Knife Skills

Most of the time spent preparing a meal is spent with a knife, and a few habits make it quicker, neater and a great deal safer.

A steady board

Put a damp cloth or a sheet of damp kitchen paper under the chopping board so it cannot slide. A board that moves is how most cuts happen.

Give round things a flat side before cutting them: halve an onion, take a thin slice off a carrot or a potato, and lay it on that face.

Holding the knife

Pinch the blade just in front of the handle between your thumb and the side of your forefinger, and wrap the other fingers round the handle. It feels odd at first, but it gives far more control than holding the handle alone.

Let the knife do the work. Cut with a forward or backward slicing stroke rather than pressing straight down; the tip stays on the board and the heel rises and falls.

Guarding your fingers

For slicing and chopping, curl the fingers of your other hand into a claw, fingertips tucked back, and rest the flat of the blade against your knuckles. The knuckles guide the knife and the fingertips stay out of the way.

For halving something round, use the bridge: hold it with your thumb on one side and fingers on the other, making an arch, and cut down through the gap.

Dicing an onion

Halve the onion from root to tip and peel it, leaving the root on: it holds the layers together. Lay a half flat and make cuts from near the root to the tip, close together for fine dice.

A horizontal cut or two towards the root is optional; the onion's own layers do most of that job. Then cut across, and the dice fall away until only the root is left.

Tears come from compounds released when the cells are crushed. A sharp knife crushes fewer of them, and a chilled onion releases less.

Keeping an edge

A blunt knife is the dangerous one: it slips off a tomato's skin instead of biting into it. Run the knife over a honing steel a few times before each use to straighten the edge, and have it properly sharpened once or twice a year.

Cut on wood or plastic, never on glass, stone or a plate. Wash good knives by hand and dry them at once; a dishwasher dulls and chips them.

Use the back of the knife, not the edge, to scrape chopped food across the board.