How to Master Knife Skills

The narrow blade of the pairing knife creates thin slices.

Mastering basic knife techniques will allow you to better your skills in the kitchen. Professional chefs and cooks alike employ various cutting techniques depending on the ingredients of the dish. Holding your cutting utensil in the correct position will prevent you from damaging your fingers with the sharp blade. A few common knife skills include slicing and chopping. Slicing techniques often require the use of a small pairing knife. A large kitchen knife will allow you to finely chop vegetables for soups and salads.

Things You'll Need

• Cutting board
• Vegetables
• Pairing knife
• Large kitchen knife

Instructions

1. Lower your plastic or wooden cutting board onto a clean surface. Place an elongated vegetable, such as a carrot or cucumber, into the middle of your cutting board. Rotate the tip of the vegetable to point towards the top left or right corner of your cutting board. Hold the small pairing knife in your dominant hand.

2. Place your forefinger and thumb around the base, or heel, of the blade. Wrap your three remaining fingers around the handle of the pairing knife. Hold the vegetable against the cutting board using your non-dominant hand. Bend the fingers of your non-dominant hand to angle your knuckles forward.

3. Place the blade of the knife onto the top of the vegetable. Put downward pressure on the knife blade to slice through the veggie. Create thin slices by decreasing the space between each cut. Practice these cutting techniques with various vegetables to master the skills of slicing.

4. Place the handle of the large kitchen knife into the palm of your dominant hand. Utilize the same thumb and forefinger technique around the heel of the blade. Lower a peeled onion into the center of your cutting board. Hold the onion in place with your non-dominant hand. Chop the onion directly down the middle.

5. Slice the onions halves into smaller pieces. Place the large blade of the kitchen knife over the top of your onion slices. Lower the palm of your non-dominant hand to rest on the dull top of the blade. Rotate that blade back and forth over the onion pieces to chop them. Practice these cutting techniques to master the skill of chopping.

References

• Daily Motion: Professional Chef Knife Skills
• Bing: Knife Techniques: Dice
• Recipe Tips: Types of Kitchen Knives