Cubed Ham/Bacon (Read 415 times)

bhearn


    If you are new to cooking you should start smaller and build no more than 10% per week. Soon you will be 20% better. 

     

    Especially if you cook ostrich instead of chicken or ham.

    bhearn


      I got yer cubed ham for you.

       

      mab411


      Proboscis Colossus

        The chicken is supposed to be dead before you start cutting it into pieces.

         

        Pfft, liberal.

        "God guides us on our journey, but careful with those feet." - David Lee Roth, of all people


        Best Present Ever

          Like I said, people, I'm pretty new to cooking.  Undecided

           

          My first thought when I saw that ingredient was that I'd probably do exactly what Gville Kevin said, then I remembered my experience cutting up a raw chicken breast into strips for fajitas awhile back.  Believe it or not, it did not go well, so I decided I'd rather buy it already cubed.

           

          The chicken fajita failing seemed to be that I couldn't...what's the best way to put this...I couldn't get the chicken breast to stay still enough for me to get any precision on the cuts.  Kept rolling around when I'd press down with the knife, and I ended up with...well, I ended up with "strips" that were more cubes than strips, so I guess I just need to try my hand at fajita bacon strips.  Which doesn't sound too bad, actually.

           

          I could be that the knife wasn't sharp enough, but I dunno...I don't know what metric I could use to describe sharpness, but it's my sharpest knife.

          Your sharpest knife is dull.

          Trent


          Good Bad & The Monkey

            Your sharpest knife is dull.

             

            People say this about me all the time.

             

            To the OP, a distinct possibility is also that you are cutting wrong. You say you "push" the knife down into the chicken breasts. Done this way, any effort to cut will squash the meat rather than cut it. Cutting meats or cheeses is something done with a slight horizontal, almost sawing or back-and-forth rocking motion. If you try to push the knife in a vertical motion into meat, cheese and some veggies without any sawing, even a sharp knife will fail to cut well.

             

            Some examples -

            http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANWVWAoqGJQ

            http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12issg3EdA8

            http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FYYdDfhluE

               

               

              To the OP, a distinct possibility is also that you are cutting wrong. You say you "push" the knife down into the chicken breasts. Done this way, any effort to cut will squash the meat rather than cut it. Cutting meats or cheeses is something done with a slight horizontal, almost sawing or back-and-forth rocking motion. If you try to push the knife in a vertical motion into meat, cheese and some veggies without any sawing, even a sharp knife will fail to cut well. 

               

              The best cutting form is with inline knife-falls and no arm motion.

              "When a person trains once, nothing happens. When a person forces himself to do a thing a hundred or a thousand times, then he certainly has developed in more ways than physical. Is it raining? That doesn't matter. Am I tired? That doesn't matter, either. Then willpower will be no problem." 
              Emil Zatopek

              Trent


              Good Bad & The Monkey

                 

                The best cutting form is with inline knife-falls and no arm motion.

                 

                Totally disagree. This is a myth. A lack of arm motion is the best cutting form for a very few types of things, such as simple small veggies that have already been matchsticked on their way to a small dice. But most items benefit from arm motion, sawing, etc. Check the videos. Go watch any sushi chef. They move their arm.

                Gator eye


                  I can't believe this is even a thread.

                  Go to the local butcher or meat market and buy double the amount needed of thick cut bacon(apple or pepper smoked is the best), cook half for BLT's to eat while cutting the rest into cubes.

                   

                  Problem solved


                  Feeling the growl again

                     

                    Totally disagree. This is a myth. A lack of arm motion is the best cutting form for a very few types of things, such as simple small veggies that have already been matchsticked on their way to a small dice. But most items benefit from arm motion, sawing, etc. Check the videos. Go watch any sushi chef. They move their arm.

                     

                    Those  experts are just too arrogant to admit they are wrong. A T Rex  uses no arm motion when it cuts its food.

                    "If you want to be a bad a$s, then do what a bad a$s does.  There's your pep talk for today.  Go Run." -- Slo_Hand

                     

                    I am spaniel - Crusher of Treadmills

                     

                    WhoDatRunner


                    Will Crew for Beer

                       

                      Those  experts are just too arrogant to admit they are wrong. A T Rex  uses no arm motion when it cuts its food.

                       

                      The T-Rex references always make me think of this.

                       

                      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93B072j-E3I

                      Rule number one of a gunfight, bring a gun. Rule number two of a gunfight, bring friends with guns.

                      GC100k


                         

                        Those  experts are just too arrogant to admit they are wrong. A T Rex  uses no arm motion when it cuts its food.

                         

                        Princess: if you laid the food inline on masking tape you'd cut your food 20% faster.

                        MrH


                          I got yer cubed ham for you.

                           

                           

                           

                          I'm wondering if our Christmas food shouldn't have a geometric theme ...

                          The process is the goal.

                          Men heap together the mistakes of their lives, and create a monster they call Destiny.

                          xhristopher


                             

                            The best cutting form is with inline knife-falls and no arm motion.

                             

                            Yes. Don't just stab your cubed ham.

                             

                              I would pull out my kitchen shears and cut  the bacon into 1/2  inch pieces,  then fry.  Not cubes,  strictly speaking,  but small,,  flavorful bits.

                               

                              This bit of brilliance seems to have been overlooked.  Kitchen shears are your best friend.  I use them for cubing chicken and beef, and they are awesome for cutting bacon (even easier if you throw it in the freezer for a little while.  You want firm, not frozen.)  Much, much, easier than using a knife.  And they easily come apart into two pieces for washing..

                              Trent


                              Good Bad & The Monkey

                                Those  experts are just too arrogant to admit they are wrong. A T Rex  uses no arm motion when it cuts its food.

                                 

                                Dude, you know as well as I do that T Rexes don't cut their food. They use spoons.