Food & Drink

Knife Skills for Home Cooks

Cut faster, safer, and more evenly with one good chef's knife and a handful of reliable techniques.

This course is for members

$9 unlocks every course in the library, this one included, plus a credit to build a topic of your own and at least 10 new courses every month.

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What you will learn about Knife Skills for Home Cooks

The 7-day sprint
  1. Grip, Guide Hand, and Stance. Control comes from pinching the blade with your cutting hand and curling your other hand into a claw so your knuckles, not your fingertips, meet the blade.
  2. A Sharp Knife Is a Safe Knife. A sharp edge slides into food with almost no downward pressure, while a dull one requires force that makes the blade skid off skins and toward your hand.
  3. The Rock Chop and the Push Cut. A knife cuts by traveling along its length, so every good motion moves the blade forward or backward as it goes down, rather than pressing straight into the board.
  4. Flat Surface First. Nothing round is safe to cut, so your first move on any vegetable is to create a flat face and set the food on it.
  5. Onions, Garlic, and Herbs. Aromatics have internal structure, and cutting with or across that structure is what makes the difference between a neat dice and a pile of slippery shards.
  6. Uniformity, Board Management, and Speed. Even pieces cook evenly, and speed is a by-product of consistent motion and an organized board rather than a goal you chase directly.
  7. Beyond the Board: Breaking Things Down. The same grip and slicing motion apply to curved, slippery, and boned foods once you learn to cut along seams and joints rather than through them.
The 80/20: the 7 concepts that matter most
  • Sharpness Is the Foundation
  • Pinch Grip and Claw Hand
  • Make a Flat Surface Before You Cut
  • Slide, Don't Chop
  • Uniformity Beats Speed
  • Three Knives Do Almost Everything
  • Set Up the Board, Then Keep It Clear
The core idea, explained like you are 5

A knife cuts by pressing an extremely thin edge into food while the blade travels sideways, and your control over that combination of pressure and travel is the entire skill.

Then the quiz and the ladder

10 questions that correct you when you are wrong, and beginner, intermediate, advanced levels, each with a practical exercise.