It may look like some fancy french cut that youll probably never use in day to day cooking. but cutting on the bias is a simple cutting technique with great benefits.
Visual appeal aside, the latter two are very important for cooking techniques such as sauteing, grilling, or stir-frying, but how does cutting on a bias actually make vegetables cook faster or brown better? Its all about surface area.
By cutting on the bias, you are exposing more surface area for cooking. Try a little experiment where you compare vegetables cut on the bias vs normal vertical cuts. You can see the surface area difference. Here’s a quick recipe for you to test your bias cutting skills
This involves slicing them at an angle rather than straight across. This technique is often used to increase the surface area of vegetables, which is helpful for a variety of reasons from making them look prettier to exposing more of their fibers and making them easier to cook.
The first type of angle cut I’m going to make is when my eight inch chef’s knife is perpendicular to the cutting board. All I’m doing is angling the knife at 45 degrees as compared to the celery stalk. I’ll show you what I’m talking about in the next two photos.
Typically, you’d purchase celery that’s full of foliage. Before cutting it, you’d need to trim that foliage away. In my case, you can see that I purchased celery that’s already had the foliage trimmed off. All I’m left with are the white bottoms. Since this is the case, I’m going to quickly remove those bottoms.
In the most basic sense, when someone cuts something on the bias, they are cutting it at an angle. The most popular angle to cut a piece of food is 45 degrees. So if I were to cut a piece of celery or a carrot on the bias, I wouldn’t be cutting it straight across to make little hockey pucks – I’d be cutting it at an angle to create a more interesting piece of food that has more surface area than if it were cut traditionally. The reason many chefs like to cut on the bias is to obtain more area to brown the food as well as to reduce the cooking time. The thinner the cut and the more surface area (sharper angle), the shorter the time necessary to cook whatever you’re cooking.
If you’re not a trained chef or don’t hang out with many folks who have made food and cooking a priority in their lives, you most likely have no idea what the term “bias” means. You may, however, hear it referred to in the future (due to the increasing popularity of cooking), so it’s not a bad idea to familiarize yourself with a term here and there. With that in mind, in this post, I’m going to let you behind the curtain as well as offer some example photos of yours truly cutting a piece or two of celery “on the bias.” In This Post
This next cut is a bit different than the first. If you recall, during the first cut, I held my knife perpendicular to the cutting board and held it at an angle to the celery. In this case, I’m going to hold the knife perpendicular to the celery and angle it with the board. This next photo will give you a better idea of what I’m talking about.
It may look like some fancy french cut that youll probably never use in day to day cooking. but cutting on the bias is a simple cutting technique with great benefits.
Visual appeal aside, the latter two are very important for cooking techniques such as sauteing, grilling, or stir-frying, but how does cutting on a bias actually make vegetables cook faster or brown better? Its all about surface area.
By cutting on the bias, you are exposing more surface area for cooking. Try a little experiment where you compare vegetables cut on the bias vs normal vertical cuts. You can see the surface area difference. Here’s a quick recipe for you to test your bias cutting skills
How to Bias Cut Vegetables
FAQ
What does bias cut mean vegetables?
What does cutting on the bias mean?
Why do chefs cut on a bias?
Do you cut vegetables on a bias?
It’s all about surface area. By cutting on the bias, you are exposing more surface area for cooking. Try a little experiment where you compare vegetables cut on the bias vs normal vertical cuts. You can see the surface area difference. Here’s a quick recipe for you to test your bias cutting skills Blister Bias Stir Fry Ingredients:
What does cutting food on the bias mean?
Cutting food on the bias simply means to cut food at an angle. The accepted angle for kitchen usage being 45 degrees. In this article we’re going to explore cutting ingredients on the bias. What it means for the food you prepare, how to do it like a pro chef, and some other essential knife cuts that will benefit you in the kitchen at home!
Should you cut carrots on a bias?
Cutting these vegetables on a bias helps create thinner, less compact slices, allowing you to cook them in less time. Plus, the increased surface area — carrots and other vegetables are small when cut across but wider when cut at an angle — makes them look prettier on a plate and gives you larger pieces for dipping and scooping.
Does cutting on a bias make vegetables cook faster?
Three reason why you may want to cut on the bias Visual appeal Faster cooking Better browning (aka more flavor) Visual appeal aside, the latter two are very important for cooking techniques such as sauteing, grilling, or stir-frying, but how does cutting on a bias actually make vegetables cook faster or brown better? It’s all about surface area.