Prime Cuts

A couple weeks ago we showed you how to properly use a sharpening steel to keep your knives in good shape in between more intense sharpenings.  The best way to sharpen your knife is to use a wet stone.  In today’s Prime Cuts TV we show you how to properly sharpen a knife on a wet stone.  In between wet stone sharpenings, make sure you continue to use the sharpening steel to keep your knives razor sharp.

As always, please be very careful when handling any kitchen knives.

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We have a very busy and long day ahead of us as we prepare for our Luigi Bosca wine dinner that we’re hosting at the steakhouse tonight.  To follow up on our episode of Prime Cuts TV from Monday on how to properly use a sharpening steel, we thought we would bring you an episode showing you how to now use your newly sharpened knife to dice a tomato.  

Tomatoes are something that can be a little tricky to cut especially if when you want don’t want any seeds in your dice.  Well today we show you how to unzip a tomato and no, we haven’t started drinking any wine yet and yes we said, unzip a tomato.

Warning: Always be very careful when using a knife especially to dice vegetables as the blade can get wet causing the blade to slip or your grip on the vegetables to slip.

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You’ve probably always wondered what that steel rod was that came with your knife block.  Maybe you knew that it was for sharpening your knife but wasn’t really sure how to use it.  Well, today’s episode of Prime Cuts TV explains how to properly use a sharpening steel.

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In future episodes we will explore other knife sharpening techniques.  As always, we hope this episode of Prime Cuts TV was helpful to you in expanding your capabilities in the kitchen

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Over recent weeks we have covered some of the fundamentals to help you become a professional chef in your home kitchen.  We went over tips on how to choose a knife (our preference is Shun) and now today we bring you a video from our friends at Food Gear on how to choose the proper cutting board.

You may be asking yourself what this has to do with Meat the Press Mondays.  It’s simple: having the proper cutting board along with the proper knife are critically important.  While you can get by with a lesser quality knife, please do not skimp on your cutting board.  Not following basic care guidelines and/or not buying a quality cutting board can put you and your family in danger because of stored bacteria, cross-contamination, and more.

If you can’t see this video in your RSS reader, you can view it here: Food Gear – Simple Tips to Choosing the Right Cutting Board.

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One of the biggest mistakes people make in the kitchen is not selecting the proper tools.  We’ve already discussed the importance of choosing quality knives and now bring you this video from the FoodGear team on selecting the proper type of kitchen knife:

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Do you have a favorite knife in your block?  If so, leave a comment below letting us know what type of knife it is and why it’s your favorite.

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One of the biggest requests we get is about how to cook like a professional chef at home.  While we will continue to do posts which will help you learn how to actually cook better, one of the biggest mistakes people make is not investing in their kitchen tools.  Most households have a nice stove or refrigerator, a nice set of plates or dinnerware yet they have a $29.95 knife set from your local discount retailer.  In order to cook like a professional, you need to invest in professional tools.

As you can imagine from our knock at cheap knife sets, we think one of the most important items in your kitchen is the knives which you own.  Any professional chef will tell you that they are attached to their knives.  In fact, a lot of chefs won’t let anyone else use their knives.  While they can be expensive, they are worth every dollar you spend.  

Today, we’d like to feature our favorite knife company, Shun.  Shun knives are the nicest knives either one of us have ever owned.  Shun knives are among the strongest, sharpest and most well balanced knives that you can buy.  They are reasonably priced, when considering the quality of knife you are purchasing, between roughly $100-350 per open-stock (read: individual) knife depending on the type of knife you purchase as well as which Shun series it’s from.  You can also buy these knives in different size sets and series.  They can be purchased from Amazon, Williams-Sonoma, and Crate & Barrel, among other retail outlets.

Two of the most important aspects of choosing a knife is how it is balanced and the sharpness of the blade.  Shun knives execute these two features flawlessly.  The larger knives, where balance is key, are always perfectly balanced and feel comfortable in your hands.  The blade is razor sharp and hardly ever needs to be sharpened on a stone.  Both of these factors are huge when cutting delicate foods such as tomatoes all the way up to cutting through a thick meat.  In a future post we will go through how to select a knife.

Food Network star Alton Brown has an excellent video describing his love for Shun knives as well as providing a lot of knowledge on selecting a knife and what sets Shun apart from their competition.  After watching the video, consider investing in just one Shun knife and we are sure you’ll never turn back!