Kitchen Basics: Knife Skills - Basic Cutting set up

What you need to slice and dice safely and efficiently

Before you cut anything, you need a nice, safe space to do your cutting. Clean off the surrounding area, give yourself plenty of room. Once you've cleaned off a few feet of counter space. you're ready to start

What you need:

1 good, sharp, chef's knife (dull = unsafe = cut yourself = blood = hospital = stitches = BAD!)

1 kitchen towel, or paper towel

Cutting Board*

Whatever you're cutting

The How:

Dampen your kitchen or paper towel. YOu want to make sure to wring most of the water it - it needs to be lightly damp, not dripping. Place it on your counter. 

Put your cutting board firmly on top of your towel.

The Why:

I don't care how talented you are with a knife, a slippery cutting board makes for a dangerous work surface. By placing the damp towel under your cutting board, you are essentially creating a safe, non-skid surface.

Now you're ready to cut!

*Note: Please make sure to use a plastic board for cutting any meat. It is next to impossible to guarantee a clean work surface once you've put raw meat on a wooden cutting board. You can buy inexpensive sets of color-coded plastic boards to keep cross-contamination to a minimum.