Later this morning I will be getting started on some Christmas baking. Several recipes call for chopping up sticky stuff… dates, dried cherries, dried apricots, and the absolute worst – orange slice candies. Any suggestions for how to chop this stuff up without it gunking up my knife and generally making a big sticky mess?
Very light dusting of flour maybe? Very sharp knife with a thin blade…
Kitchen shears.
Might spray some Pam or other non stick spray on the knife blade once in a while. In the past I used my food processor and just put up with the mess.
These folks agree with the spray.
Any cooking-type oil on the knife (a big French knife) is what a chef would use. If you sprinkle a little water on the fruit, it’ll keep it from resticking to itself as you chop.
For almost 60 years (maybe longer), my mother has used a meat grinder for chopping up holiday nuts and fruitcake fruit. Pretty sure there are different size knives to clamp to the business end, then crank away! A quick bath between victims and yer back in business. Us kids loved to help with the grinding: “Into the grinder with you, Mister Pecan!” “No, no, help me, someone!” “Ah, ha, ha, ha, ha!” “AAAAAAAAAAAH!”
The cooking spray on the knife blade worked for the dates. One other thing that helped – in the past I’ve always bought chopped dates and then just chopped them up some more. But I couldn’t find chopped dates at the store, so I bought whole dates. And I think the whole dates are easier to chop up than the chopped dates! (I try to ignore the fact that whole dates look like big ol’ cockroaches. :eek:)
And I assume that you bought pitted dates?
Dates look like the California Raisins. “Into the grinder with you, Mister Raisin!” “No, … .”
This. I use kitchen shears for lots of things, including bacon and scallions.
Dampen the fruit. Sharp knife.
Some things are more easily and/or more neatly cut when partially frozen.