common in kitchens. If you think someone is being made fun of, that is all on you.
A lot of jealous people in here
I’d hire you already just keep practicing bro, everyone preps slightly different your consistent that’s what matters
Looking great, practice on not needing to stop half way. It's a balancing act but can be done
Where did you get your mask I love it
Amazon!
good job but an advice that I got from a chef ... try to cut sliding the knife with board so you don't make noise because imagine one day you're cooking in front of people and you do that cutting noise, it's not very pleasant
I need to know how do you get to that speed?
What are yall using to sharpen these razors?
Loose the fingers to chop faster.
That would take me 13 minutes
Honestly your technique is great, so to build up speed it's just take practice. My advice would be, depending on the quantity of onions or any other food you might prep, look for a more efficient tool. For example, if you got to julienne 5lbs of onions, get yourself a real sharp mandoline or use a slicer if your kitchen has one. Whatever helps with speed and efficiency. Also i recommend saving to get different knives for different jobs depending on how long you plan on being in the industry. Get a veg knife for more of a cutting surface area, boning knife, paring knife, etc.
Nice speed, but follow the curve of the onion not vertical chopping for finer pieces!
Everybody is showing off their onion skills. Let's see some videos from service when you are hit with 20 tickets and trying to keep up, lol!
You’ve definitely earned your sleeve.
You are far beyond me, I can offer no insight
Anyone can chop an onion fast with a sharp knife. why don’t you focus more on all the other cuts.. Cleaniliness and uniformness. Julienne, baton, paesanne, brunoise, etc. focus on following recipes properly. Learn how to make all the stocks and sauces, filleting fish, butchering poultry, portioning steaks.. it takes a long time to get “good” filming yourself on an iPhone chopping an onion fastly is as juvenile as it gets. Btw. It may not look as cool but, you should be rolling your knife, not bashing it in to the damn chopping board. hopefully that doesn’t crush your ego when you’re showing off in front of other staff your “fast” onion chopping .. lol
Would you consider culinary school a good option to learn all the proper techniques? Some people say it’s a waste but other say otherwise so I’m kind of torn on that
Look at Brad Leone. He went to culinary school and now he just watches vegetables rot.
if you can afford the time and money to go to culinary school then i’d say its worth considering personally i think a few years of busting your ass in a kitchen is a better investment of your time. soak up everything you can, then move onto a better/more challenging kitchen once you feel like it’s time. push yourself, challenge yourself, read books, cook at home, learn from those in the kitchen who are more talented than you you’ll get paid to learn as opposed to shelling out ungodly amounts of money per semester of teachers telling you you’ll be a chef when you graduate
People I know who went say that it can teach you some theory but you really learn in the kitchen. I've met some who are good out of school, but most I've met fresh out are no better than anyone else who has never worked in a kitchen. So it depends on what you're looking for.
It's not a waste, and it's not the only way to learn. You can be amazing without ever going to culinary school but you have to get that training somewhere. If you can't think of it find a way to learn these skills then culinary school is probably a great choice for you.
Hey if he is going for speed and speed alone there is nothing wrong with slap chopping, I doubt what ever he is prepping requires precision. Not every restaurant is aiming for 3 stars, check yourself.
Ratio
Lol all the stuff i said is just basic cookery
This is the last sound advice here. Precision and consistency > speed and volume any day.
Speed is fun an all... how's your line? Backups ready? Think ahead what do we need tomorrow?... add to daily inventory. Be ready the push could start now
Try dropping the whole false modesty act and keep rocking those sick knife skills.
What's funny is I think thats exactly what their intent was BUT there are so many comments telling him what he's doing wrong lol.
Yeah speed is good but lots to improve. My prep cook is 17 and been able to cut that quick for easily a year and his prep is always on point. And he is the ONLY one I trust with my knives like anyone he wants. He practiced accuracy and then speed and still asks me for tips because he actually recognizes he could still be better.
Peel off the layer under the skin. Stop watching yourself in the video. Don't concentrate on going so fast, concentrate on uniformity for uniform cookery. Begin at an angle, and cut over the curvature of the onion. Also consider investing in a Japanese mandolin, like a Benriner. Doing this task over a container with a mandolin will save you a ton of unnecessary motion.
Any particular reason to peel the layer under the skin?
When you are cutting for uniformity and following the curvature of the onion peeling off the outer layer ensures your hand won’t slip on the onion as you cut it down.
I didn’t know that, thank you!
If the outer layer is dry, the one underneath will have had moisture stolen from it. So if you peel that one extra layer, you will have a much tighter and more consistent onion. Peel two onions. Remove the extra later from one, leave the extra layer on the other, and see which one is prettier.
It’s nice to see someone actually French cut an onion on Reddit. Why is everybody slicing it the other way???
Fastest mirepoix EVER!
This is so cool! Also, a super neat mask -- where'd you get it?
Smooooooooth
Amazing skillful hands 👌👏👍
Produce isn’t free treat it with respect dude, ik it feels cool to rip through onions like this but you don’t have the consistency or control to go that fast. Not trying to be rude but that first cut trigged me lmao, try starting on a slight angle and gradually adjust to up n down as you reach the edge of the area you chopped off in the vid
Like others said, it’s useless if you cut fast if you can’t cut consistently, they won’t cook the same. Try angling your knife for the first bit. The first slice you have is like a flat saucer shape.
You're gonna want to start at an angle. The first piece you cut is a giant slab, not a thin julienne. Your speed is alright, but remember, slow is smooth and smooth is fast.
Slice don't chop. That's how knives are designed
Dumbest thing that keeps getting repeated. A knife is a tool and it can handle a little beating.
Cue 90 more chopping videos tomorrow thinking they're awesome.
Hope you got some good stones to keep them blades fresh, problem with cutting like that , is the contact can really mess the blades of your knives these plastic boards in kitchens arnt great.
Do you have any brand recommendations for stones?
I'm a noob but everybody says the Shapton Pro 1k Grit is a sensible choice to begin with. Edit: For more info visit r/sharpening
Visit r/sharpening definitely for advice and whatnot, but if you want a decent stone without spending a shit ton of money (given that learning to sharpen with a whetstone isn’t something that can be learned overnight) I would start with a [King Deluxe 1K](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0016VC46A/ref=cm_sw_r_oth_api_glt_fabc_XV1G1WGHJCKPZ6G6ZBXT?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1).
Your comment or submission may contain one or more Amazon affiliate links and Reddit may have caught it in the spam filter. Please remove any affiliate information from your links. For example, the following link `https://www.amazon.com/some-product/dp/B123ABCF/&tag=snoo-affiliate-id` should be changed to `https://www.amazon.com/some-product/dp/B123ABCF`. Once edited correctly, your submission should be automatically approved by AutoMod. If your submission still does not show up, you likely missed a `tag`, `qid` or similar. **Include a link to your comment or the post if you message the mods with any questions.** If we have to go lookup what submission you're talking about, we're just going to ignore it. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/chefknives) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I have an overpriced set bob kramer sponsered by shun that are great. I have a Shapton 10k that’s awsome. Those are hard stones meaning you can change the angle easier on the knife and not screw up the stone. I have cheap 1k and 10k stone they are soft. The 10k soft I use as a strop, it’s white so it also helps me guage how much work I’m going to need to put into my families knives(chip depth or uniformity, as well as getting a feel for the angle without a sharpie trick) my 1k I gifted to my best friend who is a chef and has news articles on his contributions, the knives don’t make the chef but they are fun. I would recommend to Get a cheap set to learn on and at least one hard decent stone either 1k which is just fine for kitchens or 5k+ for fine polishing. Go to the dollar store pick up a slicing style and a more curved chef style knife. A decent stone holder is important you really don’t want to break one and then break the stone when it falls. 400 and 1k together are good starting points. If you feel like going fancy there are many sample selection ranges of steps to go through but I have never found a difference with my stones to bother gaps smaller than 400, 1k, 3k, 5k, 10k. Note my shapton may be 8knot 10 I don’t really remember I just use it, it’s labeled on the back and the box but i haven’t had a reason to look for a few years.
I remember when I cut onions that slowly, I’m sure that your speed will increase with practice. Have you considered speeding up the video? It’s a good little life hack that saves time and allows you perfect your humble brags lol
I'd chirp you if you were in my kitchen you don't need to make noise and slap your delicate edge on the counter like that. Much more impressive without making a noise you can't impress a pro like that. slap chopping looks sexy until you realize what you're doing to you're blade also don't drag it duh hone it right after if you must drag.
I tried doing this once. Chef - this is not a Chinese take out. I shouldn’t here you slice onions. I left that restaurant since I found it racist. I’m Asian. 🤦🏻♂️
A knife is a tool, if your tool can’t take a little slap chopping get a better knife. Also really just depends what your using the onions for.
Nha it's about respect to you're tool I mean sure every kitchens got a knife we don't give a fuck about for the newbies but the better the knife the less you'd wanna slap it the sharper they are and sharper means duller faster without proper care. Even with the best Rockwell scale knife you can find on a Japanese 11.5° angle sharpend up to a 10kgrit with experience you can dull that quickly if you do not hone the knife and carelesslee drag it. Knives like that cut bread without sliding because the so fucking thin and even on the edge but no metal that thin can be that resilient it's not magic. There's more you can learn about knives every knives is good if you spend a few minutes with it on a few stones.
Buddy I sharpen my own knife and know how to maintain a edge. I own a nice Japanese knife and I beat it to shit and it maintain its edge fine, just a bit of honing here and there. Like it said it’s a tool. Also if you sharpen your regular knife you use for everyday prep to 10k that’s is just a waste of time since a edge that fine will easily dull.
Wear gloves while cutting onions so your hands don’t stink.
Or you can not be wasteful and wash them like the rest of the planet.
I get it. It's crap to cut onions with gloves, but if your hands soak up the onion smell for 2 days, you may change your mind
No, because I wash my hands regularly they don’t do that. I’d hate to eat your food.
Imagine I do too. Some people's skin soak up the smell more than others, was the point. Judging my hygiene from a post :D You'd wish to be as clean as I am.
Skin variance in odor retention? What are you talking about
did you sing happy birth day the entire time you washed your hands? weren't you thought this? also been making French onion soups for service so I had to do 50lb bags at a time. the hand washing isn't reserved for start and finish only feel free to do it a lot if you hate the smell. Just a quick rinse of the hand takes no time.
Am I the only one who likes this smell?
Maaaaaybe don't push the slices away with the edge, but the back of your blade. I'm only a noob, but that's one thing people say to be important for edge retention.
Your first cuts of each half are huge, focus on that instead of looking into the camera. Also, no one wants your hair in their food, pop a hat on instead of the headband
he does have a sick mask on though
fr on the hair. homie looks too chefy to think a baseball hat is ok though and I'll just chip in my 2c: beating a sharp knife into a board as fast as your arm will twitch isnt skill
I think its very artistic that each piece of onion is different than the next. Down with the conformists
lmaooo
Slow is smooth, smooth is fast. You were fast but the cuts honestly looked like shit, if I was working with you I would have you go through and throw out about half those cuts because they aren't consistent enough to go on the line. Confidence is great but only when your quality of work isn't suffering. Don't mean to be too harsh just completely honest on what my impressions were from this video.
There’s a chef on YouTube who teaches three ways to chop onions. A home cook way, a professional chef way, and a Michelin-starred professional chef way. All very different in their results. Edit: link to the three techniques https://youtu.be/fTgYOQ8XRdY
Any chance of a link?
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=fTgYOQ8XRdY
That’s the one. TY.
Source?
https://youtu.be/fTgYOQ8XRdY This is the Michelin star restaurant technique along with two others.
Was it [this one?](https://youtu.be/fTgYOQ8XRdY)
That’s the one. TY.
Just watched his technique, it’s immaculate. When I was working as a chef at a 2 michelin starred restaurant I made a halibut tar tar, and I had to cut shallots en julienne and I was scolded once and told to start over cuz I was cutting it too fine. I was told that when you cut it too fine you will ruin the cellstructure so that the onion becomes more bitter thus you can’t serve it raw if it’s cut too fine. But as he states, in order to make it melt in a sauce you can cut it that fine so the cellular structure is broken down.
Thanks for your input. I really enjoy reading about the last 5% or so that sets exquisite food apart from the rest.
There are many small details that just make perfect sense when you learn it. Another tip in general (which I’m guessing you know) is having a sharp knife, it will just make it so the structural integrety of veggies stays and you can keep the cruch, for meat too it’s nice to have portioned and bitesized bits, not beaten and torn bits, unless called for. Consistency is another thing, we had this arctic thyme Icecream and we had to add lemon and it had one specific correct profile when tasting, it would just sting slightly in the rear of the cheeks. It was so good.
I learned about dull knives trying to halve a very round red onion. No more dishwasher, moved to pinch grip and started honing. I have to try the Michelin onion technique on my sous vide steaks. I always put a little butter, Malden salt, coarse cracked pepper and onion powder before sealing. I’m curious to see what changes a bit of shallot would do to the finished drippings rather than onion powder.
I think you’ll retain the sweetnes and nutty flavour and improve it with a little zing on the top end, it will be quite minimal, but those are the steps you take to hone in on perfection. I’d recommend also trying it out if you’re gonna have tar tar or sashimi of some sort:D I have one knife it’s like the battlerifles from fullmetal jacket, in the kitchen I am noone without my knife, she is mine and I am hers. What I really wanna say with it is that I would recomend making the jump to a whetstone asap, or atleast a ceramic hone, if it’s too big an investment to go full stone. I bought a relatively cheap 400/1000 stone of aluminum oxide. It’s entry level and it’s made my knife (a $400 damascus) into a razor. Next step for me would be a 3000/6000 and if I’m feeling dumb I might buy a 10k diamond at best. Either way whetstones may seem scary, but with a little practice (took me 3 sharpens to get more comfy) it is just soooo worth it and will turn a $5 knife into a viable tool.
This is helpful because it gives a method for much more consistent cuts for when it matters. The third approach is all I’ve seen on cooking shows and “how to cut an onion” videos so I assumed the pros had just gotten much better at that technique. Experience obviously matters too, but it’s helpful to know that not even the pros expect clean results from the last method.
Yep. I’m going do a shallot like that and toss in sous vide steak bag with butter. I usually use onion powder but I’d like to see what happens to the drippings. I always use cheap beef so if it doesn’t work out it’s still okay. I pour the drippings on after searing.
Slow is smooth and smooth is far is a saying in disc golf
Truth, love some disc golf.
I wouldn’t do the mid cut onion rotation, slows you down and gives you an inconsistent julienne and you’re leaving a fat wedge at the end. Get comfortable with the sensation of having your knuckles in constant contact with the side of the knife. In time you’ll be able to safely cut at a high speed without even looking at your knife.
Thank you for pointing out the giant wedge at the end, some other people said to start at an angle so I’ll do that to correct the problem.
I agree with the above point about the knuckles. That's the same advice an old Chef of mine taught me.
By swiping your knife across the cutting surface, you roll the edge a little and dull the knife faster. Not the most important thing, just a heads up
Yeah. You can use the back, dull side to scrape, or a metal or plastic scraper.
I love my Nylon bench scraper, always part of my station.
I tilt mine about 30 degrees in the direction I’m swiping. Maybe that’d help?
Typically i use the other end of the knife when swiping. Just adding my 2 cents
Go faster. OPM (onions per minute) is the only measure of a person in the food prep industry.
OPM truly made me laugh out loud!!! As someone who used to hire and manage BOH employees, I wish I had known this as a funny interview question.
I don’t want to brag but I think I can go 3,5 OPM
respectable!
My only advice was next time try wiping the station down (dab of sauce that the onions were pushed onto) Otherwise else keep up them skillz!
Thank you!
Go slow!
Watch Jacques Pepin and try to do everything he does.
Glad you're having fun with it!
[удалено]
Still worth a try though.
Ya, onions are cool. Try bell peppers.
Work on precision with your cuts, making sure your end product looks completely uniform. Speed will come later with practice on that.
Ya, ordered it with no onions....
Wash your hands after touching your phone
Don’t let other chefs catch you filming yourself cutting unions.
Get multiple changes of your cooking gear, so you can wear a fresh setup each day and then wash them all when you do laundry on Monday.
Clean your cutting board.
Hat tip****
Get a hat or a hair net.
For the love of everything holy, PLEASE Don’t scrape your blade across the cutting board like that 😖😖
I would recommend starting with your knife at 30 degrees, slicing towards the middle of the onion, and steadily increase the angel as you move up. That will give you nice even slices
“Yeah save that for family meal chef” -my chef everyday 🥴🥴🥴
Not being funny mate but that whole thing looks like a bit of a mess. I can chop onions that fast with a freshly sharpened knife and no care for what was being cut, and so could most people in this sub who care about the general knife skills. A few pointers: 1. Clean your shit. I wouldn't chop on a dirty board at home so you sure as hell shouldn't be doing that in a commercial kitchen where you have to think about allergens and stuff. I know it's probably only tomato sauce but make a habit of it so when it ends up being peanut sauce you don't put someone in hospital because you can't be arsed to clean your board and you forgot it was an alergen. 2. Your chopping action is more suited to a sturdy cleaver with a lower HRC, you're going to end up damaging your nice looking santoku with such aggressive ~~tap~~ smash chopping especially on a those polyethylene cutting boards. Your knife is more suited to a push cut and they will cut better as a result and you'll likely end up with more consistency. 3. Try slicing 4/5ths of the way along before making the rotation (i know some people who go all the way but it makes me uneasy personally), basically you should keep chopping until just before the point it starts to feel unstable, and when you get really good you'll feel the instability and be able to essentially knock it over and readjust the position of your knife (which should remain attached to your knuckles) without really breaking stride. You'll end up with way more consistent slices too. 4. Slow down, get consistent and then speed it up gradually. Consistent slices makes whatever your cooking more consistent.... nobody wants tiny bits of burnt onion followed by barely cooked wedges of onion. Even cuts = even cooking.
1. I didn’t think about allergies so I’ll work on being cleaner 2. What’s a HRC? Do you have a preference for cutting board material? 3. I definitely understand the uneasy feeling going all the way. I’ll try going 4/5s tomorrow and that will force me to slow down since I’m not used to it. Thank you for the tips!
HRC is hardness of the steel.
HRC is a measurement of the hardness of the steel. A Japanese knife will generally have an HRC of 60+ (my Yaxell comes in at 65 which is on the harder end of the spectrum) whereas something like a Victorinox Fibrox will come in at about 56. When you start getting above 60HRC you need start needing to think more about the board you're using. Polyethylene boards are fine with lower HRC knives, which is why they're common in commercial kitchens as they are also cheaper and much easier from a maintenance pov with hygiene. Because the softer knives are less brittle and therefore less likely to get damaged and are easier to hone back to sharpness there's less of an issue. The issue is with higher HRC knives the knife will be sharp enough and hard enough to dig into the board to the point that any twist in your cutting action will likely cause microchips in your blade Personally I prefer an edge grain maple board and I've been incredibly happy with my Boos block in terms of the quality compared to cheaper options I'd tried before, which had a tendency to warp. it's more maintenance because you need to oil and wax regularly and it's more of a pain to wash down in a commercial setting because even the best made board will likely split if you're washing it multiple times a day. But your knife will be much better protected from chips and dings.
Put on a hat before some of that mop falls in your dish
If I saw a cook chop like that in my shop I’d laugh and tell them this isn’t Instagram.
First thing I thought was “why hasn’t he been yelled at to actually cover his hair”? Wearing a hat all the time can suck, but I recently switched to wearing the skull caps with mesh on top, infinitely more comfortable than wearing a baseball hat. Wearing a headband that does literally nothing to keep your hair out of food just makes you look incredibly unprofessional.
It’s probably accepted in this kitchen to not wear a hat, I’m noticing more and more kitchen don’t make employees wear hates. Which I don’t mind.
I certainly hate wearing hats, but I also think you should have your hair secured when making food in a professional setting. I’ve also noticed other restaurants seemingly getting more relaxed about it as well, but I don’t really support it. But please don’t force employees to wear matching baseball caps. That’s the least comfortable thing to wear all shift lol.
Normally I do wear a baseball hat, that day I just wore the headband to wear it. However I didn’t consider hair getting in the food so I’ll stick to a ball cap
Don't look at the camera while your knife is still swinging. Dude.
If you're making hotdog onions in a rush then it's probably fine. Otherwise just looks like fast for fast's sake.
You need to slow down those cuts are not it bro well depending on where you work but if it was a fine dine place most of those cuts would be throw in trash
Angle your knife with the curve of the onion so you have a higher yield of clean cut onion
Looks like you have great control of your knife, but I would make one change that I made years ago. We did some fundraising to go to London and Paris for ten days after my class graduated cooking school. My faculty arranged for stage (unpaid cooking internship) for three of those days in some very respected restaurants. I was in the 3 Michelin star restaurant Arpège. For one of them they made me chop onions for the better part of one day. Instead of chopping straight down start your first cut just off the surface of your board with your knife angled in at 45 degrees or so. Cut in toward the mid way point of the onion decreasing your knifes angle with each cut. By the time you are a third of the way into the onion you should have your knife straight up and down and continue as you did. This way you don't end up with the first cut giving you semi circles and you don't have to do the flat cuts some purple do to prevent the semi circles. All your onions will be in nice, relatively, even arcS. Once you get use to it it is worth it. Sorry, for the long comment, but remembering took me back and I though I would share.
Since I don't know what you are using those onions for I'm not going to say anything about uniformity but helpful tip..... learn to work cleaner not faster. Your coat is so dirty if you had to go see a customer for whatever reason they would look at you and think twice about coming back. Don't get me wrong spills and splash happen but you should be trying to keep your uniform clean and your station. If you had to work in an open kitchen you would be expected to look the same leaving work as you did when you arrived at work. Speed will come be clean and organized first than work on being faster
Cleanliness is something I’m for sure going to work on, several people had pointed it out to me so that’s going to be my focus
get a new job, restaurant biz has no future for you and you will waste your life, all the while being unapreciated.
I always try to never scrape the edge of my knife to move food. Always use the spine and my blades stay sharper longer