Why is it important to hold your knife properly?
Before tackling the practical aspects, let's start by understanding why it is important to hold your knife properly.
efficiency
Holding your kitchen knife properly will give you more strength and stability to make controlled, faster cuts . Who would have thought that holding your Knife well would give you more time to scroll on Instagram . Moreover, we invite you to follow us there if you haven't already done so. You will see, we split the pear well.
Security
Holding your knife well also has another huge benefit, which is to reduce the risk of injury to yourself . This prevents the blade from slipping and nicking or cutting your finger. Much more convenient for scrolling.
Now that you know that, you have no more excuses of “lazy” or “my circus technique” still works. Let's get to practice.
Some tips for an ideal grip of your knife:
For total efficiency, we invite you to bring your best knife before moving on. It will be more efficient to follow the tutorial.
The best technique for handling your knife: the pliers technique
There are two techniques for holding your knife: the Hammer grip and the Pliers grip. Personally, we prefer the pliers technique which quickly allows you to gain in precision and speed. So this is what we're going to see together.
Step 1 :
Start by wrapping your lower three fingers of the hand holding the knife around the handle.
2nd step :
Then pinch the blade using your thumb and index finger.
For comic book fans, we have even concocted two diagrams for you to get an idea:


And in real life, this is what it looks like:

At first, it is very likely that this position bothers you. But it's normal, because it's not natural. But you will get used to it. The more you try, the more dexterity you will gain.
The positioning of the second hand holding the food to be cut: the Claw technique.
Now that you know how to hold your knife, let's move on to the hand that holds your food.
It is the one that guides the knife and that will allow you in particular:
- Speed up your cuts
- Control the thickness of your slices
For this hand, we use the Claw technique : place your three middle fingers on your food to hold it in position.
Keep those three fingers bent so that your knuckles lock the blade and protect your fingers from being cut, at least when your blade stays straight.
That's what happens :


Keep your knife in contact with its cutting support
Don't think that by the end of reading this article, you'll look like Etchebest in the kitchen. Everything in its time. Above all, remember to maintain the position of your fingers, whether on the food or on the knife. Speed will come with repetition.
Stay focused on your movement: a false movement and a finger cut can happen quickly, especially if your knives are blunt. It is also important to have well -maintained and sharp knives. We can never tell you enough.
You know everything ! All you have to do is practice mastering these techniques to cut your food with dexterity!
To your stoves!
PS: Little surprise from the chef!
You are already more than 3000 to follow us on Instagram. (If you don't, there's always time to do it right here .)
A huge thank you! It warms our hearts to see that there is always more of us wanting to break the codes in the kitchen and simply have fun.
For the occasion, we offer you -15% on your order, with no minimum purchase with the code ATMA3000 . It's valid all weekend, until Sunday evening, 11:59 p.m.
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