You should not push with the sharp edge of a knife
When you cut something into small pieces on your working surface, it's an automatic gesture to push the pile with your knife blade. It's a bad habit because this will blunt your blade.
67 K 4/5 (11 reviews)
1 min.
Easy
Last modified on: February 21th 2011
Times for this recipe
Preparation: 1 min.
Step by step recipe
Stage 1
See what happens with ham for example: you are cutting small dice for a recipe and want to push the ones already made to the side to make more room.
Automatically you push the ham dice using your knife blade.
Unfortunately, when you do this the knife edge will scrape the chopping board and blunt the blade.
Automatically you push the ham dice using your knife blade.
Unfortunately, when you do this the knife edge will scrape the chopping board and blunt the blade.
Stage 2
The right gesture is to cut as normal, but when you need to push, turn knife upside down so that the sharp edge is on top.
Give a half turn to knife, like locking a door with a key, push chopped items, then turn knife back to usual position.
There is then no risk of damaging your blade.
Give a half turn to knife, like locking a door with a key, push chopped items, then turn knife back to usual position.
There is then no risk of damaging your blade.
Stage 3
Another example with an onion to chop: doing it badly, the edge scrapes on chopping board.
Stage 4 - 1 min.
Doing it properly, it's the back of the knife which scrapes chopping board.
Source: Home made.
Other recipes you may also like
How to know when a cake is cooked
It's a frequently asked question and it's not so easy to answer it, especially for beginners: you can have a cake that's nice and golden brown outside, but which is not cooked enough in the middle. May 7th 2020296 K4.1 1 min.
Cream of cauliflower soup with smoked haddock
This soup with a difference plays up an amazing flavour combination: creamy cauliflower with morsels of smoked haddock. March 18th 202052 K 25 min.
Citrus tart
This is an unconventional tart, though the recipe is quite simple: no cream filling in the bottom, just slices of lightly poached fruit in a sweetcrust pastry case. July 8th 202042 K 2 hours 35 min.
Invisible apple cake
An invisible cake is a cake with lots of fruit, in this case thinly sliced apples, where the batter is very discreet, hence the name. October 25th 202332 K5 1 hour 30 min.
Old style brioche
Classical version of brioche use yeast to raise the dough, but in this recipe some leaven is added. This make a more rustic brioche, with a small taste of leaven. December 19th 2014316 K4.6 14 hours 6 min.
News list of cooking-ez.com
Sign up to receive the latest recipes (next batch due to be sent on 2025-10-26)
Note: We'll never share your e-mail address with anyone else.
Post a comment or question
Follow this recipe
If you are interested in this recipe, you can "follow" it, by entering your email address here. You will then receive a notification immediately each time the recipe is modified or a new comment is added. Please note that you will need to confirm this following.
Note: We'll never share your e-mail address with anyone else.
Alternatively: you can subscribe to the mailing list of cooling-ez.com , you will receive a e-mail for each new recipe published on the site.