How to Hold a Knife - Properly Using a Chef's Knife

You know, working with a professional chef knife can be a daunting task, but if done properly and you develop good technique, you can work with it for hours without fatigue. Well, a lot of that has to do with the way you handle the knife and your grip. So I want to show you a couple different ways to grip the knife. Now, one way is with your thumb over the bolster. Okay, not common, but it's acceptable. Another way is holding onto the handle. The next is to choke up one finger and just grip the knife. And then some people will even choke up two fingers. These are all acceptable. They just have to be comfortable to you. What's not acceptable is this. This is not stable. So you'll see a lot of people put their finger on the knife. It's not stable. The other problem is the strength in your arm ends up stressing the tendons in the back of your hands. So when you're cutting initially, it won't hurt. But if you're doing it for hours, all of a sudden, you're going to notice a lot of wrist fatigue and hand fatigue. And this might be something that turns into carpal tunnel syndrome further down the road. So practice your grip. Find one that's comfortable. Then the cutting motion. I want to make a circular motion. So notice that my knife is never leaving the board. It's just making a nice circle. Now, when a chef cuts something, they use this hand as the guide hand to hold it. The positioning of this hand is crucial. I want to make sure that my fingers are rolled back and that my hand doesn't spread out. All right, it's stuck in that position. So as I cut, I actually move my hand backward and I develop a rhythm. This is key. Remember, my fingertips, if they're not sticking out, if I can't see them, I can't cut them.