There is a pervasive assumption in society that everybody who has a kitchen knows how to use their knives. It’s dangerous in the literal sense, since you can hurt yourself if you don’t have proper knife technique. More importantly, your kitchen chores of chopping and slicing are vastly more difficult if you don’t know what you’re doing. I’ll freely admit that I was a weird kid: I loved to watch The French Chef with Julia Child during my formative years. Most of my knife techniques were learned from her and then honed at my grandmother’s shoulder. I distinctly remember her pointing a paring knife at me to make a point on more than one occasion. She definitely got my attention!
But not everybody is going to watch Julia Child or even search Youtube for videos on how to use their knives. It feels dumb…we should know how to do this stuff without being shown. Yet using a knife properly is far from intuitive. That’s the point of this post, to give you a taste of the three techniques that you’re going to need in the kitchen and a quick primer on how to use them properly.
The Three Techniques
There are tons of websites that present an array of knife skills. If you want to be reminded that you’re a provincial noob, search the internet for proper knife techniques. You’ll be assaulted by a huge number of French-derived articles that practically stick their noses right out at you! Talk about a bunch of snooty so-and-so’s! Unfortunately, it’s my opinion that cooking professionals have a tendency to mix the results of their knife techniques with the methods of the techniques. Hence a Batonnet isn’t really a technique, rather a result. If you don’t know what a Batonnet is, don’t worry. It’s just a pretentious term for stick. A straight French Fry, when cut, is a Batonnet. Don’t we sound fancy🇫🇷!
So rather than present you with the eighteen different methods most French-inspired chefs discuss, I’ve broken knife techniques into three categories:
- Chopping
- Slicing
- Rock-Chopping
Quite honestly, a raw onion is the best way to practice each of these techniques. So peel your onion and cut it in half. Then lay the flat side on the cutting board. Now let’s take a look at the three techniques…
Chopping
Chopping is the most basic technique, and one that my 4 year-old grandson has already come close to mastering. Essentially, chopping is a single, downward motion with your knife. You just push the knife through whatever your trying to chop and whack off a piece.
Grab your knife and hold it over the onion. Now push it downwards, evenly through the onion. If it helps to put your other hand on top of the blade to distribute the pressure, go for it. There are no judges here. Just a bunch of folks trying to get things done.
Chopping usually aims to get small chunks of whatever your prepping, so for the onion, once you’ve chopped it one direction, rotate it a half-turn and chop it again. That will get you the small pieces you’re looking for.
The key with chopping is that you’re using a single downward motion that uses pressure to make the cut.
Slicing
Slicing is different, in the sense that there is a drawing motion involved.
With knife in hand, put the tip on the cutting board above the onion.  While keeping the tip in contact with the cutting board, pull the knife towards you and through the onion. With slicing you can control how thick or thin you want the slices. Just remember to keep your knife tip in contact with the board so you’re sure to cut all the way through the onion. Jacques PĂ©pin has an interesting video that talks about how to control the thickness of the slices. While he’s definitely on the pretentious side at times, it’s still good information.
To be honest, I learned to do what’s called a back-slice. That is, my grandmother taught me to slice with the back of the knife in a motion that pushes away from my body. The tip of the blade isn’t in contact with the board. The biggest drawback is it’s harder to control the knife, and the slices have a tendency to be uneven. Plus it takes a lot more arm strength…which isn’t something I have in abundance. After watching some of the videos I started to do use the traditional slice and found I was doing a much better job. It just goes to show you that even I didn’t know how to properly use my knives!
Rock-Chopping
The first time I heard this, being from Kansas and surrounded by Jayhawk fans from the University of Kansas, I thought they were saying Rock Chalk. I was so confused, but it wasn’t the first time and it certainly won’t be the last.
Frankly, the rock-chop is my favorite technique, and I probably use it far more than I should. It might be because my slicing skills were poorly learned. Or maybe this is just a cool technique. It doesn’t hurt that it’s a bit noisy and always gets people’s attention if they’re in the kitchen with me. Yeah, I’m a bit of a showoff!
Position your knife with the tip on the cutting board and the blade hovering over the onion. Now press the handle of the knife downwards without losing contact with the cutting board at the tip. Finally, rock the the knife upwards again so it’s above the onion.
Instead of moving your knife to make the next chop, slide the onion sideways so it’s under the blade. Now rock the blade downwards and upwards. Then repeat. When you get good you can rock-chop a veggie in nothing flat. Plus it makes that really satisfying chopping sound that gets praise from your kids and family!
Wrap-Up
That’s it…the three ways to properly use your kitchen knives. It’s really not all that hard, but it’s something that I certainly didn’t learn in any structured way. Unfortunately, the Hectic Kids have been hit-and-miss as to their desire to learn anything in the kitchen…at least until they got out on their own. Now I get calls all the time about how to do this, that, or the other. I guess I should probably have a Knife Technique 101 class at our next family gathering. I’m sure they’d love it!
If you are in the mood for some more info on proper knife technique, here are a couple resources that I found really helpful:
The bottom line is you’re going to be cutting a lot of food in your kitchen. Since it’s something you have to do every day, it’s a great idea to learn how to do it properly. Honestly, good knife technique is one of the best ways to make it a great day in the kitchen!