That’s why knife skills are a critical element in cooking. They impact everything from speed and safety to texture and plating. New cooks often focus on mastering recipes, but as any seasoned chef will tell you, if you start with properly prepared ingredients, you’ll get better results. Uniform pieces of food cook at the same rate, hold onto flavors and seasonings more effectively, and yield a more appealing final dish.
Furthermore, good knife skills are actually easier to work with. Proper cuts take less work, resulting in less fatigue and greater control. Pressure is the cause of most accidents in the kitchen, not sharpness. Good knife skills should be learned as soon as possible, if you want to avoid developing a bad habit.
Proper knife skills are universal. Regardless of the type of food or the style of cooking you do, proper knife skills will enhance your results.
Picking Your First Knife
You don’t need to start with a bunch of knives. You just need one good, sharp chef’s knife of a decent size that will carry you through pretty much everything. Your starter knife should feel substantial in your hand, but not heavy, and it should feel balanced, so it doesn’t feel like you’re going to lose control of it.
A blade of 20 cm (8 inches) is a good length for the majority of people, although those with smaller hands may find that a little shorter is better. A handle that permits a fully enclosed fist is best. Balance is more important than the name on the blade: the knife should not lean forward or backward if balanced on a finger at the grip position.
Next, the knife must be sharp. A sharp knife will cut where you want it to, and you’ll apply less pressure. A dull knife will slip and mash the food, and you will be more likely to cut yourself. So, keeping the knife sharp (honing and sharpening as necessary) is also a safety issue, not just routine maintenance.
Grip and Placement of Hands
A novice should use the ‘pinch grip’ to get the best results. Rather than just grabbing the handle, the thumb and first finger should grasp the blade just above the handle, and the other fingers should grasp the handle. This makes for a firmer, more secure grip with less wobble.
The hand that holds the food should be in the “claw” position, meaning the fingertips are tucked under, while the knuckles are exposed to the knife. The blade should lightly touch the knuckles as a sort of “track” for the knife to follow, ensuring the fingers are out of the way, and the food is anchored.
Newer players tend to hold their fingers straight and level, which can lead to cuts. Establishing the “claw” form makes cutting less likely and develops good habits.
Establish a Consistent Cutting Process
A safe cutting board is a cutting board that doesn’t move. Use a damp towel or mat under the board to ensure it doesn’t slip. This simple trick will enhance both your safety and your accuracy.
The size of the board should be appropriate for the job. A board that is too small makes for contorted maneuvering and lost ingredients; an abundance of room makes for smooth production.
Don’t allow your board to become wet or soiled. It will make it slippery. Clean your board occasionally as you prepare ingredients.
The location of ingredients is important, too. Have cut ingredients on one side, away from the cutting board, and raw ingredients on the other, within reach.
The Rocking Motion
The rocking motion is the foundation of the cutting action for most tasks. The tip of the knife remains in contact with the cutting board while the blade pivots up and down in a sweeping motion. It’s a very effective and controlled way to cut.
The “guide” slowly pushes the ingredient back as the knife is rocked forward and down. This motion should be smooth, not forced. Speed will come later – first comes accuracy.
I’ve noticed some novices tend to cut straight up and down, which means lifting the whole blade with each stroke. It’s slower, and less stable. It pays to practice your rock to improve your flow and efficiency.
Instead, focus on getting into a repetitive rhythm and gradually increase the speed.
Basic Cuts Everyone Should Know
There are a limited number of cuts, that will suffice for 99 of your cooking. Once learned, this skill translates to other areas.
Slices: This cut is used for most vegetables and proteins, and is important for achieving a consistent thickness so the ingredients cook consistently.
Sticks (or batons): These are the rectangular cuts you see in fries and stir-fries. Slice the item into planks, then into sticks for uniformity.
Dice are cubes cut from sticks. Practice cutting large dice first, then medium and finally small dice. It is more important that they are uniform in size than their exact dimensions.
Mince. This is the term for a fine cut, often used in aromatics. A mince is achieved with a gentle back-and-forth motion and requires gathering up the ingredients several times to get it small enough.
Understanding how to cut consistently is more important than learning the names of the cuts. Consistency is the key to cooking.
“The key to cooking evenly is to make sure everything is the same size. It’s especially important with potatoes. You want the potatoes to be roughly the same size so that they’re all done at the same time.”
The cut size will impact the cooking time as well as the overall texture. Smaller cuts will cook faster and lose more flavor. The bigger cuts will take longer to cook, and will retain a lot of moisture inside.
Different size pieces will be over and undercooked. This is a very typical issue for new cooks and is solved by proper knife work.
Another helpful technique is grouping sizes together. So you cut, then you visually match them and correct any that are off. Eventually your accuracy improves.
view cutting as a way of cooking something, not just cutting it into a shape.
Specific Storage Advice for Various Ingredients
Certain types of food lend themselves better to certain practices. Round foods should have a flat base cut in before use to stop the item from rolling away and to prevent injury.
When working with firm vegetables, you may want to square them off before you dice. Cut off a couple of sides to give them flat surfaces, then dice them as usual.
For leafy greens, you should collect them and roll them up before slicing into strips to ensure uniformity and less dispersal.
If you’re cutting something soft, use a smooth, forward motion to avoid applying too much downward pressure and crushing whatever it is you’re trying to cut.
But watching how ingredients respond to the knife helps.
Control Before Speed
A common mistake is to push the speed to soon. Cutting fast without being in control makes the cut more dangerous and less likely to be accurate. A pro gets his speed from cutting smoothly, having the proper technique and repetition (or muscle memory), not from cutting quickly.
Do slow, perfect reps initially. Keep the cuts even, and your hands in the right position. You’ll find yourself cutting faster once it becomes more of a habit.
What about time and accuracy? I like to do timed practices but I think that should come after you have established some sort of regularity. First focus on accuracy, then tempo.
A peaceful tempo is less dangerous and more durable than an artificial pace.
A Guide to Caring for Your Knives
A knife is only as good as the care you give it. Honing is for re-establishing the edge, and you should do that often. Sharpening is for re-forming the edge (which involves removing some of the blade) and should be done infrequently.
Hand wash and immediately dry your knives. A dishwasher will dull the blade and ruin the handle. To store, use a knife block, a magnetic rack or place the blade in a blade guard.
Avoid cutting on glass or stone. Cutting on a wood or high-quality plastic cutting board will maintain the sharpness of your knife.
A sharp knife makes all prep tasks easier.
These Drills Will Improve Your Skills Quickly
Practice makes perfect. Simple exercises you can try are cutting one vegetable into identical slices a few times and then check how you did. Potatoes, carrots, and cucumbers are good choices.
Also a useful exercise is practicing size control by cutting several batches at different sizes and grouping them. The visual helps your accuracy.
A good drill to develop motion control is to practice mincing herbs. Ensure that you are keeping the blade at an angle, with the tip staying on the cutting board, and use a rocking motion.
It is better to practice a little every day than to practice for a long time every few days.