Minnesota-based Chef Marshall O'Brien offers a succinct primer on using knives for culinary purposes in this program aimed at both service workers and at-home cooks who want to hone their skills. Starting off with a segment on safety, O'Brien explains the importance of nonporous cutting boards (much easier to clean) and using strong and sturdy knives and sharpening gear. O'Brien also covers finger and hand placement while employing the main types of knives: the workhorse cook's knife, serrated, and utility knives. The bulk of Knife Skills looks at cutting methods, as O'Brien slices, cubes, dices, chunks, and chops fruits and veggies, while also detailing the proper ways to carve meat, including skinning salmon filet, slicing steaks out of a roast, and piecing out a whole chicken (“cut along the sides of the spine…put some force into this!”). Also featuring a segment on time-saving appliances—including a food processor and a blender, for recipes like cole slaw or pureed soups, sauces, and smoothies—this solid guide is recommended. [Note: the complementary title Knife Skills for Foodservice is also available at the same price.] Aud: H, C, P. (J. Williams-Wood)
Knife Skills
(2014) 27 min. DVD: $79.95 (downloadable teacher’s guide available). Learning ZoneXpress. PPR. Closed captioned. Volume 30, Issue 4
Knife Skills
Star Ratings
As of March 2022, Video Librarian has changed from a four-star rating system to a five-star one. This change allows our reviewers to have a wider range of critical viewpoints, as well as to synchronize with Google’s rating structure. This change affects all reviews from March 2022 onwards. All reviews from before this period will still retain their original rating. Future film submissions will be considered our new 1-5 star criteria.