Knives and Their Culinary Uses

• Mise'en Place: Knives and their Uses

Knife Types and Applications

• French or Chef's knife: used for general purpose chopping, slicing, and dicing
• Utility knife: used for carving roast chicken and duck
• Boning knife: used for boning raw meats and poultry
• Slicer: used for carving and slicing cooked meats
• Butcher knife: used for cutting, sectioning, and trimming raw meats in the butcher shop
• Scimitar or steak knife: used for accurate cutting of steaks
• Cleaver: used for cutting through bones

Structure of Meat

• Muscle fibers can be fine-grained or coarse-textured
• Connective tissue forms networks within muscles and is tougher in muscles that are more exercised or from older animals