[1 - 3] I'm a professional chef and a culinary instructor
[3 - 5] and I'm gonna show you the essential knife skills you need
[6 - 8] We will slice, we will dice, we'll chiffonade.
[8 - 11] We'll julienne, we might even cube some stuff.
[11 - 13] I'll be going over the knife skills you need to
[13 - 15] make restaurant quality dishes at home.
[15 - 17] This is knife skills 101.
[19 - 22] Having good knife skills is going to improve your cooking
[22 - 24] and it's not just for presentation.
[24 - 26] You're gonna waste less, your food's gonna cook more evenly
[27 - 28] and you're gonna be safer in the kitchen.
[28 - 31] The only way to get better at knife skills is to practice.
[31 - 33] And today I'm gonna show you how to do that.
[33 - 36] I'm gonna turn everything on this tray into this.
[36 - 38] The chef's knife is the most used tool
[38 - 39] in a professional kitchen
[39 - 41] and you need to know how to use it.
[44 - 46] Let's start with showing you how to properly hold a knife.
[46 - 49] The most common grip is called the handshake grip.
[49 - 51] So I'm gonna shake hands with this knife.
[51 - 54] I put it in my hand, I wrap my fingers around
[54 - 58] and I grab the knife basically on the spine.
[58 - 60] A lot of times when people are starting out in the kitchen
[60 - 61] they do the old finger here
[61 - 63] people put the finger here thinking
[63 - 64] that it gives them control
[64 - 66] but eventually you're gonna get really tired
[66 - 69] and being tired always leads to injury.
[69 - 71] You look at the handshake grip
[71 - 74] and it gives you lots of leverage, lots of control.
[74 - 75] So tuck that finger in.
[75 - 77] Regardless of what you choose
[77 - 79] a good grip's gonna give you power, control and safety.
[79 - 81] Now you know how to hold your knife
[81 - 83] but you have a whole other hand.
[83 - 85] The other hand is what holds the thing you're cutting.
[85 - 89] So you wanna make sure that you keep those digits tucked in.
[89 - 90] We call this the claw.
[90 - 93] Fingers tucked in, thumb tucked under
[93 - 94] the knife should always be resting
[94 - 97] on your longest knuckle.
[97 - 98] Whenever I stand in front of a cutting board
[98 - 99] I'm making sure
[99 - 102] that my shoulders are squared to the cutting board.
[102 - 103] I bend my knees slightly
[103 - 105] because you don't wanna stand with a stiff back.
[105 - 107] I see a lot of people doing this.
[107 - 109] The hunch, don't do the hunch.
[109 - 111] Good posture is really important when you're chopping
[111 - 113] and cutting, and a lot
[113 - 115] of people will go on an angle, this is how I cut
[115 - 118] but I always tell people when they start out
[118 - 121] try and turn just slightly so that the back
[121 - 124] of your spine is lined up with the cutting board.
[124 - 126] So we have a 90 degree angle.
[126 - 130] This allows you to start making accurate cuts, right? Everything square.
[130 - 132] One thing I want everyone to remember is
[132 - 134] that a dull knife is a dangerous knife.
[134 - 135] You should start out
[135 - 137] with sharp knives and every few minutes
[137 - 141] maybe 10 minutes as you're cutting, hone it over a steel.
[141 - 143] If you wanna know how to sharpen knives
[143 - 144] We did a whole video about that.
[144 - 145] Check it out.
[148 - 149] So now that you know how to hold the knife
[149 - 151] I'm gonna show you all the different cuts
[151 - 153] that you're gonna use the knife for.
[153 - 156] The two most common cuts in the kitchen are the high cut
[156 - 159] which is chopping, and the low cut which is rocking.
[159 - 161] The high cuts usually for larger items
[161 - 164] whereas the low cuts for smaller finer cutting.
[164 - 167] This cut is the chop or the rough chop.
[167 - 168] It's used for when you just need a lot
[168 - 170] of vegetables in a short amount of time.
[170 - 172] I have peeled carrot here.
[172 - 175] I almost always start by cutting the ends off.
[175 - 178] Anything that's round can be dangerous.
[178 - 181] So what I like to do do make a flat surface
[181 - 184] for that round object.
[184 - 187] Usually the smaller the cut, the shorter the cook.
[187 - 189] So if I'm gonna use this
[189 - 192] for a sauce that cooks for about an hour, I'll cut it small.
[192 - 194] If I'm gonna use this for a sauce that cooks
[194 - 196] for three or four hours, I cut a little bit larger.
[196 - 199] You'll notice that I go from the high cut to the low cut
[199 - 204] high cut here, and then I turn and I go to the low cut.
[204 - 205] One thing you wanna make sure is you're not
[205 - 207] feeding the material into the knife
[207 - 211] you're actually moving the knife down the vegetable.
[211 - 212] This cut is the dice.
[212 - 214] And what we want to do is take this butternut squash
[214 - 216] which is kind of weirdly shaped
[216 - 220] and making it into a nice precision cut, basically a cube.
[220 - 221] Whenever I use a precision cut
[221 - 223] the presentation is what's important.
[223 - 227] What I like to do is get my knife set in the top
[227 - 230] and kind of just tap it in and then I push down
[230 - 233] and through with that high cut.
[233 - 235] I turn it around, grip the squash really well.
[235 - 237] Make an incision, give it a few taps
[237 - 241] so that my knife is secure down and forward
[241 - 242] in that high cut again.
[242 - 244] This part of the squash
[244 - 246] I'm gonna save for a rough chop.
[246 - 248] You can almost never get a nice precision cut with this.
[248 - 250] Don't throw it away, save it.
[250 - 251] But we're gonna do precision cut
[251 - 253] with the top part of the squash.
[253 - 255] You can use peeler for this
[255 - 256] but I find it really inefficient.
[256 - 257] So what I like to do is get
[257 - 261] on a flat surface and use my knife to peel.
[261 - 262] So I'm using it more
[262 - 266] like a saw because it's a very hard vegetable.
[266 - 267] So now we're ready to dice.
[267 - 269] Whenever you do precision cuts
[269 - 270] you're gonna have usable trim.
[270 - 272] What I mean by that is
[272 - 275] this piece might not give me some nice dice
[275 - 278] so I wanna put that aside and use it for something else.
[278 - 282] Whenever I start to cut a dice, I start out with a slab.
[282 - 285] I like to line up the spine of my knife
[285 - 289] look straight down and cut all the way through.
[289 - 292] I find that when people hesitate halfway through
[292 - 293] they get wonky slices.
[293 - 297] So you wanna line up, cut down and through.
[297 - 300] So I'm pushing down and pushing forward.
[300 - 301] At this point you can adjust.
[301 - 303] You can see I'm a little wonky here
[303 - 307] so I can always adjust to get that slab really nice.
[307 - 311] If you don't have square slabs, you don't have square dice.
[312 - 314] So then what I do is I line my knife up
[314 - 317] and I'm basically trying to get a 90 degree angle
[317 - 320] between my knife and the bottom of the slab.
[320 - 321] You're gonna have a lot
[321 - 324] of trim on these, save it, use it for soup.
[324 - 326] Once we get to that stick, line it up
[326 - 331] cut down and through and you get a nice large dice.
[331 - 333] This cut is the slice
[333 - 336] and what we're looking for is a very thin even layer
[336 - 338] something you might put on a hamburger or on a sandwich.
[339 - 342] Tomatoes are round, but they're easily gripped.
[342 - 343] And what I like to do with a slice
[343 - 345] is hold it nice and tight.
[345 - 347] When you cut, I'm almost doing a little bit of a
[347 - 350] a slicing motion or a sawing motion.
[350 - 354] So I get a really nice even thin slice.
[354 - 356] Going straight up and down.
[356 - 358] I got a nice even slice
[358 - 362] and my knife basically whispers through that tomato.
[362 - 364] I'm gonna slice a red onion as well.
[364 - 366] Now if you want this to be a ring
[366 - 368] or flattened round like the tomato, you cut
[368 - 371] off both ends and you can peel the skin off.
[371 - 374] What I'm gonna do is something more for like a salad.
[374 - 376] I cut it in half, again, that high cut.
[376 - 378] I take the skin off.
[378 - 381] If I cut it with the lines of the onion, it's a julienne
[381 - 383] but if I cut it across the lines of the onion
[383 - 386] that's my slice down and through.
[386 - 389] So it's more like a sawing motion than a chopping motion.
[389 - 392] This is gonna give you nice half moons instead
[392 - 393] of an irregular cut
[393 - 395] that you're gonna put onto your salad or sandwich.
[395 - 398] How do you slice something that's really big
[398 - 401] and heavy like a watermelon?
[401 - 402] This is how I do it.
[402 - 404] I like to take both ends off.
[404 - 405] If your knife is not long enough
[405 - 410] you can always just turn the watermelon down and through
[410 - 413] and then we're starting with a nice flat surface again.
[413 - 415] I'm gonna cut directly in half, and again
[415 - 418] if my knife isn't long enough, I'll cut one side
[418 - 420] give it a turn and cut the other side.
[420 - 422] Then once we have this
[422 - 425] we can always turn it onto its flat side and again,
[425 - 427] cut it so it's nice and even.
[427 - 431] Now you have a wedge and cut your slices.
[431 - 433] This next cut is called a baton.
[433 - 436] This shape is mainly used for garnish on a plate.
[436 - 440] You might cut an apple for a salad in batons.
[440 - 441] It's a match stick.
[441 - 442] So basically what I'm doing
[442 - 444] for the baton is I'm gonna take the ends
[444 - 447] off and try and make them as square as possible.
[448 - 450] I'm gonna stand my potato up and again
[450 - 454] continue to square things off so that I start
[454 - 457] off with a nice rectangular slab.
[457 - 460] Down and through at a 90 degree angle
[460 - 462] down and through at a 90 degree angle.
[462 - 466] And now once we have our slabs, we can cut into our batons.
[466 - 469] I start at the tip and go through and down.
[470 - 472] So that is our batons.
[472 - 475] A lot of the cuts that we do have the same technique
[475 - 477] it's just the end shape that we're changing.
[477 - 479] The next cup we're gonna do is a julienne
[479 - 481] which is a fine match stick.
[481 - 482] Normally with a julienne
[482 - 484] I'm using it for a finished plated item.
[484 - 487] Something that is pretty, it's a garnish.
[487 - 488] It's another precision cut that you're using.
[488 - 490] So the food looks good.
[490 - 491] In order to julienne this pepper
[491 - 495] I'm gonna take off both ends of the pepper
[496 - 501] and then I'm going to cut out the center part of the pepper.
[502 - 505] Cut it into a piece that's easily manageable.
[505 - 507] I'm gonna press down on my knife lightly
[507 - 510] and kind of saw away any excess pepper.
[510 - 514] So I have a nice thin slab, my hands a little bit
[514 - 517] in the way of the knife, but I'm not going so fast
[517 - 519] that I'm gonna slip and hurt myself again.
[519 - 524] I'm holding my pepper with the claw and I'm just going down
[524 - 526] and through, right, so I'm not rocking.
[526 - 528] I'm pushing this through.
[528 - 532] So I have nice fine matchstick.
[532 - 534] If you just kind of push down
[534 - 535] you're kind of crunching into it
[535 - 539] and crushing the the pepper, not getting a nice even cut.
[539 - 540] So this is the bias cut.
[540 - 543] The bias cut is basically a long shallow angle
[543 - 545] with small things like green onions.
[545 - 548] It's usually a garnish and we want it to look really good.
[548 - 551] With larger items like a carrot, you're trying to
[551 - 554] make more surface areas so that it cooks evenly.
[554 - 556] So with the bias cut on our scallions,
[556 - 558] I usually offset them
[558 - 561] and then I'm gonna cut the stem end off.
[561 - 563] I'm using that same high cut that we use
[563 - 567] for precision cuts and push down and through.
[567 - 568] You can adjust the thickness
[568 - 571] by moving your claw hand in or out
[571 - 574] but you'll notice the knife is resting on my knuckle.
[574 - 577] A good bias cut 20 to 40 degrees.
[577 - 580] You can make them longer and flatter if you want.
[580 - 581] You can make them a little more shallow.
[581 - 584] I usually go with about 45 degrees.
[584 - 585] Make sure you have your pro tractor out
[585 - 586] when you do this.
[586 - 588] Chopping we're basically rocking the knife
[588 - 590] here we're sliding it through.
[590 - 593] Again if we chop this and go straight down
[593 - 594] we get a little more of a crushing sound.
[594 - 598] You're not getting a really nice smooth edge on our cut.
[598 - 599] This next cut is a mince
[599 - 603] and a mince is basically a rough chop on a very small scale.
[603 - 604] We're not really worried
[604 - 606] about getting a precise look to our product.
[606 - 609] We just want to chop a lot of it in a quick amount of time.
[609 - 612] When I start my mince, I want to take the skin off.
[612 - 613] And this isn't necessarily a cut
[613 - 615] but you'll see a lot of chefs do this.
[615 - 617] You put your blade on top of the knife.
[617 - 619] I always face my blade away just for safety
[619 - 620] give it a little tap
[620 - 624] and then the skin comes off fairly easily.
[624 - 625] And then I just go in
[625 - 628] with that low cut or the rocking cut.
[630 - 635] Mince one way and then I go the opposite way.
[635 - 638] The pivot point of my knife is usually the tip of the knife.
[638 - 640] I'm lifting the back and chopping
[640 - 642] down with the back of the knife.
[642 - 643] If it gets caught on the blade
[643 - 646] wipe it off the blade and then chop.
[646 - 647] The next cut is chiffonade
[647 - 650] and chiffonade is mainly used for garnishes.
[650 - 653] And what that is is a very thin shred
[653 - 656] or a very thin thread of herbs.
[656 - 658] The way that I do chiffonade is I pick a few leaves,
[658 - 660] we're using basil
[660 - 663] and then what I do is stack them up nice and flat
[663 - 667] and then we do a little bit of a roll into a nice bundle.
[667 - 670] This not only makes the process go quicker
[670 - 672] you're getting even slices all the way through.
[672 - 674] And here what's important is
[674 - 677] that we slice through and don't bruise the herb.
[677 - 679] So having a sharp knife is important.
[679 - 683] You're gonna do that same high cut straight through.
[683 - 685] If you just chop down on this
[685 - 688] you're gonna get bruised and it's gonna turn black.
[688 - 689] And there is our chiffonade.
[689 - 691] This next cut is the oblique cut.
[691 - 694] It sometimes referred to as a rondel or a roll cut.
[694 - 697] We use the oblique cut to take something that's thick
[697 - 699] on one end and thin on the other
[699 - 701] and try and make the slices even.
[701 - 703] And the way that I start this out is I cut the tip
[703 - 707] off here and then what I'm gonna do is I'm going to roll it
[707 - 709] towards myself so that I can see the face
[709 - 712] of my cut go almost all the way down to the end
[712 - 717] of that cut and roll towards me, see the face of my cut.
[717 - 719] This is kind of like a rotating bias cut.
[719 - 720] And you can see, even
[720 - 723] though I'm getting to the thicker spot on the carrot
[723 - 727] it's basically staying the same size as the thinner pieces.
[728 - 730] And that is the oblique or the rondel.
[730 - 731] And there you have it.
[731 - 733] That's the way to hold and handle a knife.
[733 - 736] And many of the cuts that we use in professional kitchen
[736 - 738] I have a tool that if you're really serious
[738 - 741] about getting good at this, it's a visual cut kit.
[741 - 743] You can find these online.
[743 - 746] It's a visual representation of most of the cuts.
[746 - 747] Practice as much as you can
[747 - 749] and you're gonna get better at it.
[751 - 753] This cut is called the Kendall Jenner
[753 - 755] and here's why you should never cut like that.
[755 - 759] She starts out by taking the cucumber and putting her hand
[759 - 762] over the cucumber and trying to cut like this.
[762 - 765] Basically what she's done is make yourself blind
[765 - 768] to what she's cutting, and that is super dangerous.
[768 - 770] Whenever you're cutting, you should be able to
[770 - 774] see where the knife is and what you're cutting at all times.
[774 - 775] Swing it out.
[775 - 776] Use your claw.
[776 - 778] Now you can cut safely.