Smart Knife Skills: Part 1
You'll be ready for holiday hosting and cooking in no time
This was part of a series I posted on Instagram last summer and fall, but I thought it would be nice to share it here, where it’s searchable. There are three parts to this series. If you master these easy tips for better knife skills at home, your prep time will be cut in half. I have so many different knife skills videos I’ve recorded over the years, so some sections have multiple videos for you to view.
The Three Knives You Really Need
How to Hold a Knife
How to Hone a Knife
How to Chop an Onion
Cut off the top (not the root!), then set it on its flat side and cut the onion in half through the root (so you have two pieces with a little root attached to both). Then peel the onion and set it on its side to cut horizontal and vertical slices in a grid pattern. Then slice from the top, and the onion will be chopped for you!
How to Chop Garlic
If you don’t want to chop garlic, you can also smash the heck out of it. Or trim off both ends and use a microplane to grate it into a paste.
The Knives I Use
My favorite knife is my Miyabi. It’s sharp and beautiful, and I love the weight of it in my hand when I’m chopping. Since these knives are an investment, I only have one.
In cooking classes, we use Zwilling Pro 8-inch knives. They’re great all-purpose chef’s knives with sharp blades. I get them professionally sharpened twice a year and hone them myself in between.
I bought this 7-inch Zwilling on sale last Christmas, and I’ve used it so much. It’s slightly smaller with a thinner blade, and my kids (in their late teens and early 20s) prefer its size.
I mostly use my 3-inch paring knife, but I also have a 4-inch blade.
You’ll also need a serrated bread knife for slicing loaves, but it’s also great for slicing tomatoes and cutting bars of chocolate. My bread knife is from France, but I’ve been eyeing this Miyabi one.
If you ever bought a set of knives, you probably have a honing steel. But if you prefer picking out individual knives instead of a set, you’ll need this to keep them sharp.
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