- Joined: March 2005
- Location: Toronto, Ontario
- Post Count: 832
Any cook who uses a knife with any regularity will have a knife callous at the bottom of their right (or left) index finger, provided you use the standard grip. Of course, you can't have a callous without a blister, so you're on your way. A sharp knife will help prevent it, but it will be inevitable, so you'll have to learn to live with it. Once the callous becomes established you shouldn't have any more problems.
"If it's chicken, chicken a la king. If it's fish, fish a la king. If it's turkey, fish a la king." -Bender
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Titomike
- Professional Chef
- Joined: May 2009
- Location: B.O.I NZ
- Post Count: 183
Harden up, bro'....wait you you start sticking your arms in da oven! :rolleyes:
"The way to a woman's heart is through her stomach."
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Gunnar
- Line Cook
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- Joined: April 2008
- Location: Auburn, CA
- Post Count: 1,041
or start saute on a french top grill..man those things get hot. first grill I had to use a towel to grab anything.
Sometimes I sit and wonder what Escoffier would think of the deep fried twinkie.
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kiwisizzler
- Professional Chef
- Joined: January 2009
- Location: London
- Post Count: 51
Rite of passage. I don't know a decent chef without a permanant callous in that spot! Don't worry tho...won't hurt for long.
Kiwisizzler's blogGood food is food that tastes of what it is!
- Joined: October 2007
- Location: Eureka, CA
- Post Count: 1,048
Yep, it's-a-gonna happen.
What's worse is after you develop a callous, sometimes it's splits.
To give you a buffer just wrap a bandage around it.
The little bit of padding on the blister/callous will get you through your day.
Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
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Pete
- Professional Chef
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- Joined: October 2001
- Location: Fond du Lac, WI
- Post Count: 3,399
As stated above, you can't escape it. Luckily though it will eventually turn into a callous if you keep doing knife work and the pain will disappear. Even now, after 9 months of being out of the kitchen I still have some callous left. It will eventually disappear and when and if I get another job that requires lots of knife work I will have to start rebuilding my callous again. Can be kind of painful at first, but trust me it will eventually turn into a callous.
From Man's sweat and God's love, beer came into the World-Saint Arnoldus
http://www.onceachef.com/
- Joined: March 2005
- Location: Toronto, Ontario
- Post Count: 832
I like how the callous is sort of like the "secret mark" of a cook. Makes me feel "special" ;)
"If it's chicken, chicken a la king. If it's fish, fish a la king. If it's turkey, fish a la king." -Bender
- Joined: October 2007
- Location: Eureka, CA
- Post Count: 1,048
I've had more than one chef put out his hand at the beginning of an interview and when I put mine out to shake his, he flipped my hand over, palm up.
When I was a rookie i thought they were checking to see how clean mu hands were.
Now I know they were looking to see if I held my knife right, and for any extended period of time.
Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
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DC Sunshine
- I Just Like Food
- Joined: February 2007
- Location: Melbourne, Vic, Australia
- Post Count: 2,318
My brothers aren't cooks, but used to spend a lot of time playing steel string guitars. They would have much the same thing until their fingertips got calloused. What helped them was putting some vinegar on once they were done for the session and letting it dry.
Worked for them!
Keep it uncovered as much as possible when you're not working, let it dry.
Don't handicap your children by making their lives easy.
Robert A. Heinlein
