I finally realized I was using my kitchen knife completely wrong for years

I was at a cooking class in Portland last month and the instructor asked me why I was using a chef's knife to chop a tomato. I told her that's what you do, and she showed me I should have been using a serrated one. The tomato didn't squirt everywhere and I felt like an idiot for 8 years of cooking. Did anyone else learn a basic kitchen skill way later than they should have?

3 comments

3 Comments

keith_bennett1mo ago

Wait, were you using the chef's knife on the side or the tip? I still use a chef's knife for tomatoes by dragging the blade, and now I'm wondering if I'm doing it wrong too.

logan6581mo ago

Dude I had the exact same thing happen to me but with garlic. A friend laughed at me for using a chef's knife to crush garlic cloves and showed me that you're supposed to use the flat side of the blade to smash them first. I was out here trying to chop those tiny pieces for like 15 years like a complete fool. Then she also told me you can peel a whole head of garlic by shaking it in two metal bowls and my mind was totally blown. I felt so dumb but also relieved because nobody ever tells you this stuff, you just figure it out wrong and keep doing it.

logan52529d ago

Peel a whole head of garlic by shaking it in two metal bowls" - yeah that one's a myth honestly. I tried it once and ended up with garlic pieces flying everywhere and still had to pick the skins off by hand. It kinda works if the garlic is super dry but fresh garlic just laughs at that trick. The real way is to just smash each clove with the flat of your knife, the skin practically falls off on its own after that. But I feel you on the garlic crushing thing, I did the tiny chop method for years too before someone showed me the light.