I was at the food section on sfgate.com when I came across a video showing how to cut an onion. Curious on what their method was I clicked on the link. As this woman was cutting the onion I noticed she was holding the knife improperly. To me I didn’t think that was the best way to cut an onion. On top of that she didn’t position her other hand to hold on to the onion. She could have potentially sliced her fingers.
I am not going to claim that there is one exact way to cutting and all the other ways are wrong, but I will show you the benefits how holding a knife the proper way versus the others. I will you how to position your other hand so you won’t have any more cuts on your fingers.
The Index Finger Grip – I see a good amount of people using this grip. And with most of them I notice they tend to use this sawing action to cut. This grip would be good if you’re sitting at dinner cutting at your steak, but with chopping and prepping your foods it would take a lot more effort than needed. By sticking out the index finger, more strain is placed on the wrist and you limit your strength. That is why people tend to saw at the food to compensate for the loss of strength. Not only do you lose strength, but you do no have side to side control. Say you are cutting something larger like a watermelon and you push down with all your might to cut through it. Since most knives have a smooth handle and there is nothing stopping the blade from going left or right , the blade can turn on you and could potentially cut your other hand or harm. I’m not trying to scare anyone, but this could and probably happened before.
The Full Handle Grip
This is another grip that I also see people using and this was the grip was used by the woman in the onion video. This grip is better than the finger index grip since you have more power. The downside that I see with this grip is the side to side action control. If your hands were wet or oily and was holding an all metal knife like the one pictured you will not be able to control the side to side movement.
The Proper Grip
By just moving up your grip towards the blade you have accomplished the proper grip. With your thumb and index finger pinching the base of the blade you will the have side to side control (even with wet or oily hands). You will be able to maximize your strength without the worry of slipping and cutting yourself.
With the knife grip shown, I show you how to position your other hand to minimize other potential cuts. In this section, I will say there is a wrong way and a right way to position your hand.
The Wrong Way
Some people tend to forget when chopping or prepping that you need to watch out for your other hand especially when you are in a rush. Having your fingers extended out you could potentially nip the tips of your fingers.
The Right Way
Instead of extending out your fingers, make your hand like a tiger claw. You will notice that the furthest parts of your fingers that is sticking out are your knuckles. Your knuckles will also act as a guide for your knife. Make sure that the blade of the knife does not go higher than the your knuckles and you should be fine.
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