20 Aha! Cooking Tips from Chefs and Veteran Cooks

Health and Safety

1. A sharp knife is a safe knife

Sharp knife. Always sharpen your knife! Along with regular sharpening you need to use a steal every time you pick up your knife. Having it professionally sharpened is like $2 – $10. – kitchenperks

2. A falling knife has no handle

First 3 things I learned in Culinary. Never catch a falling knife. A sharp knife is safer than a dull knife. Never put a knife in a place where no one can see it ie soapy water – Iziama94

3. Learn chef talk

If you are new and going into restaurant work experienced chefs communicate. This may seem odd but heres an example.

“Behind you” translates to “hey buddy im moving behind you, please dont elbow me in the face or make sudden movements until I pass.”

– eccentricbaboon

If there’s a blind corner, they will shout, “Corner!” that has saved us many accidents. I had a pot filled with hot soup, and i was going to the ‘corner’ spot at the same time i shouted corner, the sous chef shouted corner as well holding a knife (he had a sharp Shun Knife). We both stopped on our tracks and he said, “see, no disaster happened.” it really does work. – o0poop0oo

4. Sanitation is key

Always, always, always sanitize your area when you are done prepping and cooking certain items. If you don’t sanitize (especially with raw items) you can get someone extremely sick. – VenomNadez