Knives are ubiquitous in the restaurant industry. A good knife can be quite helpful, but it also poses some danger to the user as well as the others around them. What knife training is, why it’s important, and what to include in your eatery’s training program for knife safety are all topics we’ll discuss in this piece.
An effective knife safety program will orient employees on the various knives in use and the appropriate tasks for each. While using knives appears to be as easy as doing a Play Croco login to play slots online, many different types of knives serve many different functions in the kitchen. You should use the appropriate knife for the task at hand.
What Does Knife Training Entail?
All types of knives, from traditional kitchen knives to food slicers to box and utility knives and even scissors, are covered in knife safety classes.
Because of the knife’s central role in the food service sector and our homes, it’s imperative that all employees have a thorough understanding of how to properly wield one. Learn not just how to handle a knife safely but how to keep it in good condition, keep the blade sharp, and store it away safely too.
Importance of Knife Training
Although there are simple safety benefits to providing your staff with knife safety training, there are further reasons to implement a comprehensive knife handling program in your restaurant.
Some of the most significant gains from implementing a knife safety training program are listed below.
- Preventing Accidents and Injuries
This may seem obvious, but it’s the single most important reason to learn knife safety. The welfare of your workers is your top priority.
- Increased Employee Trust
Investing in a comprehensive knife safety training program is a fantastic way to demonstrate your concern for the well-being of your staff. They will have more faith in the manner in which you treat them if you take safety seriously. In addition, it helps everyone on your team feel comfortable and protected while they’re on the job.
- Boosts Efficiency
Your employees will benefit greatly from training in knife handling. The more they use it, the more proficient they grow with it, and the more swiftly and accurately they can do their responsibilities.
- Reduced Costs
Insurance and medical payments due to knife accidents can be reduced by as much as 50 percent with the help of knife safety training. Furthermore, keeping knives in good repair can save money that would otherwise be spent on broken or worn-out machinery.
Knife Handling and Maintenance
- Sharpening
An unskilled cook can mistakenly believe that a dull knife is safer than a sharp one. This is because an accident can be avoided more often with a knife that is sharper. An additional benefit of keeping blades sharp is that they last longer and can be used more effectively. A razor-sharp knife eliminates the possibility of bacteria along with other pathogens entering your food supply by making cleaner cuts.
The best way to maintain your kitchen knives is by understanding how to sharpen and hone them. However, this is not something to be taken lightly; therefore, it needs to be handled by an expert. You may either invest in the proper training for all of your staff members, or you can pay someone else to do it for you.
- Knife Cleaning
Knife safety is improved, and injuries are reduced when employees are taught how to properly clean blades after each usage. Cleaning knives on a regular basis helps prevent problems like corrosion, rusting, and other forms of wear and tear.
You should learn how to properly clean knives as part of your training in knife safety. In addition to keeping knives functional, regular cleaning helps keep them looking and feeling like new.
Must-Have Knife Skills to Master
Your staff ought to understand how to handle knives once they have become comfortable with them, cleaned them, and maintained them. The right tool for the job is useless if you have no idea how to utilize it.
- Gripping
Make sure you have the right grip on the knife prior to cutting. To do so, wrap your fingers securely around the knife’s handle from the back, where your index finger and thumb will be. You’ll have a better grip and control over your chopping with this.
- Cutting
Slicing food or chopping down forcefully on a chopping board is a common blunder. Use a rocking motion, moving the blade back and forth to make a clean cut.
- Dicing
When cooking with onions, dicing happens to be one of the most popular methods of cutting. To dice an onion, slice it in half lengthwise through the root.
- Mincing
Garlic is probably the ingredient you’ll mince the most often. The first step is to chop off the base. Then, put the garlic cloves beneath the knife’s cutting edge and mash them. That way, the thin skin may be easily removed.
Take Away
In spite of all the precautions used during knife safety training, accidents can and will still occur. Everyone who has access to knives should have gone through your training program and be familiar with what to do in the event of an emergency.
Make sure everybody can properly clean and bandage wounds and knows the whereabouts of the first aid kit. In the event of a serious injury that prevents an employee from returning to work, they ought to be aware of who to contact and what to do.
