Chapter 3: Cutting Tools and Techniques

1. Chapter 3: Cutting Tools and Techniques

2. Learning Objectives • Identify the defining characteristics of the most common knives used in a bakeshop. • Discuss the importance of knife safety. • Explain how to properly sharpen and hone a knife. • Identify cutting tools other than knives that are used in the bakeshop.

3. Knives • Should fit your hand, feel substantial but not too heavy, and be well-balanced. • Types: • Chef’s/French knife • Utility knife • Paring knife • Serrated bread knife • Key Points

4. Knife Safety Key Points • Store in slots, racks, or magnetized holders when not in use. • After washing and sanitizing, dry it completely before putting it away. • Always use the appropriate cutting surface. • Wooden or composition cutting boards are best. • To pass a knife safely to someone, present it with the handle toward the other person. • Sheathe or wrap the knife before walking anywhere with it.

5. Sharpening and Honing a Knife Knife Sharpening: Key Points • Sharpening stones • Are essential to the proper maintenance of knives • Sharpen the blade by passing its edge over the stone at a 20-degree angle. • Grit: The degree of coarseness or fineness of the stone’s surface—abrades the blade’s edge, creating a sharp cutting edge. • When sharpening a knife, always begin by using the coarsest surface of the stone, and then move on to the finer surfaces. • Before using a stone, be sure that it is properly stabilized.

6. Sharpening and Honing a Knife Knife Sharpening: Guidelines

7. Sharpening and Honing a Knife Knife Sharpening: Method 1

8. Sharpening and Honing a Knife Knife Sharpening: Method 2

9. Sharpening and Honing a Knife Honing a Knife: Key Points • When to use: • Immediately after sharpening the blade with a stone • Between sharpening to keep the edge in alignment • Steel properties: • Come with coarse, medium, and fine grains • Some are magnetic • When using a steel, hold the knife almost vertically, with the blade at a 20-degree angle, resting on the inner side of the steel. Draw the blade along the entire length of the steel.

10. Sharpening and Honing a Knife Honing a Knife: Guidelines

11. Sharpening and Honing a Knife Honing a Knife: Method 1

12. Sharpening and Honing a Knife Honing a Knife: Method 2

13. Other Cutting Tools Tools • Mandoline: A slicing device that contains carbon-steel blades, which can be adjusted to cut items of various shapes and thicknesses uniformly. • Kitchen shears/scissors • Purchase rust-proof kitchen shears. • Should have comfortable, nonslip handles for safety and should feel heavy and solidly constructed. • Guitar: Used to precisely cut multiple squares, rectangles, triangles, or diamonds out of slabs of a variety of different semisoft confections.