Annealing the heating and cooling process used in the manufacture of blades to prevent them from being brittle
Batonnet the beginning of a small dice that measures 1/4 ” x 1/4″ x 2″ long
Bias cut a crosswise cut at a 45° angle; most often used in cutting vegetables for Oriental dishes
Blade the part of the knife used for cutting
Blanch to quickly cook a food in boiling water
Bolster the point where the blade meets the handle
Boning the process used to separate meat, poultry, and fish from bone
Boning knife a knife used for trimming fat and removing bones from meat, fish, and poultry
Brunoise a dice cut that measures 1/8″ x 1/8″ x 1/8″
Butterfly to split meat in half with a knife without completely separating it, then spreading it open to look like a butterfly; commonly used for shrimp and chicken breasts
Carve to cut or slice cooked meat, poultry, or fish into serving-size pieces using a carver, or carving knife
Carver, or carving knife a knife used for slicing meat and poultry off the bones
Channel knife garnishing tool used to remove strips of peel or rind from fruits or vegetables
Chef’s knife an all-purpose knife also known as a French knife
Chiffonade a cut used to create fine slices of leafy vegetables or herbs
Chop to cut food into small, uneven pieces
Cimiter a tool whose blade measures 12″ to 16″ long and is made for cutting raw meats and portioning them into a variety of cuts
Clam knife a knife with a blunt end; designed to open a clam shell
Cleaver a knife used primarily for chopping or cutting through bones
Concasse (concasser) small diced tomato squares that have been peeled and cored and the seeds have been removed
Corer a sharp metal cylinder that removes the core and seeds of fruits, such as apples, without disturbing the outside of the fruit
Coring removing the core or center of a fruit or vegetable using a corer or paring knife
Cross-contamination the transfer of harmful organisms between items
Cube to cut foods into cubes
Cutting board a board made of plastic or wood used as a surface for cutting, slicing, and dicing food
Cutting edge the bottom of a blade
Degrading the manufacturing step in knife production that gives the knife its shape
Dice a cube or square cut ranging from 1 /16″ square cubes up to 3/4″ square cubes
Ergonomics the applied science that studies safe and efficient movement
Fillet to debone a piece of meat or fish
Fillet knife a knife used to remove the flesh from whole fish or to cut steaks
Forge the process used to treat metal in different steps to increase its hardness, density, and flexibility
French knife another name for a chef’s knife
Garnish a secondary food used to enhance the primary food
Gaufrette a lattice or waffle cut
Granton a knife with semicircles that have been ground alternating into the sides of the blade, which keeps food from sticking to the knife
Grinding creating an edge on a blade using a wheel that has a rough surface
HACCP (Hazardous Analysis of Critical Control Points) a food safety program that focuses on potential problems in food preparation and service
Handle the part of a knife usually made of wood, plastic, a combination of wood and plastic, or metal
Heel the part of a knife below the bolster
High-carbon stainless steel an alloy made of carbon and stainless steel; used to produce knives that won’t rust or corrode; is easily sharpened and will hold its edge
Honing realigning the microscopic teeth found on a knife’s blade; generally done with a steel
Julienne also called the matchstick cut, a cut that produces slender sticks of vegetables
Lame a knife used by bakers to score the top of a loaf of bread before it is baked
Mandolin (mandoline) a hand tool with adjustable blade(s); slices fruits and vegetables
Melon baller a tool used to scoop round balls of the meat of melons
Mezzaluna a curved blade with a handle; rocks back and forth and chops herbs, onion, and other vegetables
Mince a fine, uneven cut or chop
Mineral oil a food-grade oil used as a lubricant on wet stones
Oblique a food cut that produces pieces of food with two angle-cut sides
Oyster knife a knife with a blunt end; is designed to open oyster shells
Pare to remove the skin or rind of a fruit or vegetable using a paring knife
Paring knife a knife used for small tasks, such as paring, mincing, and slicing small items
Parisian scoop another name for a melon baller
Paysanne a food cut that produces flat squares rather than cubes
Peel to remove the skin or rind off a fruit or vegetable; similar to paring
Pocket roll carrier a bag used to transport knifes; each knife has its own pocket and the case rolls up to form a round pouch
POM (polyoxmetheiene) a material used in the construction of durable knife handles
Rivets metal pins used to hold the handle of a knife to the tang
Rondelle a disk-shaped slice of round fruit or vegetable
Sanitizer a chemical solution used to sterilize utensils and food preparation surfaces
Santoku an Asian-inspired knife that is an alternative to the traditional chef’s knife
Score shallow even cuts in the surface of food used for decorative purposes in garnishing
Serrated a knife blade edge that is wavy or jagged, similar to a saw’s edge; used to cut things that are hard on the outside and soft on the inside, such as French bread
Shaft a long spear used as the honing surface in a steel
Shank another name for a bolster
Sharpening making a knife’s blade edge sharp
Sheath an object designed to protect or cover a knife’s blade
Shoulder carrier a popular knife transporting system
Shredding cutting food into flat, thin pieces of the same size
Slice a piece of food that has been cut with a knife; to cut a piece of food
Slicer a tool used for cutting tenderloin, whole turkey, or chicken; serrated slicers slice bread, cakes, and tomatoes; granton slicers are best for slicing whole roasts
Spine the top of a blade, not the sharp side
Stampingthe process used to create knife blades by cutting them out of a flat sheet of metal
Steel a rod made of steel or ceramic used in honing a knife blade between sharpenings
Tang the metal that continues from a knife blade through the handle
Temper to adjust the temperature of ingredients to a certain degree by heating or cooling and mixing or stirring
Tip the very end of a knife blade
Tourne (tournee) a cut that leaves a vegetable in the shape of a football with seven sides and blunt ends
Tourne knife a knife with a curved blade used to make the classical cuts of seven-sided oblong pieces of vegetables
Trimming removing fat from meat
Zester a garnishing tool used to remove the zest of citrus fruit