Dice

Dice is a knife cut in which food is cut into cubes of a specified, relatively uniform size. Standardized dice sizes help ingredients cook evenly, create a consistent appearance and make recipe instructions repeatable. The exact dimensions can vary slightly between culinary schools and kitchen specifications.

Common dice sizes

• Brunoise: approximately 3 mm cubes.
• Small dice: approximately 6 mm cubes.
• Medium dice: approximately 12 mm cubes.
• Large dice: approximately 18–20 mm cubes.

How to produce an even dice

1. Trim the ingredient into a stable block.
2. Cut even slabs to the required thickness.
3. Cut the slabs into matching sticks.
4. Cut across the sticks at regular intervals to create cubes.

Common uses

Small dice is used for sauces, garnishes and aromatic vegetables; medium dice is common in soups, hashes and vegetable preparations; large dice is suitable for stews and roasting where a larger piece is desired.

Chef’s tip: Square off irregular ingredients before cutting. Use the trimmings in a suitable stock, soup or staff preparation where quality and food-safety standards allow.

Key distinction: Dice refers to cube-shaped pieces with a defined size. “Cube” can describe the general shape without specifying a standard dimension.