5 Best Methods for Hold a Knife When Cutting Food

As different knives have different uses, ways of holding and cutting can give full play to the performance of them.

1. Pressing Grip Method

Applicable knives: Chef knife, Santoku knife, Paring knife, Slicing Knife, Utility knife
The pressing grip method is usually in three cutting techniques: stabbing, chopping, and pressing.
Push cut: This way is applicable to hard and thick vegetables, roots and fruits, such as potatoes, which require a little force to push the knife a little forward down into the vegetables.
Rock chop: It is used for fine cutting of vegetables, e.g. cutting shallot pieces, where the knife moves down the front, but withdraws to the former position once it touches the cutting board; which are faster and repetitive motions, of which the essential is smooth using of the knife.
Pull cut: It is applicable to the relatively soft foods, such as tofu, where it does, but the weight of the knife itself, in a way that the knife falls straightforward.

Applicable knives: Utility knife and paring knife
The peeling grip method is only used to peel fruits.
Grip the knife with the right hand as shown in the figure with the blade inward, and the edge toward the left hand. During peeling, the left-hand holds the fruit, the right-hand holds the knife, and the knife is moved along the direction of peeling.

Applicable knives: Chopper, boning knife, food knife, small food knife, slicing knife, Western kitchen knife, and frozen meat knife.
The holding grip method is in three manners, pressing slicing, fine slicing, and chopping slicing.
Pressing slicing cut: It is applicable meat, such as fish of soft bones, and thinner foodstuff, such as seaweeds. With the knife in the hand and the tip on the cutting board as a fulcrum, press down the blade quickly to cut.
Fine slicing cut: It is used to cut the ingredients into fine pieces. The hand that holds the knife handle and the hand on the knife back exert force alternately to make the curve blade rock, which moves at one end when it goes up; through the hand, rocking left and right, the blade goes on the foodstuff back and forth, which then is cut into pieces.
Chopping slicing cut: It is mainly used for chopping large bones, such as pork chops and chickens. Wave the hand with the knife up and down to chop at the tail part of the blade by virtue of the knife’s weight. If a thin knife is used in this way, the blade will rollover. Therefore, please be sure to use thick knives such as butchers and bone cutting knives.

Applicable knives: Utility Knife and paring knife.
The carving grip method is only used for carving cuts.
It is a method to use a small knife for fine work. The knife is held as a carving tool in small moves, which is very effective in artistic processing.

Applicable knives: Slicing knife, Chef knife.
Finger-pressing grip manner is only used for slicing and cutting.
Both slicing and peeling manners are used to cut the foodstuff with the total length of the blade. They are mainly used for slicing large pieces of fish or meat into slices or pieces. With the tail of the blade against the food, pull the blade from the tail to the tip direction, so that the whole knife cuts to the tip in the manner of arc drawing towards the tail, where the innermost part of the food is cut off by the tip. This way is good for cutting the turkey.

Learn the above 5 ways to hold a knife to make your cooking easier.