12: Using the Chef's Knife Animation Video
Transcript:
Technique: Cutting with the Chef’s Knife
The chef’s knife is the most important knife in the kitchen and all cooks must know how to use one. Learning to use the chef’s knife begins with the correct grip. The dominant hand, or the hand you use for writing, is used to grip the chef’s knife.
First, you grasp the portion of the knife blade just next to the end of the handle with your thumb and forefinger.
Next, wrap your remaining fingers comfortably around the handle.
Once the grip is mastered, it is time to learn about the guiding hand. The guiding hand guides the knife during the cutting process and holds the product that is being cut.
When positioning the guiding hand, the fingertips should be curled under slightly to avoid being cut by the blade.
The thumb and pinkie finger are positioned behind the curled fingers and used to grasp the object being cut.
When the guiding hand is positioned correctly, you are ready to begin cutting. Place the flat side of the chef’s knife against the middle joints of the front fingers of the guiding hand. The knife blade should be resting on the object to be cut.
To cut, a gentle forward and down motion is applied until the entire blade of the chef’s knife is resting on the cutting board and the object has been cut through.
To continue cutting, the back end of the knife is lifted while the tip remains pointing down. The guiding hand slides back to the location of the next cut.
In one unbroken motion, the knife glides smoothly forward as the handle of the knife descends toward the cutting board in a combination of downward and forward motion.
The location of the guiding hand also determines the size of the cut.
A good way to learn the cutting technique is to practice the motion on an imaginary object at first.