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Your initial theory is good, your technique just needs to be tweaked. The further away your "dusting" hand, the more evenly your food will be dusted.

So hold a pinch of paprika far from the chops, perhaps even over your head, do the little sprinkling motion with your fingers as you toss the paprika kind of into the air but in the direction of your chops. With powdery things that clump, like paprika or cinnamon, the tossing motion almost feels like snapping fingers.

Once you get good at it, you won't waste much paprika (or salt, or pepper, or cinnamon... whatever), but you will achieve an even dusting on the food.

Here is Chef Gordon Ramsay demonstrating exactly what I am talking about. The video is cued up to 25:10, as he says, "season from a distance."

MasterChef

Your initial theory is good, your technique just needs to be tweaked. The further away your "dusting" hand, the more evenly your food will be dusted.

So hold a pinch of paprika far from the chops, perhaps even over your head, do the little sprinkling motion with your fingers as you toss the paprika kind of into the air but in the direction of your chops. With powdery things that clump, like paprika or cinnamon, the tossing motion almost feels like snapping fingers.

Once you get good at it, you won't waste much paprika (or salt, or pepper, or cinnamon... whatever), but you will achieve an even dusting on the food.

Here is Chef Gordon Ramsay demonstrating exactly what I am talking about. The video is cued up to 25:10, as he says, "season from a distance."

[sorry, video removed by YouTube, see comment]

Your initial theory is good, your technique just needs to be tweaked. The further away your "dusting" hand, the more evenly your food will be dusted.

So hold a pinch of paprika far from the chops, perhaps even over your head, do the little sprinkling motion with your fingers as you toss the paprika kind of into the air but in the direction of your chops.

Once you get good at it, you won't waste much paprika (or salt, or pepper, or cinnamon... whatever), but you will achieve an even dusting on the food.

Here is Chef Gordon Ramsay demonstrating exactly what I am talking about. The video is cued up to 25:10, as he says, "season from a distance."

MasterChef

Your initial theory is good, your technique just needs to be tweaked. The further away your "dusting" hand, the more evenly your food will be dusted.

So hold a pinch of paprika far from the chops, perhaps even over your head, do the little sprinkling motion with your fingers as you toss the paprika kind of into the air but in the direction of your chops. With powdery things that clump, like paprika or cinnamon, the tossing motion almost feels like snapping fingers.

Once you get good at it, you won't waste much paprika (or salt, or pepper, or cinnamon... whatever), but you will achieve an even dusting on the food.

Here is Chef Gordon Ramsay demonstrating exactly what I am talking about. The video is cued up to 25:10, as he says, "season from a distance."

MasterChef

Your initial theory is good, it just needs to be tweaked. The further away your "dusting" hand, the more evenly your food will be dusted.

So hold a pinch of paprika far from the chops, perhaps even over your head, do the little sprinkling motion with your fingers as you toss the paprika kind of into the air but in the direction of your chops.

Once you get good at it, you won't waste much paprika (or salt, or pepper, or cinnamon... whatever), but you will achieve an even dusting on the food.

Here is Chef Gordon Ramsay demonstrating exactly what I am talking about. The video is cued up to 25:10, as he says, "season from a distance."

MasterChef

Your initial theory is good, your technique just needs to be tweaked. The further away your "dusting" hand, the more evenly your food will be dusted.

So hold a pinch of paprika far from the chops, perhaps even over your head, do the little sprinkling motion with your fingers as you toss the paprika kind of into the air but in the direction of your chops.

Once you get good at it, you won't waste much paprika (or salt, or pepper, or cinnamon... whatever), but you will achieve an even dusting on the food.

Here is Chef Gordon Ramsay demonstrating exactly what I am talking about. The video is cued up to 25:10, as he says, "season from a distance."

MasterChef