Mastering Knife Skills: The Essential Guide to the Most Important Tools in Your Kitchen (with DVD)

Mastering Knife Skills: The Essential Guide to the Most Important Tools in Your Kitchen (with DVD)
by Norman Weinstein

Mastering Knife Skills: The Essential Guide to the Most Important Tools in Your Kitchen (with DVD)
List Price: $37.50
Our Price: $23.36
You Save: $14.14 (38%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions


(Click here)
Buy this book at online book store in your country
Canada | UK | Germany | France

Book Summary Information

Author: Norman Weinstein
Photographer: Mark Thomas
Edition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2008-05-01
ISBN: 1584796677
Number of pages: 224
Publisher: Stewart, Tabori & Chang

Book Reviews of Mastering Knife Skills: The Essential Guide to the Most Important Tools in Your Kitchen (with DVD)

Book Review: Outstanding for home chef's
Summary: 5 Stars

I highly recommend this book. I also purchased "Japanese Kitchen Knives: Essential Techniques and Recipes" in the hopes I would learn more on technique. Although "Japanese Kitchen Knives" was interesting it was short on technique and long on recipes and, being a vegetarian, it was not anywhere near as helpful as "Mastering Knife Skills".
Chef Weinstein selects several vegetables to illustrate "knife skills" and these are just what I was interested in. I bought several handmade Japanese knives due to their really sharp edges. My first knife was a gift, a Kyocera Santoku ceramica which I fell in love with until it became dull and the only option was to send it off to be sharpened. My next two knives were Shun's, a Kershaw Shun Usuba, which I still love and use a lot and even with the admonition that it was "extremely sharp and use due care" I cut myself three times before I developed any skill (it's really, really, really sickeningly sharp and the handmade knives are even sharper). My third knife was a Chroma Damascus Santoku which I paid too much for, there being many Santoku's on the market in the same price range that are much better.
That said, I wish I would have had Chef Weinsteins book in hand before I purchased ANYTHING. I shied away from a 10" Chef's knife as I thought it was too big and too heavy. I have to admit that after purchasing the Shun Usuba($120), a Seikon Dojo Usuba(handmade, $244), an Asai PM Damascus 7 1/8" Gyuto ($356) and a 6" Petit Kazuyki Tanaka handmade ($320, god I love this knife, beautiful and cuts anything like butter), for just over a thousand dollars (ok, I really like them all, I mean really) I still wish I would have bought this book before I bought my first knife. Well, after I purchased this book I bought a Messermiester Meridian Elite 9" Chef's knife (a mere $120) and was astounded by how often I use this knife and how easy it is to use. Just a point here, I'm very careful now with my knives after my experiences with the Japanese knives and while showing this knife to my wife, you guessed it (see honey...ooops), I sliced an extremely thin piece of flesh off my right thumb, so thin it did not draw blood nor was it painful either when I cut it or later. I bought the 9" because I was still under the misconception that 10" was too big and after finding how easy the 9" was to handle I'm thinking the 10" would be even better. Oh, by the way, I'm 5'7" with what you might call fairly small hands and I'm in love with the Messermeister's. Chef Weinstein likes the J.A. Henckel knives but since he stated that he wished all manufacturers polished the spine like the Messermeister's that's what I bought.
Chef Weinstein, admittedly biased against Japanese knives, has made this home Chef a believer in German and French Chef's knives, not that I don't love my Japanese cooking razorblades, I do, but I'm now convinced I could have purchased the ultimate Knife wardrobe for the kind of money I spent on just three good Japanese knives. Oh, I also forked over mucho dinero on the right stones for sharpening the Japanese knives, something I do not regret at all, consequently all of my knives can be used to shave with and I have to agree with Chef Weinstein that slicing correctly adds to the flavor of vegetables. I think this is a must for your first knife book and I haven't even watched the video yet!
Great book, you'll just love it. For vegetarians it's a must first book...

Summary of Mastering Knife Skills: The Essential Guide to the Most Important Tools in Your Kitchen (with DVD)

As the number of gourmet home kitchens burgeons, so does the number of home cooks who want to become proficient users of the professional-caliber equipment they own. And of all kitchen skills, perhaps the most critical are those involving the proper use of knives.

Norman Weinstein has been teaching his knife skills workshop at New York City?s Institute of Culinary Education for more than a decade—and his classes always sell out. That?s because Weinstein focuses so squarely on the needs of the nonprofessional cook, providing basic instruction in knife techniques that maximize efficiency while placing the least possible stress on the user?s arm. Now, Mastering Knife Skills brings Weinstein?s well-honed knowledge to home cooks everywhere.

Whether you want to dice an onion with the speed and dexterity of a TV chef, carve a roast like an expert, bone a chicken quickly and neatly, or just learn how to hold a knife in the right way, Mastering Knife Skills will be your go-to manual. Each cutting, slicing, and chopping method is thoroughly explained—and illustrated with clear, step-by-step photographs. Extras include information on knife construction, knife makers and types, knife maintenance and safety, and cutting boards, as well as a 30-minute instructional DVD featuring Weinstein?s most important techniques.

Culinary Arts & Techniques Books

Book Subjects
Most talked about in Culinary Arts & Techniques Books
Semi-Homemade Money-Saving Slow-Cooking: 128 Quick-to-Cook Meals ImageSemi-Homemade Money-Saving Slow-Cooking: 128 Quick-to-Cook Meals
by Sandra Lee
Wiley; Published: 2009-10-19; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.78
Price in other shops: $19.95
New Classic Family Dinners ImageNew Classic Family Dinners
by Mark Peel
Wiley; Published: 2009-09-28; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $4.99
Price in other shops: $34.95
Garde Manger, Study Guide: The Art and Craft of the Cold Kitchen ImageGarde Manger, Study Guide: The Art and Craft of the Cold Kitchen
by The Culinary Institute of America
Wiley; Published: 2008-01-22; Paperback; Book
Best price: $12.85
Price in other shops: $25.00
Haley's Hints ImageHaley's Hints
by Graham Haley, Rosemary Haley
NAL Trade; Published: 2004-01-06; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.00
Price in other shops: $14.95
Cooking Essentials for the New Professional Chef ImageCooking Essentials for the New Professional Chef
Van Nostrand Reinhold; Published: 1996-09; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $69.00
The Bride and Groom's First Cookbook ImageThe Bride and Groom's First Cookbook
by Abigail Kirsch
Doubleday; Published: 1996-01-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $1.75
Price in other shops: $25.00
Anheuser-Busch Cookbook: Great Food, Great Beer ImageAnheuser-Busch Cookbook: Great Food, Great Beer
by Editors of Sunset Books
Oxmoor House; Published: 2007-12-26; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.99
Price in other shops: $24.95
In the Green Kitchen: Techniques to Learn by Heart ImageIn the Green Kitchen: Techniques to Learn by Heart
by Alice Waters
Clarkson Potter; Published: 2010-04-06; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $14.94
Price in other shops: $28.00
Betty Crocker's New Choices For Two (Betty Crocker Home Library) ImageBetty Crocker's New Choices For Two (Betty Crocker Home Library)
by Betty Crocker Editors
Betty Crocker; Published: 1995-09-05; Paperback; Book
Best price: $1.62
Price in other shops: $16.00
Discovering Food ImageDiscovering Food
by Helen Kowtaluk
Bennett & Mcknight Pub Co; Published: 1982-07; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $20.29
Price in other shops: $38.64
Similar Books and other products
Food Presentation Secrets: Styling Techniques of Professionals ImageFood Presentation Secrets: Styling Techniques of Professionals
by Cara Hobday, Jo Denbury
Firefly Books; Published: 2010-02-19; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $18.92
Price in other shops: $29.95
Le Cordon Bleu's Complete Cooking Techniques ImageLe Cordon Bleu's Complete Cooking Techniques
by Jeni Wright
William Morrow Cookbooks; Published: 1997-11-05; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $23.81
Price in other shops: $45.00
Meat: A Kitchen Education ImageMeat: A Kitchen Education
by James Peterson
Ten Speed Press; Published: 2010-10-26; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $19.95
Price in other shops: $35.00
Herbs & Spices: The Cook's Reference ImageHerbs & Spices: The Cook's Reference
DK Publishing; Published: 2002-11-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $16.45
Price in other shops: $30.00
An Edge in the Kitchen: The Ultimate Guide to Kitchen Knives -- How to Buy Them, Keep Them Razor Sharp, and Use Them Like a Pro ImageAn Edge in the Kitchen: The Ultimate Guide to Kitchen Knives -- How to Buy Them, Keep Them Razor Sharp, and Use Them Like a Pro
by Chad Ward
William Morrow Cookbooks; Published: 2008-06-10; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $18.70
Price in other shops: $34.99
Cooking ImageCooking
by James Peterson
Ten Speed Press; Published: 2007-10-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $24.47
Price in other shops: $40.00
Sauces: Classical and Contemporary Sauce Making ImageSauces: Classical and Contemporary Sauce Making
by James Peterson
Wiley; Published: 2008-09-22; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $30.45
Price in other shops: $49.95
The Zwilling J. A. Henckels Complete Book of Knife Skills: The Essential Guide to Use, Techniques and Care ImageThe Zwilling J. A. Henckels Complete Book of Knife Skills: The Essential Guide to Use, Techniques and Care
by Jeffrey Elliot, James P DeWan
Robert Rose; Published: 2010-09-23; Spiral-bound; Book
Best price: $23.07
Price in other shops: $34.95
The Professional Chef ImageThe Professional Chef
by The Culinary Institute of America
Wiley; Published: 2011-09-13; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $43.10
Price in other shops: $75.00
The Flavor Bible: The Essential Guide to Culinary Creativity, Based on the Wisdom of America's Most Imaginative Chefs ImageThe Flavor Bible: The Essential Guide to Culinary Creativity, Based on the Wisdom of America's Most Imaginative Chefs
by Karen Page, Andrew Dornenburg
Little, Brown and Company; Published: 2008-09-16; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $16.49
Price in other shops: $35.00
Book store. Illustrated catalog of books on different categories