at Wed, 30 Mar 2005 06:50:02 GMT in <KatraMungBean-7F8EC2.00500230032005
@corp.supernews.com>, (Katra) wrote :

>I _hate_ slicing fresh carrots!!!
>Dad likes them a lot tho' so it has to be done.
>He prefers them in bite sized chunky slices.
>
>If I try to slice them on the cutting board with the chef's knife,
>they are so crisp they tend to want to "pop" off as I slice them
>and go all over the kitchen! Crispy beasts.

I second Bob's advice. Your chef's knife needs to be *really* big. I find
even an 8" knife is a bit too small. 10" is OK. 12" is better. As everybody
says, it should be *really* sharp. Get a sharpening stone if you don't want
to go down to your local cutlers frequently. The rocking motion is
definitely what you need. Be sure that the carrots are lined up over the
center part of the blade. If they're near the tip the knife may "push" the
carrot off the end, and if they're near the bolster the extra thickness can
send them flying. Really serious popping is almost always the result of a
dull blade. Essentially you're bludgeoning the carrot with a dull knife,
and at some point the fibers snap. The basic method has worked for me even
for whopper carrots (1.5 lbs, about 3" in diameter) If you do several
carrots at once, alternate the directions they point, pack them together
like sardines and you'll have better slice control.

--
Alex Rast

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