Knife technique and cutting skills
How to choose, maintain, and care for your most important tool
The knife is the chef's most personal tool. A skilled gastronomer spends hours every day cutting butchering and fine-tuning and how you hold and use the knife determines both speed safety and the quality of the finished result. Good craftsmanship with the knife is not innate talent — it is a technique built up through thousands of repetitions.
§The most important knife types in the kitchen
- 01Chef's knife — the all-rounder for most tasks: chopping cutting butchering vegetables.
- 02Boning knife — narrow and flexible blade to follow bone and tendons closely.
- 03Fillet knife — thin and flexible, used to remove fish fillets from skin and bone.
- 04Peeling knife — small knife for finer work, peeling and cutting of garnishes.
- 05Bread knife — serrated blade that cuts crust without squashing the crumb.
§The grip — pincer grip and claw grip
The professional grip on the knife is called the pinch grip: thumb and index finger grip the blade just in front of the handle while the other fingers close around the handle. It gives far more control and precision than holding the entire hand around the handle. The hand holding the raw material uses the claw grip — the fingertips are bent in like claws so the knuckles point forward and function as a guide for the knife side. This means the blade never meets a fingertip even if the hand moves.
§The classic cuts
| Average | Approximate size | Typical use |
|---|---|---|
| Brunoise | 2 × 2 × 2 mm cubes | Finely chopped garnish, consommé |
| Macédoine | 5 × 5 × 5 mm cubes | Vegetable mix, salads |
| Julienne | Thin rods, approx. 3 × 3 × 40 mm | Wok, garnish, salad |
| Paysanne | Thin, flat pieces | Soup the Farmer's Way |
| Chiffonade | Thin strips of leaves | Herb and leaf vegetables |
§Keeping the knife sharp
En kniv mister sin skarphed gradvist ved brug, fordi æggen bøjer mikroskopisk til siden. Et brynestål retter ikke kniven op ved at slibe stål af, men ved at rette æggen tilbage på linje — det bør gøres jævnligt, gerne før hver arbejdsopgave. Når stålet ikke længere kan rette æggen op, skal kniven slibes på en slibesten eller med en slibemaskine, typisk i en vinkel på 15–20 grader afhængigt af knivtype. Japanske knive slibes ofte i en skarpere, mere ensidig vinkel end europæiske.
§Storage and maintenance
- 01Wash the knife immediately after use and wipe it dry — never put it in a sink full of water where it is hidden from the next pair of hands.
- 02Store knives in a knife roll, magnetic stand or block — never loose in a drawer where the edge is damaged and hands can get pinched.
- 03Use a cutting board made of plastic or wood — never stone or glass, which dulls the blade within seconds.
- 04Separate private knives from shared kitchen ones, and maintain them personally.
“A sharp knife is not a luxury — it is safety equipment.”
— Kitchen master principle