J. Kenji López-Alt's Easy Tip To Keep Potatoes From Sticking To Your Knife While Cutting

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People who know and love food also know (and love) J. Kenji López-Alt. Throughout his illustrious career as a writer, culinary director at Serious Eats, and chef, López-Alt has used a scientific approach to cooking that has helped many to demystify the often opaque world of food prep. His 2015 book, "The Food Lab," is a seminal work for type A foodies, and his YouTube channel is a go-to spot for aspiring home chefs. Seriously, who else could come up with the hack for creamy cornstarch infused scrambled eggs? So when he offers up cooking advice, we take note. No subject is too small to go unchecked by López-Alt, which brings us to the matter of sticky potatoes. As most home cooks know, potatoes have a nasty habit of sticking to cooking knives as they're being sliced. 

So what is López-Alt's suggestion for preventing sticky potatoes? In a video posted to his YouTube channel, he revealed his simple, genius hack for avoiding this cooking conundrum. Rather than cutting your potatoes from the top down, he suggests cutting your potatoes by slicing your potatoes in a horizontal motion, dragging your knife through the side of the spud in a "pulling" motion, with the tip of your knife pressed to your cutting board. This will help you cut your potatoes with no muss and minimal fuss. But potatoes are so clingy. Well, that comes down to increased surface tension on the wet potato that causes them to cling to the sides of your knife. By pulling your knife through the potato horizontally, rather than moving in a vertical direction, you can more easily break the tension.

While working on your knife skills is a great way to prevent sticky potatoes, you can also change up your kitchen knives as well, trust us there are plenty of knives to choose from. For starters, rather than cutting with a smooth knife, you might try using a knife with a textured surface. This can help break the surface tension of your potato by creating small divots of air that keep your spud from being able to cling. Look for knives with dimples on the sides, also called scallops or divots. These textured knives can come in clutch when working with potatoes, and all of the tuber's beautiful (and tasty) varieties. 

You can also try using a knife with a hammer finish, which gives an intense, pocked texture that can help in slicing many potentially sticky foods (not just potatoes, but also carrots, apples, and other high water content fruits and veggies). Hammer finish knives are also incredibly hearty, thanks to those hammered dents, and can hold up against a lot of wear and tear.