Kitchen Fundamentals 106: Basic Knife Skills

I have had a lot of people ask me to include a post on basic knife skills. Like anything else, the more hands on practice you have, the more natural and comfortable a skill can become. Most home cooks don’t spend enough time repetiitvely chopping, slicing and dicing ingredients to have it become second nature, and can feel intimidated by just the thought of holding a large knife. While safety is certainly important, and it is also a good idea to remember that there is no need to be fast, extremely precise or incredibly nimble when cooking in your own kitchen. With a few simple tips and techniques, like what type of knife to buy and proper hand position when cutting something, the process can be less daunting and possibly even therapeutic. Believe it or not, once you can stop over-thinking the technique, you may actually enjoy the rhythmic process of shaping your ingredients.
To start at a very fundamental level, I have included a video here of how to create a dice and julienne (a cut of long, thin strips) of four commonly used ingredients: onion, tomato, bell pepper and carrot. I also briefly discuss how to set up your cutting board and which knives can best assist you in the job.

Video on useful knifes and setting up your cutting space

Video of technique to dice an onion.

Video of technique to dice a tomato.

Video of technique to dice a pepper.

Video of technique to julienne a carrot.