How to Cut Using a Chef's Knife

This lesson mentions julienne, chiffonade et al., but it does not show examples of how these cuts are made? Will they be covered in a different lesson?

Hi Austin, there are Drilldowns that show you how to do these.
This is one for chiffonade:
http://rouxbe.com/drilldowns/93

This one is for Julienne:
http://rouxbe.com/drilldowns/161

Good Luck!

Just had one of our members go out and buy a new knife and one thing I wanted to mention is that it is very common to get a few nicks or cuts when first starting to use a new knife.

The reason is that most are used to applying completely different pressure with their old dull knives. Then they go out and buy a new knife and they don't have to really apply much pressure at all, or any. That's when you get nicks easily if you are not adhering to the knife cutting fundamentals:

I was telling Joe how I got a new Global Chef's knife for my birthday ( I had to put some pressure to get that gift). And I got a quick nick. So...I'm watching those knife fundamentals again. :)

is there a printable overview of these lesons?

Hi Corey,

This feature is not available at this time. We're working on many site improvements and this will be available some time down the line.

Happy Cooking!

Hi guys. So I got my new knife (Calphalon Katana Series, 7-inch Santoku), picked up some carrots and celery, and started practicing my rolling technique. What I found was my rolling began to rotate the blade clockwise. I felt myself rotating around the cutting board to keep a consistent rhythm ... Like the tip of the knife was staying in the same spot. Need some advice on how to get the knife to move to the side (toward the guide hand) with each new cut without losing contact with the cutting board. Any thoughts?

Hi Justin. One suggestion I have for you is to think about applying some lateral (sideways) pressure to the knife when rolling. It's not just the up and down rolling motion, but also a slight sideways pressure. As you draw back your guide fingers, think about keep the knife against them. Try this without cutting any ingredient and don't forget to maintain the rolling motion at all times (kind of like turning the wheel of a car without power steering - it's easier to turn the wheels if you are moving - if this makes sense). Also, only apply downward pressure on the downstroke. This will free the knife from the board on the up stroke to follow your guide hand.

Keep practicing. It will soon become second nature.

I am getting the knife skills worked out, but was wondering what the best type of cutting surface would be, both for longevity and to be good to my knives. The videos show a white surface, but I thought that just might be because it is easier to see. I have a thick bamboo board, but it seems a little small to me. Any suggestions?

We like the thick white large cutting boards. Here is another forum thread that was already started on this subject. There you will be able to read what others think as well. Cheers!

Hey there. I was wondering if you had any tips on keeping onions more or less whole while performing the vertical and horizontal cuts? As I extract my knife from the horizontal cuts, about a third of the onion seems to stick the the blade. I end up cutting off the section that disintegrated because it won't look good when diced and I end up wasting quite a bit of the onion. It seemed to just work flawlessly for you guys in the video so maybe it's just me...

I noticed you're using a Granton knife in the video, maybe that helps. My knife is forged and I've read some complaints that the wedge shape formed by forged blades interferes with slicing some ingredients -- and why many chefs prefer the Mac knives. I don't know...

I have not heard that forged knives contribute to ingredients falling apart. We may have used a Granton knife in the video but any sharp chef's knife would do that same thing. Why your onions are falling apart I am not sure. Perhaps your knife is not sharp enough? Could this be the case?

As for chefs preferring Mac knives, I think that's just a matter of taste and personal opinion. You have to just shop around and try out different knives. It's sort of like the 3 bears...when you find the right one it will fit "just right". Cheers!

It could definitely be that the knife isn't sharp enough. I've been honing it but it has never actually been sharpened. It still passes the paper test quite easily but I guess I'll go off and get some whetstones and try my hand at sharpening. Thanks for the response. (Love the site, BTW. Keep up the good work!)

So are there any pro tips for avoiding the burning of the eyes that happens when I slice the onions?

There seem to many tips out there for how to cut an onion without tears or crying; however I don't know too many professional cooks that really use any of the tips or tricks. I think this is mostly because they don't seem to work very well or they require too much thought and/or set up. Besides I couldn't imagine a chef chopping onions while wearing a pair of those "onion goggles" :-)

The one thing that is important is a sharp knife as this helps to prevent crushing the cells of the onion as you chop, which is what produces the gases that make us cry (in my case, "like a baby").

If you want to give some of tricks or tips a try here are a few I have heard over the years. Chill the onions, cut the onions near a draft or vent, cut the onions under water (WHAT?...seems weird and dangerous to me), breathe only through your mouth, put vinegar on your cutting board (ah, what if you don't want the taste of vinegar in your food?), soak the onion, light a candle and keep it next to your cutting board (how romantic), chew gum or bread as you chop, stand on one foot while chopping (okay I made that one up ;-)

Anyways you can see there are many many "ideas"...I say don't worry too much about it, just use a sharp knife. At least you are a man and you don't have to worry about your mascara running. Cheers!

I am having trouble using the rolling technique both on wood and plastic (polypropylene) cutting boards. The previous chef's knives I own have no problem, but the knife I recently bought does not "roll" very well at all. (But it is the sharpest knife I've ever owned - a Victorinox) Up and down cutting is a breeze, but I can't get comfortable with rolling the knife as the blade simply grips the board too tightly, almost as if it's cutting a groove in the board. To perform a smooth rolling technique is a chore as the blade sticks through the entire motion, and I feel that I am ruining the sharp edge when I do. Any suggestions?

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I understand what you are saying. New knives can be so sharp that they tend to grip the board somewhat. It takes time to adjust to a new knife. Lighten up on the pressure. If your knife is that sharp, you won't need to apply much force - even with the rolling technique. The edge will wear a bit as you use it and you won't feel it as much (but make sure to keep it sharp by honing it). Keep us posted on your progress. Cheers!

My parents bought me a brand new Wusthof for my birthday and I had the same issue, the knife seemed to just almost slice right into the board (also brand new bday present :)).

It turned out that I was just pressing down on it way too much. Now I hardly put pressure on it at all, the knife almost fall through the ingredients. Try it, it'll make you much faster with the knife too.

Next purchase: a whetstone, so you can get your other knives as sharp as the new one :)

Oddly the thing I've found works every time, even after I've already been hit by the onion-fume-beast, is to eat a piece of the onion. Maybe it's psychological but every time I eat a piece of the onion I get a pretty high level of protection from the fumes. It's not perfect, 100% protection but I'd say it definitely reduces the pain/annoyance by at least 75%. Works every time.

Hmmm.. onion breath or tears? I'll take the tears and keep the good breath... the girls will just think you're a sensitive guy, and you'll still be kissable!

A good thing is to lay the cut onion halves with their cut side facing the cutting board. This reduces the tears alot .. also a sharp knife really helps

Interesting thing. I live on a tiny island in the Pacific called Yap. Surprisingly, there are very few fresh vegetables available here... although onions always seem to be plentiful. So, I use onions in almost everything, and frequently make French Onion Soup. It was only a few weeks ago that I noticed that I can slice and dice a dozen onions at a time, and not a tear is shed, yet any visitors in the house will by tearing-up profusely! I used to have an awful time, but lately I have no problem at all. Old age??

I just thought of it a while back. Was funny how my mom doesn't want me to use the new honing steel (lol) then I suddenly thought, how about if I keep the blade sharp by 'honing' it directly on the whetstone instead? Like maybe 2 or 3 times per side? Or should knives strictly be maintained by a honing steel? hmm...

We recommend that you use the honing steel regularly to keep your knife sharp as it is the quickest and most efficient. Whetstones are meant to work the edge. They are not meant for honing. Cheers!

Very well then, I'll snatch the honing steel from it's sealed container. Thanks for clearing that up. My dad also said, the whetstone cut's away more steel from the knife than the honing steel so better use the honing steel if I don't want to loose my knife :)

Since onions have natural layers, is it necessary to first slice them in the horizontal plane before chopping as shown in the lesson in section 7? I have seen many chefs do this on TV and have always wondered if needed.

It all depends on how you are using the onions and how fine of a dice you like. Test this out for yourself. Cut one like you describe and one as shown in the video and compare the difference. The technique we show is taught in culinary schools and is one of the fastest methods for processing onions in even pieces. In the end, it's up to you and what you are cooking. Cheers!

I have a nice knife set,but after watching the videos here so far I see I need to get them sharpenend and buy a steel. Where is the best places to get them done right?
And thank you CCA for giving me the chance to test out this cooking school.

The quiz poses the following question:

When slicing long, round ingredients, it’s often easier to first cut the ingredient into smaller sections for more stability.

Which I missed, and now question the use of the word stability in the question.

If I have a watermelon and cut it in half, it is still just as unstable as it was when whole; same goes for a cucumber.

I am not sure I would agree that a short round cucumber is any more stable than a long round cucumber. (I might even venture to say that the opposite is actually true: The shorter it gets the more unstable it becomes!?)

The video doesn't imply that making it shorter makes it more stable, only that it is easier to handle, and can then be made to be more stable by slicing a flat surface on one side, (making it to where it is no onger round, but is now stable).

Please elaborate on your thoughts about stability (for long round objects) from experience, to a newbie knife handler.

Is it really any safer to cut a cumcumber in half before slicing?

A chef always looks at easier ways to handle food. You have hit it on the nail when mentioning slicing a flat surface on one side so the food can lie flat without rolling. Also, it is in fact easier to cut watermelon in half first, lie it on its cut side, then proceed to cut into slices. A cucumber may not be the best example, but a long curved cucumber, or tapering stalk of celery, or even carrot for that matter, may be easier for cutting if first broken down into sections. Remember, are are cuts more complex than simply cutting round food into rounds. Carrot julienne or brunoise requires cutting first the long carrot into sections. As a admitted newbie knife handler, your own experience will eventually tell you when breaking a food into smaller units will make the job easier. Having made hundreds of thousands of slices into food all my life, you instinctively adopt whatever technique makes the job easier. Stabilizing your food, using whatever means, is wise and safe.

What a great lesson! I still have leftover cabbage in the fridge from our St. Patrick's Day corned beef meal. I will start practicing by making the Sauteed Cabbage recipe in the "practice" section.

I have a suggestion to make. I think it would be great if there's a "I made it" button or check box for the recipes. Then when a student marks the recipe as "made", it will link the made recipe list back to the profile page (so maybe a new section on the profile page for "recipe I made"?). In that way, student can keep track of recipes they tried. Also it's rewarding (and a bit of show off haha....) to see how many recipes one can make. I would love to see this feature on Rouxbe very much! Thank you!!

Thanks for the idea Eileen; we will certainly keep this in mind as it a good one. Cheers!

I am very sensitive to onion fumes-used to hate them as a kid. I have a small (6 inch) battery operated fan that I keep in the kitchen just for cutting onions. I line it up with the cutting board, switch it on, and viola; no more tears! Hope it helps!

After seeing this it has given me a better way to cut onions and as made me believe that i can do anything. It really helped me out a lot.
Thank you
Angel Adams

Now that my computer is cooperating, I finished my lesson on cutting techniques. Great lesson! I have a party coming up and I will be slicing and dicing lots of fruits and veggies so I will have plenty of practice to hone my skills!!!

Amanda R - thanks for the tip on cutting onions! I will try that next time!

I was sold a MAC chef's knife by a traveling knife sharpening/sales person in my town. He says that it is a favorite of local chefs, and I do love it. He also told me that it will never need sharpening- just honing. Would you say that is true? Can I not worry about sharpening? If it is better to sharpen it, am I still better to do it myself with the whetsones than have him do it?
Thanks!

According to the MAC website it says that their knives "stay sharper longer", which to me would mean that they still need to be sharpened. In fact, their website sells stones for this purpose.

I think that perhaps the traveling sales person was just telling you what he thought customers wanted to hear in order to sell the knife. So, as for sharpening, I would say yes it will still need to be sharpened. Cheers!

To me, learning knife skills made all the difference in the kitchen. Now, prepping for cooking is faster and enjoyable, not to mention that my eating is healthier since cutting veggies has become fun. Thanks for dissecting the how-to knife skills.

I have ongoing discussions with other chefs about the proper way to hold a chef knife....is there more than just one way...I was taught to stabilize the knife just below the handle...onto the blade using thumb and index finger...I use a Global Knife....what do you think?

Jo: It all comes down to personal preference and the balance of the knife. For instance, I like to hold my knife on the handle rather than choking the blade so I use a Wusthof Ikon chefs knife because its balance point is about 1/2" into the handle.

On the other hand, the Wusthof classic has its balance point at the bolster and works well for those who prefer to hold the knife closer to the action.

Thanks Leigh....that makes sense....with the Global I feel a little more in control of the blade if I hold it lower.

I personally prefer the "pinch grip" where you pinch the blade between thumb and index finger.

In my opinion I have way more control over the knife this way.

Just try to rotate the blade with the other hand when using the pinch grip and do the same while just holding the handle. If you really want to see a difference try it again with a moist hand (e.g. from washing vegetables, etc :)

I have been handling a chef's knife for quite a while and feel very confident and safe with them. I also keep my knives razor sharp. The one area that I feel vunerable to getting cut is when making the horizontal cut on onion halves before fine dicing. Any Suggestions?

Yes, that is fairly common, because it goes against common sense having your fingers in the way of your knife.
It reminds me of sewing by hand, when you push that needle through the cloth and it has to poke though just beside your thumb if not you poke yourself...it is a matter of doing it again and again so you have full control of where and how far your knife will go, for my students that cut takes a lot of practice but they all eventually get it.
You may want to try doing the horizontal cuts first while the onion is one solid half, this should help.
Everything that is difficult in life becomes simple once we know how to do it, remenber cycling?
And yes I can sew by hand!!

Due to a bad knife incident that involved carving a pumpkin and almost losing a finger, I promised myself to never deliberately point the sharp end of a knife at myself, no matter how careful I feel I am.

What I do is hold my hand flat on top of the onion, with my thumb curled up, so that the knife is never pointed directly at my fingers.There's some extra pressure that makes it a little more difficult to cut into the onion, but this way there is absolutely no chance for me to cut my hand. I go very slowly with the horizontal cuts, very carefully. This would probably be frowned upon in a professional kitchen (Dawn can probably cut 4 times as many onions), but for a home cook that's probably alright.

Christophe is right, doing the horizontal cuts first helps a lot. Also make sure you are using a little sawing motion to move the blade smoothly through the onion.

Making sure your fingers are above the knife as Daniel suggeste will not hurt either ;)

I seldom cry when cutting onions. I figured this out years ago while I was still a teenager: The secret is to slice through the onion as opposed to chopping it. That way you avoid releasing whatever it is (juice I believe) that makes you cry. I've used this method for decades and rarely cry. Hope this is helpful to someone.