my injured finger

[McDuff]

I use a parmesan wheel cutter, it works wonders, no injuries.

So is a parm wheel cutter one of those two handled knives?

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No, that's a mezzaluna. A parm knife has a short handle, a round sort of ring of metal like a guard and a short almost teardrop shaped blade.

I still think a rigid serrated knife is the best way. Guess none of you had Martha Crawford in pastry school.

[PPX]

I think the forks Chefpeon mentioned make the hard work of chopping chocolate much easier & speedier. If you want one of these, do a search for an "ice chipper"--it seems to be the same thing, but less $$.

[DMH]

< He stands the bar up on edge (the long side is on the table and the short edge is vertical to the table), and cradles it between his body and his arm, then takes the chef's knife handle in one hand and holds the tip of the blade in his other hand, and shaves down the vertical edge. The chocolate comes off in almost uniform chunks with little or no effort! It's almost like the chocolate has a hidden "grain", and if you cut with the "grain", it works like magic! >

Wow, chefpeon, that trick sounds great. I will try it next time I am faced with a block of chocolate at work...although maybe I will try it at home first so I don't look like a fool in a kitchen full of people...hehe.

I always heard that when chopping blocks of chocolate you should start at the corners. It's a bit easier but still doesn't make cutting chocolate any better.

[chefpeon]

I guess the sad part about the method I described is that it doesn't work quite as well unless

you have a substantial bar to work with in the first place. Since my original post I tried to

chop up a 6 lb bar of Scharffenberger, and without that bulk, I just didn't have the leverage.

I was back to the ol' "chopping at the corners" bit. Sigh!