Cooking with kids

Never to young to start. I have to remember not to bark orders or worry too much. I don't want to intimidate them. My youngest has decided she wants to start learning some knife skills rather than fear the blades that will belong to her eventually. Pretty good pinch grip technique I think although the counter height screws her up. Any good ideas to share? I know Mucho is very pro active cooking with his kids.

 

Looking good Mike. I have a sturdy wooden stool that is about 9 inches tall that my 7 year old uses when he is "helping" me with prep. My Masakage 150 petty is his knife of choice. probably because it is so pretty.

 

I actually have the opposite problem with a sixteen year that asked if he could watch me work every Monday. I have to put six inch hotel pan under his cutting board so he doesn't have to hunch over! I let him make the tomato soup and use the immersion blender. He talked about it all week to his friends.

But yeah, a shorter table or a stool to stand on would help her.

 

Looks great! Start them early ...

I'd be curious to hear you guys opinion on WHEN to start. Not necessarily with helping in kitchen, we already let him (he's two). Explain that the Oven is taboo, knives and scissors are as well. But everything else is fair game. That's how my end grain board received a solid coating of egg yesterday ... guess you better not smash them too hard, boy

But what about knives? When and what kind of knives? I wouldn't give him my regular knives until later, but I've seen kids knives here and there. Any recommendations which one to pick, when to start and what food to have them start with cutting?

 

Kind of like Goldilocks . Counter is too high ( my counters are tall) . Step stool is too much . Will have to look for the right one or use a table. My daughter (now 8) handles many of my knives, always supervised after 1 small "miscue". I let her decide. She prefers a large handled 130 mm Catchside petty surprisingly. Many others are too intimidating for her yet. This one is tall enough for board work. We'll try a few paring knifes too. We have some cheap Oxo knives with soft rubber handles that are not intimidating and cheap. She has heard the saying , "a dull knife is more dangerous than a sharp one". I said it depends on how it was used or misused. They're all to be respected. As long as a kid has the ability to focus and has an interest , I would start young. I started very (4)early by choice. If I was taught a few knife skills younger, I may have avoided of few cuts along the way.

 

Your daughter has good tastes with the Catcheside =D

 

My youngest is 3 and she loves baking. Nothing gets made in our house without her help. Not comfortable with knives yet, but the basics of what is hot, what she can touch and what she needs help with is important.

My oldest is 7, we started him with knife work at about late 5-6 with a nakiri. He prefers a tall petty now and is pretty comfortable with my 220 Rader chef.

I feel...and he feels comfortable enough to cut fruits and veggies on his own. He even knows to wipe and dry the carbon.

 

The misono Childs knife is available at Korin. I like a rounded tip for kids because puncture wounds can be way worse than a regular cut. My son started cutting at 3. He likes knife work but he prefers making pasta and baking I think.

 

One of my earliest and fondest memories is "helping" my Dad carve the holidays turkeys, don't underestimate the memories you are creating.

Well played men!

 

That's great, Mike. My 4 year old loves to help by putting prepped stuff in bowls, picking thyme, etc. Not sure I trust him quite yet with a knife, but I think that's very individualized.

 

I am right now waking up from a power nap to the sound of my 2 daughters banging bowls and stuff in the kitchen. I heard something about eggs and sorry. Mock cooking show? Gotta go!

 

Surprised, unless I overlooked some comment, that no one has mentioned consideration of cut resistant gloves, whether SS mesh, Kevlar, or otherwise, e.g.: http://www.amazon.com/NoCry-Cut-Res..._UL160_SR160,160_&refRID=1WNZQDPP9NF4AZ8PR7J3

 

I don't know that even a small size would fit my kiddos hands. The thought never actually crossed my mind. I always figured you have to get cut a few times to really learn knife skills, lol.

 

Never thought of it Larry. I have some adult sized I use from time to time. Don't know if they come in kids sizes. They can be a little cumbersome . Knock on wood, no problems since her lessons. I look over her shoulder constantly. A little bit almost every day.