Cutting Board and knife: useful tools

I, for one, would hardly know how to cook without a cutting board and knife.

When I was very young we lived in a house that had a cutting board built in to the cabinetry. You could pull it out to cut on. I remember using that. But after that, for some reason my mother wouldn't buy one. Something about keeping them clean and taking home economics classes in college.

She was that way about cheese graters, too. I think it was because they had drilled into them about bacteria, and she being a microbiologist would have known about such things. Ignorance is bliss?

I don't worry much. But, I should mention that you should keep your board clean. And I am conscious about cutting meat. My brother uses bleach to clean his board after cutting meat. I don't, just hot water and soap. But, I will turn the board over and use the other side, or better yet, cut my veggies first.

I have two boards, one small and one large - wooden ones, always at the ready leaned up against the wall. I like having things out, and I enjoy the look of the wood!

So, back to the subject of the necessity of having a cutting board - try chopping up nuts, for example, it's hard to do any other way. I remember this from an early cooking experience - it was a big mystery to me at the time. And I wondered why the cookbook didn't explain. It just said chop the nuts. So, when I learned about using a cutting board and a chef's knife it was like, oh, mystery solved. Voila! Or wowla, as one friend says, or, "easy done," as another friend used to say.

By the way, I love chef's knifes. Some things you can chop with them with a sort of rocking motion, not lifting the knife off the board. In the case of nuts, I would do this, and use my free hand to cup over the nuts to keep them from scattering all over. For other things, I pick the knife up and use the back of my hand for extra pressure. You learn by experience what works best for what.

I once bought a cutting board for some friends because I couldn't stand that they didn't have one. (Okay, it was mostly for me so that I would have it when I helped them cook.)

A properly sharpened knife is much better than a dull one, but I think they can be too sharp! That's how I cut my finger badly one day cutting carrots. I still have a scar from it. I was in a hurry using an unexpectedly sharp knife, the carrot rolled and my finger got in the way. Also, I hate it when the blade is so finely narrow that it won't rest on the cutting board solidly and it kind of wobbles. And it makes like a sound like nails on a chalkboard. Or seems like it does. My brother has such a knife.

I don't know why I haven't mastered knife sharpening. I'm more likely to go and buy a new knife! Well, I've probably only done this once, actually. When there was still a Big Lots in town I bought a decent knife for about $5. And other neat cooking gadgets. And I have found 3 whole sets, with the blocks, for $5 each, at yard sales. I have a plethora of knives. I suppose, I probably should try sharpening some of them. What have I got to lose, if I mess one up? There's plenty more.

While I am on the subject, I also wouldn't want to go without a vegetable peeler. My mom, a Yankee, used one. I've noticed that Southern cooks are not as likely to have one or use it if they do have one. They actually seemed to prejudiced against them. I worked in the cafeteria in college for several years. I recall one day, this was during the summer break when things tended to be a little slow, this one day, I told my supervisors that peeling carrots was faster with a peeler. Earlier one of them had criticized me for it (it wasn't said to my face). Anyway, I said this, and they said no it isn't. And I didn't let it go and so...

Well, we ended up having a contest, one of the supervisors with a paring knife and me with a peeler. I won handily, and they couldn't say anything more about it. And I think I gained some respect that day. But, one did comment that I also used a knife to cut off the ends. This did not seem like a detraction to me. I wonder if the Southern prejudice goes back to days when one could not afford to have too many gadgets.

By the way, you have to hold the thing right, to get the right tension, kind of loosely (but not too loosely). My niece was having trouble with a peeler one day - she thought it was dull. Then I showed her that it did work and she tried it again and she got it. My niece is a good cook and very quick about it.

I will also mention that a peeler can be useful to peel winter squashes, like acorn or hubbard, (to make soup). I learned this on a cooking show.

I'm not an especially fast, or slow, cook, I think I'm in-between. But I do like to be efficient!

Many such things I have mentioned can be learned by experience, nevertheless, I offer my comments. Hopefully, I am not pointing out things that are too obvious!