Kitchen Knife Techniques that Guarantee the Best Results in the Kitchen

Whether you’re an aspiring home cook or a seasoned chef, using proper knife techniques in the kitchen is essential for safety, efficiency, and achieving the best results when preparing ingredients. With some basic knife skills and a little practice, you’ll be chopping, slicing, and dicing ingredients like a pro in no time!

Choosing the Right Knife

The first step to proper knife skills is making sure you have the right knife for the task at hand. Here are some of the most common types of kitchen knives and what they are best used for:

Chef’s Knife – This versatile knife with a broad blade that curves up to a sharp point is perfect for most slicing, dicing, chopping, and mincing. It can handle fruits, vegetables, meat, and more.
Paring Knife – With a short, agile blade, the paring knife makes quick work of peeling, coring, deveining, and other detailed tasks.
Bread Knife – The long, serrated edge on this knife effortlessly cuts through crusty bread and tender cakes.
Boning Knife – Flexible and narrow, this knife maneuvers around bones and joints to remove meat.
Cleaver – The thick, heavy blade of a cleaver chops through meat and poultry bones.
Santoku Knife – Similar to a chef’s knife but with a straighter edge, thin blade, and pointed tip, this knife works well for precise slicing and dicing.

Choosing a knife suited for the ingredients and task will make prep easy and safe. Now let’s get to those knife techniques!

The Claw Grip

Holding the knife properly is critical for control and avoiding injury. The go-to grip for most kitchen cutting is called the “claw grip.” Here’s how to hold a knife in the claw grip:

Grip the handle of the knife firmly with your dominant hand. Wrap your thumb and forefinger around the top of the handle to steady it.
Rest the bottom part of the handle in the crook between your thumb and bent fingers. Keep these bent like a claw with your knuckles raised.
With your less dominant hand, use your fingertips to keep the food steady and in position as you cut. Make sure to tuck in your fingertips so they stay clear of the blade’s path.
Keep the tip of the blade down and rock the knife using the middle of the blade for most cuts.

The claw grip keeps your fingers out of harm’s way by tucking them under yet maintains control. Practice this safe grip until it feels comfortable before moving on to specific cutting techniques.

Rock Chop

One of the most basic yet useful knife skills is the rock chop. Here’s how to rock chop ingredients:

Assemble your prepped ingredients and choose an appropriate knife, like a chef’s knife. Make sure your knife is sharp!
Plant your non-knife hand claws on the ingredient to steady it. Keep fingers curled under.
Tip the front of the knife blade downward on the ingredient, with the curved belly resting on it.
With a rocking motion, use the middle of the blade to rhythmically and evenly chop, keeping the tip down.
Move slowly across and down ingredients to evenly dice them to the desired size.

Use this rocking, leveraging motion for fast, even chopping. It works great for chopping onions, garlic, herbs, vegetables, and more.

The Slice

Learning how to properly slice ingredients prepares them perfectly for everything from salads to stir-fries. Follow these instructions:

Ready your knife and ingredients. Long ingredients like carrots, celery, loaves of bread, etc. may need trimming to fit the cutting board.
Anchor ingredient with claws, keeping fingers clear of blade path.
Tip the knife blade downward near the front of the ingredient, the blade touching the board.
Carefully pull the handle up and back while keeping the tip rested in place. Apply even pressure for clean cuts.
Repeat in smooth motions to slice the ingredient to the desired thickness.

Practice this straight up-and-down slicing technique for evenly cut ingredients every time.

The Dice

Whether you’re prepping veggies for soup or potatoes for home fries, knowing how to quickly and evenly dice ingredients is invaluable in the kitchen.

Cut ingredients into uniform sticks using the slice technique above.
Line up sticks evenly together on the cutting board.
Anchor sticks securely with a claw grip, curled knuckles elevated.
With the tip of the knife blade straight down on the board, carefully slice across sticks at regular intervals.
Rotate the ingredient pieces 90 degrees.
Repeat the slicing motion across cuts to achieve even dice.

It may help beginners to visualize a grid pattern when dicing. This method delivers perfect dice every time.

Mince

Minced ingredients like garlic, herbs, and shallots infuse dishes with flavor. Here’s how to mince like a master:

Prepare the ingredients by peeling, trimming, etc.
Slice thinly to start. The thinner the slices, the finer the mince will be.
Line up slices and anchor them securely with a claw grip.
Rock chop slices into very fine pieces. Be sure the tip stays on the board.
Rotate and reposition ingredients as needed to achieve an even mince texture.

Repeat the chopping motion until pieces are minced to personal preference.

Chiffonade

This classic French knife cut turns leafy herbs and vegetables into thin strips perfect for garnish or soups. Try it with these steps:

Stack washed leaves evenly on top of each other.
Carefully roll the stacked leaves tightly lengthwise.
Anchor the rolled leaves at top with your hand claws.
With the knife tip anchored and angled downward, thinly slice across roll.
The slices will unfurl into delicate ribbons.

Use this chiffonade technique to beautifully cut basil, mint, spinach leaves, or butter lettuce.

Devein Shrimp

Preparing shrimp before cooking often involves removing the thin digestive vein along the back. Here’s a simple method:

Peel raw jumbo shrimp, leaving the tail intact if desired.
Grip peeled shrimp in your hand claws with the back curve facing up.
Run the paring knife tip firmly along the back of the shrimp to reveal a vein.
Use the knife tip to lift and remove the vein.
Rinse cleaned shrimp and pat dry.

Repeat until all shrimp are deveined and ready for cooking as desired.

Hone with a Steel Rod

Using a knife steel correctly between cuts realigns molecules along the blade edge for renewed sharpness. Here’s how to hone:

Grip the knife handle firmly and angle the tip up slightly. Position the steel rod at a 20-degree angle.
Apply gentle pressure as you smoothly glide the knife down the rod from base to tip.
Repeat 5-10 times on the first side, then flip and repeat on the other side.
Carefully wipe and return the knife to the cutting board or sheath.

By learning these fundamental knife techniques and integrating them into your food prep, you’ll work more confidently, efficiently, and safely in the kitchen. With practice, they’ll become second nature when chopping veggies for soups or dicing meats for stir fry.Please visit Sakuto Knives official website see more quality knives.

Remember to start slow, focus on proper knife grips and the positioning of hands and ingredients. Your speed and accuracy will steadily improve. Soon you’ll be prepping like the pros!