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Proper knife motion when cutting meat?


cutter

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when cutting meats is there a certain cutting motion you use with knife  for different cuts of meats. Been reading for meats you should pull back knife,but also seen push cut for some meats. Is there certain meats that require different cutting motions? If so could you explain? Example ,i have seen is chicken strips some use pull cut to slice into stripes and some use a push cut to slice into stripes.......why the difference.?

Edited by cutter (log)
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I think i posted in the wrong section before so i am going to post it here again .sorry.

 

when cutting meats is there a certain cutting motion you use with knife  for different cuts of meats. Been reading for meats you should pull back knife,but also seen push cut for some meats. Is there certain meats that require different cutting motions? If so could you explain? Example ,i have seen is chicken strips some use pull cut to slice into stripes and some use a push cut to slice into stripes.......why the difference.?

Edited by Smithy
Adjusted title for clarity (log)
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one should only speak in generalities because  there all kinds of situations and variations....

 

thick pieces are quicker to handle with a push cut - you have more leverage.  start tip down, slice forward while pushing heel down.

 

thinner cuts are best done with a pull cut - if pushing the meat likes to run away from you.  sharp knife, tip down, slice on the pull - as need one can hold the far edge still.   sharp knife is more important in the pull than the push, but perhaps that's best expressed as 'sharper' - a dull knife is not a good start for meat cutting.

 

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Often times a "chop" can be used, just place edge of knife on meat and push strongly with palm. Requires a sharp knife and a relatively thin piece of meat (<3/4 inch).

 

p

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Two different grips:  

 

This grip, for pull back is used for larger ANIMAL Dissection

 

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For a  smaller dissection..  I use the lower , but may change the hand or finger position, for primal cuts.  I have a fair amount of knives, for different applications, this is just one..  Just make sure your knives are sharp,  and use what is comfortable to u .  Like for chicken breasts

 

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Edited by Paul Bacino (log)

Its good to have Morels

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I really hate seeing knife marks in meat sliced after cooking, eg a roast.

 

I have a looooong slicing knife that will go through a roast in 1 long pull leaving no knife ridges.

 

I use it when guests are eating.

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this is what i found .....that is why i said pull cut.

Super Quick Video Tips: How Not to Mangle Your Meat when Portioning with a Chef's Knife

30,607 views
 
 
 
 
AGF-l78Tu8Uk7oBJ7rRvP7OyEahF3rP5E8NJSwH3
America's Test Kitchen
also at Stack exchange says Next, you should use the sharpest, narrowest, and longest blade that you have (those are in order of importance, so if your chef's knife is way sharper than your slicer, use it). Your knife should be sharp enough that you don't really have to press down at all in order to cut the meat -- the weight of the blade should be providing enough force. The cuts you make will be the same as if you were slicing a roast. Use the longest possible stroke, smoothly moving the entire length of your blade through the cut. Generally, cutting by starting at the base of the blade and pulling towards you will allow the smoothest movement. If you don't make it all the way through in one stroke, restart the cut from the base of the blade as many times as you need to, rather than following with a push cut. (On the last little bit, to completely separate the portion, you can get away with it, though.)               S ee all say pull. but say with  chicken i see push cut and pull cuts how does one decide what to use? Or with any meat how do you decide what cut  knife to use.
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The Japanese Culinary Academy has two volumes on the subject of Cutting Techniques:  Mukoita I and Mukoita II.  Not all cutting is sushi.

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Cooking is cool.  And kitchen gear is even cooler.  -- Chad Ward

Whatever you crave, there's a dumpling for you. -- Hsiao-Ching Chou

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You're trying to reason your way into something that is a practice and a craft. Just go out and cut things and decide for yourself what works and what doesn't work with whatever knives you have on hand. There is no correct answer to the question you're trying to ask.

 

I would cut the same piece of meat differently depending on the knife and the purpose. If you're not sure what to do, experiment. Or if there's a specific piece of meat you're interested in cutting, look on YouTube. 

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3 hours ago, btbyrd said:

You're trying to reason your way into something that is a practice and a craft. Just go out and cut things and decide for yourself what works and what doesn't work with whatever knives you have on hand. There is no correct answer to the question you're trying to ask.

 

I would cut the same piece of meat differently depending on the knife and the purpose. If you're not sure what to do, experiment. Or if there's a specific piece of meat you're interested in cutting, look on YouTube. 

 

Exactly What I was trying to say. Except for sushi preparation, which requires the  right kind of knife used the right way for a specific kind of meat. 

 

dcarch

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13 hours ago, dcarch said:

 

Exactly What I was trying to say. Except for sushi preparation, which requires the  right kind of knife used the right way for a specific kind of meat. 

 

dcarch

 

I treat everything like it's sushi, but I realize that I'm a bit of a spoiled weirdo in that regard. Honesuki for breaking down chicken; garasuki for turkey legs, hankotsu for deboning (also garasuki!), sujihiki for slicing raw and cooked protein, yanagiba for slicing raw fish. Raw fish slicing is a place where technique is very important, as the flesh is delicate and your technique can elevate or destroy fish flesh.

 

The same thing is true of slicing meat, but "doing it wrong" is usually much less obvious. Unless you do something like cut flank steak or tri tip (or something similar) with the grain and make a potentially tender cut stringy and chewy. Understanding the anatomy of the meat you're cutting can be very helpful in some instances. I've posted this video elsewhere on eGullet, but it shows the inherent difficulty carving a tri-tip roast across the grain for maximum tenderness. "Correct cutting motion" is less important when cutting a tri-tip than knowing where to make your cuts. A lot of good technique is in knowing where and why to cut, not just how.

 

 

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On 5/17/2019 at 5:22 PM, btbyrd said:

The same thing is true of slicing meat, but "doing it wrong" is usually much less obvious. Unless you do something like cut flank steak or tri tip (or something similar) with the grain and make a potentially tender cut stringy and chewy.

 

And then you get recipes like ropa vieja which make you look at flank steak and make you think 'how can I make this cut-o-meat more stringy".... xD Cutting meat, is like many things in life, common sense- but with clear goal in mind, one can throw even common sense out of the window. :D

 

I'm about to start cooking tonight- got m'self 5 lb of beef shank, part of it is going in tonight's goulash but majority is going into beef carrot daube tomorrow (I run into gournet friend of mine when grocery shopping and forgot to buy shallots- he got hold of russian kale and had to share recipe that makes it shine, then we discussed differences between 'regular' and 'golden' hake, then one thing lead to another and pints of stout were consumed and many things discussed while market sort of got closed on me :$). Digression aside, is there a better way to cut it into 'stew meat' than cut into 1/2" steaks and then cube them (fror goulash part- for daube, I'd go for 3/4" steaks and cubes)?

A cigarette is the perfect type of a perfect pleasure. It is exquisite, and it leaves one unsatisfied. What more can one want?  - Oscar Wilde

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  • 2 weeks later...

If it's meat that's going to be cooked, it doesn't make a big difference; you probably won't be able to tell how artful the knife strokes were.

 

If you're carving a roast, or if you just want maximum prep karma, then it's hard to go wrong sashimi-style knife strokes. Long blades are better than short. Sharp knives are better than dull (obviously) although for red meat and poultry you'll benefit from a less polished edge than you would for sashimi. The delicate flesh of fish will cut best (by far) with an edge polished on a 6000 to 10000 grit water stone. For poultry or red meat, a toothier edge will generally serve you better; like from a 1000 to 2000 grit stone, and possibly maintained on a steel. Both kinds of edge will cut meat like butter when fresh off the stones, but the toothier one will continue to cut meat well after many hours of use. and it can be banged back into shape several times before revisiting the stones.

 

The cutting technique is to start with a short forward thrust that breaks the surface. This should end with the back edge of the blade over the back edge of the meat. Then complete the cut with a long, crescent-shaped drawing cut. At the end of the stroke, the front of the blade (just behind the tip) should be in contact with the cutting board, and should follow through all the way. It should cut clean through, and by this point, there will be very little blade surface area in contact with the meat, so nothing will stick to the knife.

 

If you can't make the cut in one stroke, don't saw. It's the sawing motion that rips up the meat. Instead, remove all downward pressure, and move the knife forward again without cutting. Then repeat the crescent-shaped drawing motion. This way, all the cutting is one direction, and the cut will be clean and uniform. 

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Notes from the underbelly

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