THE EQUIPMENT
THE ANATOMY OF A KNIFE
A good knife is like a good pot––you keep it forever (in fact, they’re guaranteed forever). With a good knife, you’ll be able to make easy, clean cuts and get the best out of your meat.
FORGED BLADE OR STAMPED BLADE?
A forged blade is made by hand. A stamped blade is cut out of a sheet of metal, of lower quality but less expensive. There’s no comparison––the forged blade is better! It’s heavier, a lot more solid, and stays sharper for longer.
THE CUTTING EDGE AND THE TIP
The cutting edge is the part that cuts and the tip is just above it. For the cutting edge, there are two possibilities: the European edge, with an angle between 20° and 30°, and the Japanese edge, a lot sharper, with an angle between 10° and 15°.
THE INDISPENSABLES
THE CHEF’S KNIFE
This is a kind of big, do-it-all knife. It can cut a roast into slices or a steak into strips, move pieces of meat by placing them on the blade, and crush garlic cloves. Basically, if you can only have one kitchen knife, this is the one you want.
THE JAPANESE HALF BROTHERS
Japanese knives are known for the quality of their blades––their tremendous sharpness inherited from ancestral sabers––but also for the neat design. The gyuto is specially used for meat, with its long, slightly curved blade, whereas the santoku is more universal.
FOR SLICING
THE TRANCHELARD
This is the ideal knife for cutting thin slices from a big piece of meat like a leg or a cured or cooked ham. The blade is narrower than a chef’s knife’s blade and its cut is more precise for big slices.
ITS JAPANESE YOUNGER BROTHER
Another Japanese knife that shares the same qualities as the gyuto and the santoku, but with a long, thin blade for cutting meat. The chutoh’s blade, shorter than the tranchelard’s, is also good for preparing and paring meat.
THE BUTCHER’S KNIFE
THE BONING KNIFE
Perfect for boning, of course, but also for removing tendons and fat. This is a small knife with a very rigid blade. It’s a butcher’s favorite for preparing meats that are complicated to cut.
THE GOOD-FOR-EVERYTHING
THE UNIVERSAL KNIFE
Like the chef’s knife, this is indispensable for all work that doesn’t involve meat, because there are a lot of other things you need to cook as sides for your main dish from the butcher shop.
THE UNEXPECTED
THE POULTRY SHEARS
This is super useful for when you need to cut poultry as well as other difficult meats, or to break thin bones.
The chef’s knife
Blade length between 4¾ to 12 inches (12 and 30 cm).
The gyuto
The santoku
Blade length between 6 and 9½ inches (16 and 24 cm)
The tranchelard
Blade length between 7 and 12 inches (18 and 30 cm)
The chutoh
Blade length between 6 and 8 inches (16 and 20 cm).
The boning knife
Blade length between 4¾ and 7 inches (12 and 18 cm).
The universal knife
Blade length between 4 and 6 inches (10 and 16 cm).
The poultry shears
Blade length between 8½ and 10 inches (22 and 26 cm).
CHEF’S KNIFE VS. BREAD KNIFE
Of course, the purpose of a knife is to cut, but the way in which it is used to cut your meat will have a big influence on the taste, texture, and consistency. Let’s compare.
THE CHEF’S KNIFE
This is the most commonly used knife in cookery. Very sharp, it cuts in a perfectly straight line. The sides of the piece of meat are smooth and even. The knife is so precise that its contact with the meat is minimal.
THE BREAD KNIFE
This is different. The teeth of the blade “rip” through the fibers of the meat, and the surface of the cut is very uneven. The sides of the meat are irregular and rough. The knife’s contact with the meat is maximal.
For tender, grilled meats, there’s no doubt about it, the chef’s knife is a much better choice. But for tough pieces of meat that require a long cooking process (braising or boiling) or that are cooked in a sauce, a toothed knife (or bread knife) is more effective.
PAN-FRYING: LONG LIVE THE BREAD KNIFE!
When pan-fried in fat, meat cut with a bread knife will brown across a larger surface and will therefore develop even more flavors, partly thanks to the Maillard reactions.
GRILLING: LONG LIVE THE CHEF’S KNIFE!
For grill cooking, it’s the opposite. The smooth cut obtained using the chef’s knife increases the size of the surface contact area between the meat and the grill: it browns more and tastes better.
BOILING: LONG LIVE THE BREAD KNIFE!
The large surface contact area allows the meat to not only release more of its flavors during the making of a broth, but also to absorb more flavors when cooked in a stew or a blanquette.
MEAT COOKED IN A SAUCE: LONG LIVE THE BREAD KNIFE!
The irregular cut of the bread knife creates craters in the meat in which the sauce can sit. Each mouthful will contain more sauce than it would have had a chef’s knife been used.
ROASTING: LONG LIVE THE BREAD KNIFE!
Meat cut with a bread knife has a lot more holes for the juices to fill. The meat will be a lot more flavorful thanks to this uneven surface, compared to a smooth surface where the juices just slide off.
CUT AND CONSISTENCY: IT DEPENDS ON THE LENGTH OF THE COOKING TIME AND THE MEAT
For tender meats, a neat cut creates a good consistency because the cleanly cut fibers are easy to chew. However, a tough piece of meat, tenderized by several hours of cooking, is also easy to chew; there’s no difference.
GOOD EQUIPMENT FOR A GOOD CUT
Now that we know everything there is to know about blade shapes, let’s take a look at what knives are made of and how to choose a chopping board.
THE DIFFERENT POSSIBLE METALS
STAINLESS STEEL
Knives made of stainless steel don’t rust and require little maintenance, but the quantity of chromium used makes the blades less sharp than those made of carbon steel.
CARBON STEEL
The higher the chromium content, the harder and sharper the blade is; but it’s more fragile. Carbon steel is susceptible to corrosion and requires more upkeep than stainless steel.
DAMASCUS STEEL
It’s possible to mix various different steels together in successive thin layers, to benefit from certain of their characteristics. This method results in blades that are infinitely customizable. With very high-end blades that cost thousands of dollars, the number of layers of steel can reach 300.
CERAMIC
More solid than knives made of steel, ceramic knives are strong for cutting. However, they’re fragile when used to cut in anything but a straight direction and are unsuitable for boning.
TITANIUM
Just as sharp as ceramic but suppler, the main characteristic of titanium knives is that they’re very light.
THE SOLIDITY OF THE STEEL
The more rigid the steel is, the stronger the blade and the finer, sharper, more precise—but also more fragile—its edge.
The less rigid the steel, the less clear-cut the tip is and the more you’ll have to sharpen it.
THE UPKEEP OF A GOOD KNIFE
A good-quality knife shouldn’t be washed in a dishwasher; it needs to be rinsed soon after it’s been used, before being dried with a soft cloth. If you can’t avoid using the dishwasher, place your knife on the rack intended for glasses, the blade lying horizontal with nothing on top of it.
Even if they look strong, cutting knives are fragile. They don’t appreciate collision with other metal objects that could damage their edges.
WHICH CHOPPING BOARD?
Surely, with such good knives, you’re not going to cut your meat on a glass or granite board and risk damaging the entire knife edge? You need a chopping board that’s a little less hard.
A WOODEN BOARD!
I know, you’ve been taught that wooden chopping boards aren’t very hygienic. That’s what we all thought for a long time, and then they made a comeback.
Choose a cutting board made of bamboo. It’s the most hygienic, robust, the hardest, and the best at resisting humidity and protecting your knives’ blades.
But you can also choose beech, oak, or hornbeam which are very good, too.
WHICH COOKWARE FOR MY BEAUTIFUL PIECE OF MEAT?
You may be one of those people who cooks their meat in any old pot or pan. Let me explain why it’s important to choose the right cookware for the right piece of meat.
A FRYING PAN FOR PAN-FRYING STEAK
THE STRENGTH OF THE FLAME
This is the most important thing when browning a steak. With a strong flame, the whole surface of the pan is burning hot and perfectly sears your steak.
THE MATERIAL THE PAN IS MADE OF
This is also important, not as much for the cooking as for the creation of juices, because juices are delicious. There are materials that create more juice than others, and it’s these juices that make the meat tasty.
NONSTICK
Forget pans with nonstick coatings because they barely brown the meat and create very little juice.
CAST IRON
This develops the flavors but needs time to accumulate heat. So be aware of the inertia of this material!
STAINLESS STEEL
Stainless steel creates a lot of juices and heats up quickly. It’s a very good material to use.
IRON
Iron creates a lot of juices and both heats and cools rapidly. Honestly, it’s the best of the best!
A POT FOR BOILING OR BRAISING
Here, the material is crucial. It can change the quality of what you’re cooking. When you make stew, you cook the meat in water (or in a broth). The water heats and cooks the meat. How does the material influence this? Let’s compare.
Iron distributes the heat through the pot very unevenly.
The sides of the pot aren’t heated by the flame, but by the water, which in turn is heated by the bottom of the pot in contact with the flame. The meat nearest to the sides cooks at a lower temperature than the meat at the bottom of the pot.
Cast iron distributes the heat very well.
It accumulates the heat and distributes it throughout the pot. The heat of the flame spreads through the metal and up around the sides. The temperature is the same everywhere and the cooking is even.
Here too, the material is of great importance. It can accelerate the cooking and brown only the bottom of the meat, or it can ensure that the top and the bottom cook at the same speed. You should choose your cooking vessel based on the size of the piece of meat you’re cooking and the necessary cooking time.
MATERIAL: CERAMIC
COOKING: Everything cooks slowly at the oven’s temperature
+ PROS +: Ceramic stores the heat well and releases it slowly. Perfect for slow cooking.
- CONS -: Be careful with black vessels because they store and release more heat.
There will be fewer juices if you cook at below 320°F.
MATERIAL: GLASS
COOKING: The meat cooks slowly and browns at the oven’s temperature.
The bottom of the meat cooks and browns simultaneously.
+ PROS +: Because they’re transparent, glass vessels allow the radiant heat to pass through, which means the bottom of the meat can brown easily.
- CONS -: Be careful not to cook at too high a temperature so as to avoid burning the juices.
MATERIAL: CAST IRON
COOKING: The meat must be of the same height as the vessel. The top cooks slowly and browns at the oven’s temperature. The bottom cooks a little faster and browns at the same time.
+ PROS +: Cast iron absorbs heat and diffuses it progressively. It creates a gentle heat inside. There’s a large quantity of juice and the cooking is even.
- CONS -: 
MATERIAL: IRON AND STAINLESS STEEL
COOKING: The top cooks slowly at the oven’s temperature. The bottom cooks more than the top because iron and stainless steel store and then violently release the heat.
+ PROS +: Perfect for quick cooking. The meat in contact with the metal browns and cooks a lot faster than the top. With iron and stainless steel there will be a lot of juices.
- CONS -: Avoid for slow cooking as the cooking of the top and bottom of the meat isn’t even.
MATERIAL: TERRACOTTA
COOKING: These vessels are usually soaked in water before going in the oven. The water evaporates in the heat and creates humidity.
+ PROS +: The meat heats slowly in a very humid atmosphere. It remains very juicy and creates a beautiful jus.
- CONS -: One inconvenience: the meat doesn’t brown.
THE SIZE OF THE COOKWARE
This is super important. Using cookware that’s too big or too small causes you to lose a large amount of your meat’s qualities and juice.
FRY IN A LARGE FRYING PAN
A frying pan that’s a lot larger than your piece of meat will make it crispier and create more juices. Don’t forget: put the oil on the meat, never directly in the pan!
LARGE FRYING PAN
The meat doesn’t take up much of the surface area; the pan stays hot. There’s space around the meat so the juices evaporate easily and create a lot of flavor. Because the juices evaporate so well, the meat cooks at the temperature of the pan, around 392°F, and browns perfectly.
SMALL FRYING PAN
The meat takes up the whole surface area, which cools the pan. There’s no space around the meat, so the juices it releases don’t have room to evaporate and create flavors. Since the juices don’t evaporate well, they stay beneath the meat and boil it.
BOIL IN A SMALL POT
For a good balance of meat and broth, there shouldn’t be too much space around the meat and the water should only just cover it. If the water evaporates during the cooking, you can add a bit more.
SMALL POT
The meat releases its flavors into the water, but because there isn’t too much of it, the water boils down before the meat has lost too much of its taste. The broth is very flavorful because the meat’s juices are released into a very small quantity of water. An equal balance between a meat that keeps its flavor and a broth that tastes good.
LARGE POT
The meat releases its flavors into the water and becomes bland before the water reduces. The broth is also tasteless because the meat’s juices are diluted in too big a quantity of water.
Using a pot that’s just a little bigger than the meat will result in a more even cooking and a tastier base for your sauce.
SMALL POT
With only a small volume of water to heat, a gentle heat beneath the pot will be enough and will result in a very tender and juicy meat. The amount of water is small so the juices released by the meat aren’t diluted and create a flavorful sauce base. A tender, succulent piece of meat, along with a very rich sauce base.
LARGE POT
There’s a large volume of water to heat so the heat below the casserole dish needs to be higher, which means risking burning the juices and the vegetables (and making the whole thing taste bad). There’s a large quantity of water so the juices released by the meat are diluted and create a tasteless sauce base that will need to be reduced.
ROAST IN A SMALL DISH
There needs to be a bit of space around the meat (but not too much) to allow for even cooking, good-quality flavors, and a very tasty jus.
SMALL DISH
There’s enough space between the meat and the dish for the juices to evaporate a little and create lots of flavor. The herbs and spices cook slowly, create juice, and don’t burn, because the meat protects them from the oven’s heat. The top and bottom cook evenly. The result is a uniform cooking, a lot of flavors, and a great-quality jus.
LARGE DISH
If there’s too much room between the meat and the dish, the juices evaporate too fast. The herbs and spices, which aren’t protected by the meat, cook too fast and burn because the oven’s heat is too intense. The bottom of the meat absorbs the bitter taste of the burnt herbs and spices and the fat spits everywhere inside the oven.
TEMPERATURES AND COOKING THERMOMETERS
It’s rather infuriating to have a medium cooked piece of meat when you wanted a medium rare one. What you need to never get this wrong again is one––or several––thermometers.
TOUGH MEATS
The meats we class as tough are those that contain a lot of collagen, like the meat you would use in a stew or blanquette, for example. To make them tender, you need to melt the meats’ collagen, which happens from about 154.4°F.
At this temperature, the meat heats up and releases water. The collagen melts and turns into gelatin. And bam, just like blotting paper, the gelatin reabsorbs the water.
Essentially, during the cooking of a stew, for example, the meat dries out, then sucks up all the water it released and becomes juicy again. Amazing, isn’t it?
The meat heats, releases water, dries out, and the collagen melts.
As it melts, the collagen turns into gelatin.
The gelatin absorbs the water released by the meat. And you end up with a tender and juicy piece of meat.
TENDER MEATS… THAT SHOULD STAY THAT WAY
For tender meats, it would be simpler if they all became medium rare or medium well at the exact same temperature. But Mother Nature didn’t make life simple.
For a piece of meat to stay tender and juicy, certain proteins must be modified, but others must not be; if they are, the meat will be as tough as rubber.
Simply put, the myosin must be distorted (except in beef), but the actin mustn’t change much. And the temperatures that cause these modifications are different for each animal.
HERE’S A RECAP OF THE IDEAL COOKING TEMPERATURES FOR EACH ANIMAL
These are “core temperatures,” meaning they’re taken in the center of the meat.
COOKING TEMPERATURES CHEAT SHEET
POULTRY
RARE: -
MEDIUM RARE: -
MEDIUM: 149°F
MEDIUM WELL: 158°F
WELL DONE: 167—176°F
WINGED GAME
RARE: 113°F
MEDIUM RARE: 122°F
MEDIUM: 140°F
MEDIUM WELL: 158°F
WELL DONE: 167—176°F
VEAL
RARE: RARE: -
MEDIUM RARE: 131°F
MEDIUM: 143.6°F
MEDIUM WELL: 158°F
WELL DONE: 167—176°F
BEEF
RARE: 113°F
MEDIUM RARE: 122°F
MEDIUM: 131°F
MEDIUM WELL: 149°F
WELL DONE: 167—176°F
PORK
RARE: -
MEDIUM RARE: -
MEDIUM: 149°F
MEDIUM WELL: 158°F
WELL DONE: 167—176°F
LAMB
RARE: 131°F
MEDIUM RARE: 140°F
MEDIUM: 149°F
MEDIUM WELL: 158°F
WELL DONE: -
NOTE: if your meat needs to rest before being served, reduce by 37°F because the temperature of the meat will continue to rise.
THE RIGHT THERMOMETER
THE PROBE THERMOMETER
This is a thermometer that allows you to read the temperature of the inside of the meat without even opening the oven, and to be alerted as soon as the desired temperature is reached. This is also very useful for cooking in water.
Prices start at about $23. For that price, it’s silly to deprive yourself of such a tool. One overcooked roast, and you’ve lost more than $23!
THE OVEN THERMOMETER
The temperature indicated by the thermostat is rarely precise because its thermometer is on the inner wall and not in the center of the oven, where the meat is placed. The difference between the true temperature and the one indicated by the thermostat can be quite large. This little accessory will allow you to check the thermostat’s precision and to correct it, if necessary.
THE INFRARED THERMOMETER WITH LASER TARGETING
This doesn’t go into the meat but measures the outside temperature. Very useful for checking the temperature of a pan or grill before placing the meat onto them, or of oil as it heats.
You’re right in the middle of the thickness, but not of the length. Review your geometry lessons.
Certain bones transmit heat and others don’t. Bones or no bones, place your thermometer in the center of the meat.