Best knife for cutting a raw sweet potato?

[CraigC]

I just use the chef's knife. Never really thought about effort required. That is probably because I'm used to dealing with things like yucca, which I believe is even harder to cut through.

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

When slicing a sweet spud, I use my ten inch chef's knife and start the middle of the knife belly on the middle of the sweet potato. I let the veggie sit on the cutting board and give it a light chop. This allows the knife to penetrate the skin enough so that the knife stabilizes the sweet potato as I force it through to the cutting board. Knife control is what controls the sweet potato. Control the pitch of the blade and your knife will slice cleanly, and safely.

If you can't get the hang of it with a knife, try a splitting mawl.

Seeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

 

[RPCookin]

Thanks Andy! I think increasing the temp from 375 to 400 will speed things up a bit. I noticed that when I use the middle rack of the toaster oven the potatoes cook faster. I would have thought they would cook faster on the bottom rack closer to the heat source. Why would that be?


Sent from my iPhone using Discuss Cooking

Heat rises. The top rack on a conventional oven is always hotter than the bottom. Depending on how the heat source is configured, you might get some overcooking or even burning on the bottom of a dish that is too close to the heat source, while the top part of the dish is still underdone. For most ovens the top rack position is the hottest place.

This is why so many baking recipes specify using the middle rack. The heat is more consistent, and most ovens are temperature calibrated to the middle. It is also why convection ovens tend to cook faster than conventional - they keep the heat level even throughout the entire cooking space.

 

[R.ay]

I'm not sure if anyone here has suggested this but here goes.

I have an absolutely beautiful chef's knife from Miyabi and I treat it like my non-existent first born child. It cuts through most things with ease, but I have always found using a knife with a slightly serrated edge to be much more helpful. In terms of yams and sweet potatoes, I use a victorinox serrated utility knife that my local kitchenware shop gave to members for free (rrp is around 9 AUD). I find that they saw through the potato with relative ease.

Another option would be a scalloped knife, to avoid the starch from the potato sticking to your knife.

Lastly, sweet potatoes are perfectly fine to just wrap in foil and toss into an oven, let's not expose our fingers to any unnecessary risk


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[kitchengoddess8]

I'm not sure if anyone here has suggested this but here goes.

I have an absolutely beautiful chef's knife from Miyabi and I treat it like my non-existent first born child. It cuts through most things with ease, but I have always found using a knife with a slightly serrated edge to be much more helpful. In terms of yams and sweet potatoes, I use a victorinox serrated utility knife that my local kitchenware shop gave to members for free (rrp is around 9 AUD). I find that they saw through the potato with relative ease.

Another option would be a scalloped knife, to avoid the starch from the potato sticking to your knife.

Lastly, sweet potatoes are perfectly fine to just wrap in foil and toss into an oven, let's not expose our fingers to any unnecessary risk


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Can you post a link to the serrated Victorinox utility knife you have? Also, is it okay to wrap sweet potatoes in foil when baking them in a toaster oven? Some people suggest poking a few holes in them and baking without foil.


Sent from my iPhone using Discuss Cooking

 

[kitchengoddess8]

If you can't get the hang of it with a knife, try a splitting mawl.



Seeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

Lol!!!



Sent from my iPhone using Discuss Cooking

 

[Addie]

Can you post a link to the serrated Victorinox utility knife you have? Also, is it okay to wrap sweet potatoes in foil when baking them in a toaster oven? Some people suggest poking a few holes in them and baking without foil.


Sent from my iPhone using Discuss Cooking

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_n...y+knife+&rh=i:aps,k:Victorinox+utility+knife+

Here you go! This is an excellent brand of knives often recommended by American Test Kitchen. I have their chef knife and it was right in my rather low price range.

 

[kitchengoddess8]

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_n...y+knife+&rh=i:aps,k:Victorinox+utility+knife+

Here you go! This is an excellent brand of knives often recommended by American Test Kitchen. I have their chef knife and it was right in my rather low price range.

Thanks Addie! This looks like a great knife but the reviews imply that it wouldn't be sturdy enough to cut a raw sweet potato. What do you think?


Sent from my iPhone using Discuss Cooking

 

[Addie]

Thanks Addie! This looks like a great knife but the reviews imply that it wouldn't be sturdy enough to cut a raw sweet potato. What do you think?


Sent from my iPhone using Discuss Cooking

I only have thier chef knife. So I can't speak for this utility knife. You might want to take a look at all of the knives by this maker.

This will take you to their main page so you can see all of their products.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=sr_pg_1...TF8&qid=1465104087&spIA=B0136WIXO8,B00MAOIJNE

 

[medtran49]

I have to agree with whoever wrote you shouldn't try to cut it straight down, but start with an angled slicing motion. We were watching Jacques Pepin the last weekend and he was slicing corn off the cob and said to cut it off holding the knife at an angle, that it was always easier to cut anything that way. So happens I needed to cut corn off the cob later, tried it that way and he was 100% correct. Will have to work on retraining myself to do it that way but it is definitely easier and the corn doesn't bounce everywhere nearly as much either because you don't have to use so much force to cut it off. JP gives such good tips.

Also, if I'm feeling lazy (don't want to dirty and have to wash another knife) and am using a smaller knife, I'll start cutting from the middle to one end, flip it around and do the other side. Comes out straight enough for potatoes.

 

[medtran49]

One caveat here that I'm not sure anyone has mentioned, the harder force you have to use the more chance of hurting yourself (cutting), sometimes badly. That's why you are supposed to keep your knives sharp, pay attention to what you are doing, and use the correct size knife for your project.

We all can be bad about not always doing any or all of the above, either because we are in a hurry or because we are being lazy, but it never hurts to be reminded.

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

I have to agree with whoever wrote you shouldn't try to cut it straight down, but start with an angled slicing motion. We were watching Jacques Pepin the last weekend and he was slicing corn off the cob and said to cut it off holding the knife at an angle, that it was always easier to cut anything that way. So happens I needed to cut corn off the cob later, tried it that way and he was 100% correct. Will have to work on retraining myself to do it that way but it is definitely easier and the corn doesn't bounce everywhere nearly as much either because you don't have to use so much force to cut it off. JP gives such good tips.

Also, if I'm feeling lazy (don't want to dirty and have to wash another knife) and am using a smaller knife, I'll start cutting from the middle to one end, flip it around and do the other side. Comes out straight enough for potatoes.

The whole slicing at an angle thing has been understood for a long time.
sen you slice at an angle, the surface area of the blade touches the item to be sliced is smaller, and so more pressure is applied per square inch. Many mandolins take advantage of this and angle two blades in a v-shape. It's the same reason we slice with a knife. also, the knife edge is moving respective to the food being sliced. Chopping is sufficient for small foods such as carrots, green onions, and such. But even soft foods like raw onion are better sliced than chopped. When you use a chopping motion, more of the onion cells get crushed, spraying onion juice into the air. That's what make your eyes water. If you slice with a sharp knife, more of the juice stays in the onion, resulting in no tears and irritation to your eyes.

Slicing, where possible, may not be quite as faast as chopping, but is much more efficient. Try chopping fresh bread sometime from an uncut loaf. Good luck with that. A smooth, sharp knife will slice fresh bread easily, without tearing it as serrated knives do.

Yep, sllicing at an angle is much more effective. Why do you thing guillotines were designed with angled blades?

I know, I'm being weird again.

Seeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

 

[CharlieD]

I found that it is easier to cut sweet potato across rather than the lengthwise. I do use big knife anyway and rinse it before use, it slides better


Sent from my iPhone using Discuss Cooking

 

[kitchengoddess8]

I found that it is easier to cut sweet potato across rather than the lengthwise. I do use big knife anyway and rinse it before use, it slides better


Sent from my iPhone using Discuss Cooking

Great idea to rinse the knife first. I'll try cutting the sweet potato across and then halving each piece. Easier slicing and faster cooking!


Sent from my iPhone using Discuss Cooking

 

[kitchengoddess8]

The whole slicing at an angle thing has been understood for a long time.

sen you slice at an angle, the surface area of the blade touches the item to be sliced is smaller, and so more pressure is applied per square inch. Many mandolins take advantage of this and angle two blades in a v-shape. It's the same reason we slice with a knife. also, the knife edge is moving respective to the food being sliced. Chopping is sufficient for small foods such as carrots, green onions, and such. But even soft foods like raw onion are better sliced than chopped. When you use a chopping motion, more of the onion cells get crushed, spraying onion juice into the air. That's what make your eyes water. If you slice with a sharp knife, more of the juice stays in the onion, resulting in no tears and irritation to your eyes.



Slicing, where possible, may not be quite as faast as chopping, but is much more efficient. Try chopping fresh bread sometime from an uncut loaf. Good luck with that. A smooth, sharp knife will slice fresh bread easily, without tearing it as serrated knives do.



Yep, sllicing at an angle is much more effective. Why do you thing guillotines were designed with angled blades?



I know, I'm being weird again.



Seeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

Do you know if he has any videos demonstrating slicing at an angle? I saw one video of him demonstrating basic knife skills but didn't see him slicing any of the foods at an angle.


Sent from my iPhone using Discuss Cooking

 

[cinisajoy]

Yes, you can use foil in your toaster oven.
Easiest way to cut a sweet potato for baking: remember to put it in the oven earlier. Then you don't have to cut it for baking.

Now personally, I prefer steamed to baked sweet potatoes.
And they slide out of their skins so nicely.