Using a knife is not easy, and not everyone can do it with ease. You need to master the art of using a knife before you can start using one professionally. Even if you are using a knife at home, you need to make sure that you have enough skills to use it, or else you can cause some severe damage to yourself.

Different types of knives are available, including the butcher knife, the pocket knife, the butter knife, the boning knife, and others. All these knives are different from each other and have various functions altogether. However, the style, skill, and technique required to use all of them are still the same. It’s just like the driving skills you acquire for driving a car. Once you have got the skill, you can drive any car in the world. We will now take you through some of the basic skills that you need to know about using a knife in a basic way.

How to Hold a Knife

Before starting off, you need to learn your basic rights. The foremost rule of using a knife is how to hold it. If you know how to grip a knife, the other skill sets required will become a lot easier. Put your thumb and finger on the back of the knife, and the other fingers should be wrapped around the handle. This particular grip will give you more control whenever you are using a knife. It will also maximize the safety of your hands while using a knife.

This particular grip style is typical amongst chefs as cutting anything on the board becomes easier. The main reason is the sharpness of the knife and the strength of your arms, which makes it look easy. However, this particular grip style is totally different from what you see in households. This is the way of gripping a knife properly to cause minimal damage. Another thing is that the fingers should be positioned in a way that it gets impossible for the blade to cut them. And a helping hand is always required to help you in the cutting process.


Chopping Becomes Easier

There are a lot of things that you can do with a knife, and chopping is one of them. When you see it for the first time you will think that it is the most straightforward job in the world to do. But when you try it only then you will know how tricky it is. There are different ways to chop different things. To chop garlic, place the knife blade against the garlic and strike the blade to part the clove. Then you can remove the skin and pile up the pieces of garlic to chop them.

However when you are chopping parsley then the technique is a bit different. First, you need to make sure that they are dry. Then hold the parsley in a bunch and start running your knife at 45-degree angle to trim off the leaves in a pile. Create another pile from the chopped parsley and go for a rough chop again to ensure the parsley is perfectly chopped.

Slicing & Cutting

Making slices or cutting large pieces of any vegetable or fruit depends on the ingredient that is being cut. Usually, chefs prefer to use a sharper knife for this purpose so that they can go through quick downward strokes. So if you are slicing a tomato you can use a utility knife and a serrated knife. You can cut around the core and remove it with the help of the utility knife and then in order to cut equal pieces of the tomato you will require the services of a serrated knife.

If you are slicing an apple, then you can either use a utility knife or you can use a chef knife for this purpose. Place an apple upside down and run the knife through the apple to make two halves of it. pick one half of the apple then cut it into another half and then further the two should be divided into half pieces as well. When you are done you should have eight pieces of apple wedges with you.


Do Have a Knife Drawer

Things become a lot easier if everything is in order and in the correct place. This is why having a knife drawer is recommended because you can keep all your knives in the designated place and there will be no hassle of finding them again and again which will save you time and increase your efficiency. Some of the most important types of knives that everyone should have included:

Utility Knife

Serrated Knife

Chef’s Knife

Boning Knife

Carving Knife