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Step 1
Grip the knife correctly. Hold the knife handle in your primary hand with the blade facing the curl of your fingers. If the handle is made with grooves or contours for your hand, line up with these (if comfortable) for a better grip. During use, you can also place your forefinger at the back of the bald to help maneuver it.
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Step 2
Avoid cutting particularly tough food with this knife. The Santoku knife is made from thinner, more flexible metal and may bend or break if used to cut into tough, woody parts of plants (such as pits or thick stems) or meat bones. Instead, use this knife for precision cutting on produce, particularly peeling and removal of parts like leafy stems or cores.
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Step 3
Cut away from your body. For cuts that require an inward motion of your hand and don't allow you to point the knife directly out from your body, turn so that the knife is pointed out and to your left or right.
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Step 4
Use the knife in your hand or on soft cutting surfaces surfaces, as hard surfaces can damage the fine metal of this knife. Avoid cutting boards made of glass or granite and instead use wood, plastic or bamboo boards.
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Step 5
Do different tasks with different parts of the blade. For the cutting of larger surface areas (like peeling or removing fruit from rinds), use as much of the length of the blade as you can, alternating which sections you use. For digging cuts (such as removing potato eyes or cutting out strawberry stems), use the sharp tip of the knife and turn it.
