Working with a knife is a game-changer. Clumsy cutting makes everything take longer, messier and exhausting before the pan is even warm, and it can feel overwhelming when you are first learning. But the truth is, you don’t need to get faster or develop complicated skills in order to become more confident with a knife. Practice cutting an onion in half so that the knife glides cleanly, and then practice cutting a carrot or a potato to make sure the pieces are cut the same size as the one next to it when they all land in a pan of vegetables. Good knife skills will change your cooking for the better. It’s not simply a matter of making things look more attractive in the pan; they will cook faster, cook more evenly and taste better when they’re all the same size.
What you need to know is that knife practice is about comfort and control. Don’t worry about speed. Choose a knife and start using it for several practice sessions. Then, pick one vegetable or other ingredient that gives you good visual feedback. A cucumber or carrot, potato, or onion are great candidates. If you’re doing a good job cutting them you won’t notice any bumps, you’ll notice how the knife goes through the vegetable and you’ll see immediately if you’re cutting the piece slightly angled or slightly thicker than the others. Keep the tip of your knife on the cutting board as often as possible. Let the weight of the knife do the work; don’t try to slice through with force. A good practice is to cut all the pieces of a peeled carrot into coins that look about the same size, then line them up and look at them all at once. Your eyes and your hands should become accustomed to working as a team, and this is an easier method for achieving uniform pieces than trying to slice a bunch of pieces quickly and then looking at them to see if you did it right.
One mistake that people make is holding onto the knife with a tight grip. Holding the handle as tightly as possible feels like the safest option but it actually slows you down and tires you. Try instead to hold the knife with only as much force as you need, and let your hands and wrists relax if they feel strained at all. Another common mistake is thinking only about the cutting blade instead of your entire cutting arm motion. A new cook often forgets to position her hand to protect her fingers, which makes the cutting feel more awkward and unpredictable. Tucking your fingers and letting the knife follow along them will help you achieve more consistent cuts. Your cutting hand position will feel uncomfortable at first, but repeated practice will make you feel more comfortable with the move.
If you have fifteen minutes available, you can practice with knives without making a whole meal. Spend the first three minutes getting your cutting board set up so it won’t slide around, finding the position that feels comfortable for your hand, and deciding on one type of ingredient for you to use. Spend the next eight minutes cutting one piece into one type of shape, such as slices, sticks or cubes, only, and don’t switch from one shape to another. After that you will have a few minutes left to pile the pieces together into groups and compare the difference in their size. Then, cook the pieces in a pan or a pot on the stove to observe how they cook in comparison to each other. This last step is important because knife practice makes the most sense when you are practicing it for a meal.
If you’re feeling like you don’t feel like you have the hang of cutting even after many practice sessions, you may not actually lack knife practice. Instead you might just lack focus. Instead of practicing the general notion of knife cutting, narrow down what you are practicing. One day practice cutting the exact same size slices. Another day, practice watching the tip of the knife. Slow down so you can say the cutting motion under your breath: Place, Guide, Slice, and Reset. It may sound silly but this can make for a helpful, rhythmic routine. At the end of each practice session, it can help to take some notes about the session. Make sure to write down anything about your session that you feel went smoother than the previous time, and anything that was still confusing for you.
The more proficient you become in how you cut, the better your kitchen work will feel. Your prep time will be less chaotic, your ingredients will cook better, and your recipes will be easier to follow since you’ve gotten better at the basic steps of cooking. You don’t have to be chopping at restaurant speeds by the first week or turning out perfectly cut cubes from your very first night of practice. You need to be able to cut the same way time after time without feeling afraid. A cutting board, a knife, and a few vegetables are all you need to become more comfortable with knives. Before long you will know the sound of the knife in a good cutting motion, your hands will become more confident, and your pre-dinner prep will feel like more of a routine with every single cut.