Knife Skills
Written By Hannah Denton - our kitchen expert at garden to table
To help your kids develop these skills - and to get them whipping up food in your own kitchen - here are some simple tips for fostering knife skills at home. These are tips recommended by Garden to Table ambassador Al Brown and skills we’ve begun fostering in the kitchen. We encourage you to experiment with your kiddos and see what works best for them!
Firstly, several key rules in the garden to table kitchen should also apply at home. We never let the kids use knives without adult permission and supervision. Because we have amazing help from volunteer parents, our kids work in groups of 3 or 4 kids per adult.
Stand at the right height
Kitchen counters are built so they are just the right height for most people. You want your kids to stand on a stool or chair that puts the counter at about waist height. They should be able to clearly see what they are cutting. At school we use trestle tables and benches in the technology room that are lower than normal kitchen counters.Holding the knife
We’ve seen in the kitchen there is no one way the kids hold the knife. Some of this is due to the strength they have in their wrists. However, there are few general rules to adhere to. You want the kids holding the knife in their dominant hand with the bulk of their fingers wrapped around the handle. The kids will usually rest a thumb or thumb and pointer finger on the top of the handle and blade.
It is important to ensure the fingers wrapped around the handle do not come forward to the blade.
Holding the produce
We have taught the kids two types of grip to hold their produce. The “claw grip” and the “bridge grip.”
Bridge Grip
See if they can demonstrate these to you at home. We also explain to place the flat part of the produce on their chopping board to prevent the item rocking away. We’ve found this instruction needs constant reiterating as they forget to turn the produce over when they are excited.
For the claw grip, hold vegetables with the tips of your fingers resting on top of the vegetable and your thumb tucked behind the rest of your fingers. This is called a claw grip as your hand looks like a bear claw with the fingers tucked in so your knuckles are closest to the knife. This grip can be used with most types of produce.
For the bridge grip, you make a bridge with your thumb and fingers firmly pushing down on the produce. The knife then goes underneath your “bridge” so your hand is completely safe and cannot be cut. This grip may be difficult for younger children due to the size of their hands compared the knife, but is a good one to demonstrate and use for children with bigger hands.
Other considerations.
The kids are working towards their knife license. As well as showing proficiency with knife skills, they also need to demonstrate knife safety.
Part of using a knife safely is knowing how to walk around the kitchen and pass the knife. First, encourage your kids to always keep their hand on the handle and make sure the knife is never pointed at anybody – including themselves! When walking around the kitchen carry the knife down by your side with the point facing down to the floor. When passing a knife, makes sure the other person can grab the handle and does not need to touch the blade. It may be safer to put the knife down on the bench and let someone else pick it up.
To wash the knife we have explained to the kids to only put a knife into a sink of soapy water when they are able to wash it up immediately themselves. If they can’t do that straight away, leave the knife on the bench next to the sink in clear sight. A knife can be easily hidden in a sink of soapy water and someone could cut their hand on it if they don’t know it is there. When drying the knife, keep one hand on the handle, and wipe the blade with a tea towel, running your hand along the blunt side of the blade.
We hope these tips help you with the kids in the kitchen. We’re blown away with how their skills are progressing and their interest in cooking food. Be sure to check in to the Garden to Table blog as we will post photos and recipes of the kids growing, cooking and enjoying their kai.
See if they can demonstrate these to you at home. We also explain to place the flat part of the produce on their chopping board to prevent the item rocking away. We’ve found this instruction needs constant reiterating as they forget to turn the produce over when they are excited.
For the claw grip, hold vegetables with the tips of your fingers resting on top of the vegetable and your thumb tucked behind the rest of your fingers. This is called a claw grip as your hand looks like a bear claw with the fingers tucked in so your knuckles are closest to the knife. This grip can be used with most types of produce.
For the bridge grip, you make a bridge with your thumb and fingers firmly pushing down on the produce. The knife then goes underneath your “bridge” so your hand is completely safe and cannot be cut. This grip may be difficult for younger children due to the size of their hands compared the knife, but is a good one to demonstrate and use for children with bigger hands.
Other considerations.
The kids are working towards their knife license. As well as showing proficiency with knife skills, they also need to demonstrate knife safety.
Part of using a knife safely is knowing how to walk around the kitchen and pass the knife. First, encourage your kids to always keep their hand on the handle and make sure the knife is never pointed at anybody – including themselves! When walking around the kitchen carry the knife down by your side with the point facing down to the floor. When passing a knife, makes sure the other person can grab the handle and does not need to touch the blade. It may be safer to put the knife down on the bench and let someone else pick it up.
To wash the knife we have explained to the kids to only put a knife into a sink of soapy water when they are able to wash it up immediately themselves. If they can’t do that straight away, leave the knife on the bench next to the sink in clear sight. A knife can be easily hidden in a sink of soapy water and someone could cut their hand on it if they don’t know it is there. When drying the knife, keep one hand on the handle, and wipe the blade with a tea towel, running your hand along the blunt side of the blade.
We hope these tips help you with the kids in the kitchen. We’re blown away with how their skills are progressing and their interest in cooking food. Be sure to check in to the Garden to Table blog as we will post photos and recipes of the kids growing, cooking and enjoying their kai.
Hi Garden to table,
ReplyDeleteI love how you are giving tips about how to use a knife safely, knives can be pretty dangerous,
I am also loving the way that you add pictures to demonstrate to some people that might not understand with just writing on the page, pictures also make writing more fun and exciting.
I am looking forward to commenting on more of your posts.
Thanks Bye :D
Hi Garden to Table! I never knew there were different types of ways to cut! I really like how you explained the use of knives and how its dangerous to put your finger on the blade. The pictures and key rules are really descriptive so kids could understand them too. Good luck on the kids on getting their knife licences!
ReplyDeleteHello Garden to Table!
ReplyDeleteI think that the information you provided in this post is going to keep me a lot safer in the kitchen and giving the children a knife licence is great idea and when they earn the licence, they will be proud of themselves and more confident and safer in the kitchen! From reading this post, I've learned some new knife safety rules, how to make I am safe while cutting, 2 new cutting techniques and how to clean the knife.
Thank you for posting this information
Bye!
From Franziska Rm 17/18
Hi garden to table
ReplyDeleteI learnt a lot from that post I never knew that the the claw grip existed it's really cool that your teaching the children in your class knife skills, But the claw grip could be a little bit dangerous because you mite flinch and cut yourself but the chances are slim so let's not worry about.
Fantastic post.
BYE!
Liam 17/18
Hello garden to table
ReplyDeleteJamie here from room 1718 awesome how your doing all these posts and the comment that you have deserved its great how you are posting on what you do daily for your learning and doing all the compost in the compost bin that's great how your making the world a better place.
Hi garden to table,
ReplyDeleteI really like how you not only added diffrent grips and techniques but also skills on how to wash and use knifes. Knife skills are very inpoartant so it is nice to have a few tips for the future.
Ruby H of Rm 17/18
Hi garden to table,
ReplyDeleteAfter reading your post I now know that I normally cut fruit and vegetables with a bridge grip. Next time I cut something I might try using the claw grip. are there any other types of grips?
good job garden to table i love how you added lots of skills . i might want to steal some off your ideas.
ReplyDeletehi
ReplyDeletei like the fact that you did a post on knife skills instead of what you are doing i think after reading this i could be able to cut apple better something else i would like to talk about is are there any other grips you use cause i would like to know
Hi Garden to table,
ReplyDeleteI liked how you had a different type of post to usual and I like that you told us how to be safe with them. I would also like to know a little bit about what things could go wrong with cooking methods and how to keep safe when doing cooking for instance. I like how you not only taught us knife skills and gripes but also to be careful and how to wash them.
Hi its Luca from room 17/18 i like how you guys are learning about knife skills and how to hold a knife probably. I always love reading your blog posts.
ReplyDelete