Any knife accidents lately??

I was working the other night with an extremely sharp Japanese knife that I rarely use. While carving a roast chicken I nearly sliced the tip of my left pinky off - YOWSERS!!!!

it felt like the world's biggest paper cut - not really painful but you knew somethign bad just happened.

And the weird thing is just a few days before I was thinking to myself that for all the time I use serious knives I couldn't remember the last time I had a cut.

Any advice on how to avoid this in the future other than be careful? Just an occupational hazard?

Ouch! At least the loss was "nearly".

At Boot Camp, our instructor repeated at least once a day:

"Curl your fingers under and tuck them in when you are holding whatever you are cutting."

11 of us got it immediately; one student cut herself 10 times in five days.

Each time he intoned:

"Curl your fingers under and tuck them in when you are holding whatever you are cutting."

It feels awkward at first, but when I wasn't able to see a few years ago, I could still chop and cut meat and vegeables by remembering his mantra.

[David M. Bueker]

Well Laura had successful surgery to re-attach a tendon in her thumb after a Thanksgiving cheese slicing incident. Her follow-up appointment is today & we're anticipating two more weeks in a restrictive brace. So she's a one-armed bandit for now - I get to do all the cooking (which I usually do), dishes, gift wrapping, driving, carrying (at least anything without handles), laundry (I usually do it anyway), etc. Given how tired I am I cannot believe that my Mom managed to do everything around the house for decades without killing me or my Father.

Well Laura had successful surgery to re-attach a tendon in her thumb after a Thanksgiving cheese slicing incident

Wow. What kind of cheese?

My wife was usually good for at least one or two trips to the ER per year for cuts, though nothing that serious, thank goodness. Her knife skills have improved dramatically - I'll bet they don't even remember her name there, anymore.
It's been a while since I've cut myself badly enough to have to stop what I was doing - many years.

Best to your wife - I hope she heals quickly.

[David M. Bueker]

Not any special extra-hard cheese - just a slip with a bad result.

She's getting better. Today will tell us a lot.

Well Laura had successful surgery to re-attach a tendon in her thumb after a Thanksgiving cheese slicing incident. Her follow-up appointment is today & we're anticipating two more weeks in a restrictive brace. So she's a one-armed bandit for now - I get to do all the cooking (which I usually do), dishes, gift wrapping, driving, carrying (at least anything without handles), laundry (I usually do it anyway), etc. Given how tired I am I cannot believe that my Mom managed to do everything around the house for decades without killing me or my Father.

Yikes! That was a bad one. Back in college, I sliced through a tendon in my right pinkie while in the organic chemistry lab. The finger still works although it's a little stiff. I had no physical therapy following the surgery, though, and I'm sure that won't be the case for Laura.

Please give her our best.

Haven't had any accidents for years, but I do remember once reaching into the dishwasher and poking a deep cut in the end of my fingertip from a steak knife whose blade was sticking up and angled so I didn't see it. Not much pain the first day, but the following days--yowie!

We have a knife, one of those serrated-edge German ones about 9 inches long that cost about a million dollars, which had cut everyone in my family of 5 except me. We routinely call it the Devil Knife. Well it got me this past weekend, just a little piece of skin, like a slivered almond. I still love that knife. It is so sharp that you don’t even know you’ve been cut until someone else points out the blood!

Haven't done anything too drastic lately (he looks around for wood to touch). I guess my last one was with the Chinese chef knife I use about twice a year, but I've never damaged myself badly enough to require stitches.

But I remember a Christmas Eve many moons ago when my dad ended up in the ER following a slip with the oyster knife. Ho, ho, ho! (oops, that's not PC anymore, I meant Ha, ha, ha!)

[Jenise]

John, the little finger and index finger of my left hand are currently bandaged, the result of having to butcher five whole beef tenderloins on Saturday. I know the curl-finger principal but this was lots and lots of cutting, and I'm a bit klutzy. Doesn't usually happen with day to day tasks. But if it does--I keep finger cots around. They're like a little one-finger condom--first apply a bandage and then one of those, and you can continue working and safely handle food.

David, hope you get good news from Laura's doctor today.

Was trimming some fat off a piece of butterflied lamb leg last Saturday with a very sharp boning knife and hit my left index finger. The bandage came off this morning. Other than care, don't know how to prevent these things.

[David M. Bueker]

--I keep finger cots around. They're like a little one-finger condom--first apply a bandage and then one of those, and you can continue working and safely handle food.

Or do hand soldering to NASA standards...

John, the little finger and index finger of my left hand are currently bandaged, the result of having to butcher five whole beef tenderloins on Saturday. I know the curl-finger principal but this was lots and lots of cutting, and I'm a bit klutzy. Doesn't usually happen with day to day tasks. But if it does--I keep finger cots around. They're like a little one-finger condom--first apply a bandage and then one of those, and you can continue working and safely handle food.

David, hope you get good news from Laura's doctor today.

Aren't there butcher's gloves out there that have some kind of cut-proof mesh? That might work when you have so many filets to fillet.

--I keep finger cots around. They're like a little one-finger condom--

Many years ago I had to wear them for a job I had - counting sheets of sandpaper - 10 hours a day - 50 hours a week. Talk about boring.

Aren't there butcher's gloves out there that have some kind of cut-proof mesh? That might work when you have so many filets to fillet.

My son wears gloves like that where he works, handling sheet metal at construction sites.

David, have you forgotten the old adage "Mens work is from sun to sun, Womens work is Never done". Now you know the truth of the adage don't you.

[David M. Bueker]

So update: 3 more weeks of the splint on her thumb to prevent movement, so 3 more weeks of everything done by me. Things are healing though. Stitches came out today.

I've never gotten any bad cuts....lots of little ones. Several years ago I decided to invest in good knives and keep them very sharp. My daughter-in-law tells me I have good knife skills....I am still trying to master the curled finger technique. One thing I hate tho.....when I am really doing some serious chopping with my chef knife and am very focused, suddenly my husband appears and starts talking. He knows better now, because once I flipped the knife out of my hand.

So update: 3 more weeks of the splint on her thumb to prevent movement, so 3 more weeks of everything done by me. Things are healing though. Stitches came out today.

Dear David,

Boy, hope she is all the way better in the end.

Maybe you should hire a cleaning service, as a medical aid. My wife and I are pretty good about splitting the household duties, but when she is sick for even a few days I run out of time and energy to get everything done myself. I simply don't know what the people with 90 minute commutes and kids do.

Walt

[David M. Bueker]

I simply don't know what the people with 90 minute commutes and kids do.

Walt

Luckily we have a 15 minute commute and no kids.

I use very sharp Chinese cleavers as my main knife in culinary operations.

What Bob said about curling the fingertips under when cutting.

Even so, over the years both my index fingers have had a bit sliced off the ends when the knife slipped and I hadn't been taking proper precaution. Oddly, not painful, but they bled like nobody's business.

Nothing bad lately, fortunately.

-Paul W.

You mean, like this?



rwj

Well there goes the filet I had for lunch with a fine Calif Merlot. Thank for the pic, Robert!

"cots"

Piling on -- essential kitchen equipment here.

Never thankfully for cutting myself cooking.

But I'm always banging up my hands and fingers as a half a***d handyman ... and the cots protect the food during prep.

I change them from time to time, basically between each ingredient that I have to manipulate.

Great hint, Jenise.

But if it does--I keep finger cots around. They're like a little one-finger condom--first apply a bandage and then one of those, and you can continue working and safely handle food.

We call them "Squirrel condoms."

rwj