Knife skills

[chefwannabe]

i have a question, my question is, in the Culinary Schools do they usually let the student cut faster like we often see in the Cooking Shows or a regular speed of cutting will do?? hope someone will help me

[Blade55440]

At my school the instructor said:

"Do NOT try to go flying through whatever you are cutting. Take whatever speed you need to do your knife cuts until you feel comfortable to speed it up a little. Above all else remember...CONSISTENCY is key. I'd rather you take forever and have consistent cuts than fly through it and it look like you put it through a salad shooter."

[adamm]

the chefs at the school im at would rather he knife cuts be consistant and right than cutting fast. Some people with alot of exeprence cut fast but most dont. AS for myself im not the fastest person here but sure am not the slowest i try to get the proper technique with the guide hand before start going faster. My opinion speed will come with time.

[chrose]

Like the "other" Adam said, "Speed will come with time". Speed is not the important thing. If you blow through 5# of Carrot brunoise in 10 minutes and they're not uniform you have just wasted 5# and 10 minutes. But if you take your time and give me 5# of perfect brunoise in 20 minutes, that I can take to the bank!
Learn slow, practice evenly and efficiently and capability, not speed, will come in due time. This is training of quality, not speed.

[Jayme]

My school stresses to work at your own pace. Pay attention to what you are doing, and be sure you have all 10 fingers when you are done! (haha) One of our students has not had alot of cooking experience, and is a bit awkward at times, but he is learning and gaining experience every day. That's the way to do it!

[RAS1187]

While I was capable of chopping away at lightning speed without slicing a finger (most of the time)... at culinary school I chose to make my knife cuts slower with more attention given to detail and consistency.

Do not show off simply for the sake of showing off, that is only setting yourself up for failure.

Lightning blaze chop if you need 1+ cases of veggies chopped in very little time.

[ryanInayr]

I made the mistake of trying to fly through my mirepoix for finals, and boy do i regret it. I took out a huge chunk from my finger. Fortunately, I had just passed first aid and i took care of the problem immediately. However, my instructors also said that they'd rather have me take 10 hours and do it right, than have me punch out a bunch of inconsistent, ugly cuts in 10 minutes. In time, you will get there. I'm still a student and I may sound big-headed, but IMO the best teacher is experience, not tv