Burned through a whole case of shallots before I figured out my knife angle was off

I was chopping shallots for a special sauce at my station in Portland and kept getting ragged uneven pieces. A line cook from another kitchen watched me for 30 seconds and asked if I was tilting the blade toward my knuckle instead of away. Anybody else have a basic knife skill they thought they had down but totally didn't?

3 comments

3 Comments

henrycooper2d ago

Not sure tilting toward your knuckle is the real issue.

grant_allen852d ago

Actually, that grip shift can mess with your release timing a bit.

nancygrant1d ago

Whoa, wait, a whole case? That's like 6 or 7 pounds of shallots, right? I'd be in tears for a week. And @henrycooper, I have to push back a little, the tilt thing is actually a huge deal with shallots since they're so layered and delicate. One wrong angle and you're just mashing the insides instead of slicing clean through. I've seen cooks go through a whole flat of them, frustrated and blaming the knife, when it's just the blade's angle drifting. It's one of those things nobody tells you until someone watches you do it, and then you feel like a fool for not noticing sooner.