Kitchen Knife Safety presentation ideas?

FoxholeAtheist

FoxholeAtheist

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Apr 7, 2003
Messages
2,329
Hi all,

I've been asked to give a ~15 minute safety presentation at work, and plan on giving one on Knife Safety with an emphasis on kitchen knives. I was hoping to get some ideas from the forumites on important bullet points. Ones I've already planned on using:

1. Picking the right knife for the task (knife styles, construction, ... just basics)
2. Using a sharp knife (along with "How and when to use a steel")
3. Cutting methods (away from yourself, curling fingers in, etc)
4. Using a proper cutting board
5. Hand washing knives (as opposed to dropping in the sink)
6. Don't try to catch a dropped knife
7. Proper storage

Any other big important points? Anything you wish someone had told you that you had to learn the hard way?

Thanks!

Edited to add:

The venue will be a small conference room, the audience will be about 12 people on my team. I plan on both having some slides to present and giving some real-world demonstrations.
 
For point #1, I think that picking the right size knife is important. When I teach my kids to use the kitchen knives, I always steer them away from the small ones. Sometimes I feel that the small short blade is more of a hazard because the short length makes it harder to know where the cutting edge and point are. With a 8" chef's knife its easier and more obvious where the cutting edge and point are.

Another important item is knife abuse (what not to use yur knife for).

Make sure that you have some edible foods that people can cut up and eat as part of the demo.

Ric
 
This is part of my standard lecture I give 6 times a year to volunteers at the local soup kitchen. I bring in a bunch of sharp knives when my volunteer group comes in. With the lecture I minimize cuts. Before the lecture we had one guy go to the hospital. The first thing I tell them is that the knives are SHARP and therefore they should use light pressure and a cutting board as they work.

The best way to use a knife is with light pressure. If you apply heavy pressure the knife or the cut material can suddenly tip, roll, or twist. What is worse with heavy pressure you can build up force on the food and then suddenly break through and cut yourself. For this reason a sharp knife can be safer than a dull knife. It allows you to use light pressure and thereby have greater control. This advantage goes away if you use bad technique and push hard with a sharp knife.

In order to maximize control:

--Use a (uniformly) sharp knife. With a knife that is simply and uniformly dull you always have to use high pressure to cut. This reduces your control. But the situation can be even worse with a knife that is partially dull. If you start push cutting on a dull/worn part of a sharp blade you can build up dangerous pressure then be cut when you slide the blade to a sharp section and the blade suddenly zips through. This is a very common situation if you don't cut on a soft cutting board. You mash down part of the edge and leave the rest sharp. You need to maintain your edge sharpness.

--Use light pressure when you cut. Often it is best to use a transverse slicing motion rather than a push cutting motion when you need to get a cut started. This is particularly true if you are not working relatively flat on a cutting board.

--Beware of dangerous food. An apple can be dangerous. It is round and inclined to roll when you try and cut it. What is worse it has a tough skin over an easy to cut interior. If you try to simply push your edge flat through the skin you build up pressure that is suddenly released when the skin ruptures. On food like this use a light slicing motion rather than a forceful push cut to slice off the end. Roll the fruit onto this flat base so that it sits steady on the cutting board. Use slicing cuts to peal or slice the now-steady fruit.

--Use your cutting board to stabilize your food as well as to protect your knife. Don't hold food in the air when you cut it. Use that cutting board as your third hand.
 
Cool, thanks guys. I've read some tips online, both good (make sure you use the right knife) and laughable (if a sharpener throws sparks, it's ruining the temper of the knife... always). (That last was from a place selling sharpeners.)

Glad to get some tips from the pros. :D
 
I would explain and demonstrate the chopping [ push cutting] vs slicing for various foods .Always know where your fingers are in relation to your blade.How to avoid cuts when you slip [round, wet, smooth items !] ...Garage boy - use a peeler to peel an apple.If you use a knife you're obligated to cut one continuos peel !!!
 
When we are preparing fruit salad for 400 people in the soup kitchen we usually don't peel the apples. When we do peel them we do it quick and dirty. Cut off the bottom and top 3/16-inch of the apple. Set the apple on the bottom flat on a cutting board. Take about a 6-inch long utility knife and cut off the skin in vertical slices (following the contour of the apple somewhat, but not precisely). You lose some apple in the process, but it is quick and safe. At this point we use vertical slices off the sides of the apple, leaving the core and the skin around the stem. Next we do our crosswise dicing.
 
The guy who went to the hospital was young and inexperienced in the kitchen. He was using the point of a 10-inch chef's knife to open a 10-pound tube of ground beef. Tell people not to use the point of really long knives, the leverage is against them and the tip tends to wander.
 
You might go over the different types of knives and their uses. I've seen bread knives used for an incredible number of uses - foolishly.
 
I'm an Army cook so you know I just gotta throw my 2 cents in ;)
The biggest cause of cuts I've seen in my experience is people just trying to go too fast. Everybody wants to be the hotshot who can slice at warp speed. Now I'm not saying you gotta go super slow but just remember its not a race and to only go as fast as you're comfortable with. Even if a product is running late, its not worth cutting yourself trying to rush.
 
Show them how to use a steel or other hone to dress the edge on a knife. Sharp knives are better than dull ones.
 
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