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DVD for knife skills

16 years ago

I was thinking of giving as a wedding gift, a good chefs knife and a DVD that shows how to correctly use a knife. I think being comfortable with slicing,dicing,etc., would make cooking more fun. The cooking shows I watch on PBS sure make it look fun and easy and they are at ease with their knives.

Any recommendations on a DVD to give?

Thanks

Ginny

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Comments (5)

pfmastin
16 years ago
Since there's not another reply yet, I don't know of a DVD (great idea!), but youtube has lots of videos about knife skills.
ginjj
Original Author
16 years ago
You are right, probably not an item that a lot of people have purchased. I have found them online but hate to spend money on something I'm not sure is great. I may do that anyway.

Thanks!!

Ginny
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One of the best bang-for-the-buck knives is the Forschner chef knife made by Victorinox. Cooks Illustrated rated the 8" version (around $25-30) to be one of their favorites, over some that cost five times more than that. I have one, and it's a great value. A little lighter than a forged chef knife, and I like that for repetitive work. It also comes in a 5" version (see the link for reviews). For a youngster, that might be a little less unwieldly than a big chef knife--but it's still a very good quality knife for only about $16. (Available at Tundra Specialties, (etundra.com) for $15--etundra also has all sorts of professional kitchen stuff like cut resistant gloves, etc.) BTW, Victorinox is dropping the Forschner name and now manufacturing them under just the Victorinox label. Same knives, tho. Here is a link that might be useful: forschner victorinox 5
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arley_gw
16 years ago
I have no idea if the book/dvd combo at the link is any good or not, but lots of people at Amazon seemed to like it.

One chef knife that consistently gets good reviews is the Forschner Victorinox chef knife with a plastic ('Fibrox') handle. The folks at Cook's Illustrated ranked it as a close second to items costing over $100. The 8" knife is $30 and the 10" knife is $27 at Amazon. (I'd probably get the 10" if I was getting only one.) It's cheap because it's stamped rather than forged, and it has a plastic handle rather than wood.

I don't have either of those knives, but I do have several other Forschner Victorinox knives. They are very good, and an exceptional buy for the $$$. The quality of the steel is excellent, and the knives hold an edge better than most of the other stainless blades I have. I prefer carbon steel knives (you know, the old fashioned kind that can rust) but when I have to use stainless (when cutting up acidic foods, for instance) I reach for the Forschner knives. Great quality stainless. My next treat for myself is going to be a Forschner Granton edge slicer.

I would bet that anyone (especially a beginning cook) would be happy to get that book and a decent chef's knife like the Victorinox; once they acquired the skills with those items, they could, if need be, make an informed judgment as to whether to spend the megabucks on a top-of-the-line Sabatier or Henckels knife. That's a very thoughtful gift, and you've given me an idea for a gift for an upcoming wedding of two culinary neophytes.

Here is a link that might be useful: knife book & dvd
ginjj
Original Author
16 years ago
Thank you so much Arley for your wonderful suggestions. I just placed an order at Amazon for the knife, the DVD, and a Julia Child DVD that looked great for beginners. They will be a wedding gift for a good friend's daughter. They sounded so good I bought another set; I'll keep the knife as I've never had a chef's knife, and I'll give the two DVD's to my daughter for Christmas.

Ginny
kframe19
16 years ago
Now that you mention it, I think there would be a big market for a basic knife skills DVD, but I've never seen one.

The only thing that comes close are several Alton Brown shows that discuss how to use knives.

The best one is a cooking with kids episode where his 'newphew' gets a really good intro in using a knife correctly.

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