The parts of a chef’s knife, the grip that holds it, the hand that holds the food, and the cuts a recipe asks for by name. Twenty-four study cards, a page of hints, a quiz in three tiers, and four workshop labs — starting with a knife you label yourself.
A knife over a carrot. The hand is back on the handle, so the blade can wander — the tip wobbles, and nothing has decided where it will land.
Those two hand shapes have names. The hand on the knife is the PINCH GRIP — thumb and one finger on the blade, just ahead of the handle. The hand on the food is the CLAW — fingertips tucked back, knuckles out front. The knuckle is the guide, and the blade cannot cross it.
What people get wrong
⚠️People often think…
I use the dull knife on purpose. A sharp one would cut me.
It is backwards. A sharp knife bites into the food at the spot where you set it down and stays there. A dull one skates off the skin of a tomato or an onion — and while it slides it is still moving, usually toward the hand holding the food. A dull knife also makes you push harder, and force you cannot control is what turns a small cut into a deep one.
Sharp knives cut food. Dull knives cut cooks.
⚠️People often think…
All five fingers go on the handle. That is what a handle is for.
A hand all the way back on the handle lets the blade twist and wobble, because nothing is holding the metal. In the pinch grip the thumb and the side of the bent first finger pinch the blade itself, just in front of the bolster, and the other three fingers wrap the handle. The knife stops being a tool you swing and starts being part of your hand.
Your grip belongs a little further forward than it wants to be.
⚠️People often think…
I hold the food with my fingers flat and spread out, so they are out of the way.
Flat fingers are not out of the way — they are lying in the path of the edge, and the fingertips reach further forward than anything else on that hand. Curl them under instead, so the knuckles stick out in front. The flat side of the blade rides against those knuckles, and the edge arrives at a wall of bone with the soft parts tucked behind it.
Knuckles are a wall. Fingertips are not.
⚠️People often think…
Chopping means lifting the whole knife up and bringing it down fast. Faster is better.
A knife that leaves the board can come down anywhere, including on the hand that is holding the food. Keep the tip touching the board — that spot is the anchor point. Lift only the heel, bring it down and forward, and let the curved edge rock through. The knife travels in an arc you can see, and it is quieter and faster than hacking.
Tip down, heel up. Rock it, do not hack it.
From a round carrot to even sticks
1Watch one
A recipe wants even carrot sticks. You have one whole round carrot.
Damp towel under the board, wrung out and spread flat. Push the board — it must not move.
Wash and peel the carrot. It is round and tapered, so it will roll under the blade. Nothing on this board is safe yet.
Cut it in half the long way, then set each half down on the new flat side. It cannot roll now — that is the whole reason for the cut.
Pinch grip on the blade, claw hand on the carrot, tip of the knife down on the board.
Cut the halves into 2-1/2 inch lengths, then square off each one: trim the curved sides away to leave a rectangular block. Keep the trimmings for stock.
Cut the block into 1/4 inch slabs, stack the slabs, and cut down through them every 1/4 inch.
Even sticks, 1/4 x 1/4 x 2-1/2 inches. That stick has a name — batonnet — and the flat side is what made every cut after it safe. ✓
2Do one with me
The board is down and the carrot has a flat side. Three things to settle before the first cut.
The grip that puts your thumb and one finger on the blade is the
The shape the other hand makes on the food is a
Of a sharp knife and a dull knife, the more dangerous one is the
💬One sentence, then you move on
Why is it your other hand, and not the knife, that decides where the blade can go?
3Try one
A recipe says 1/4-inch dice of carrot. Your carrot is already squared off into blocks. Name the cut you have to make before you can dice.
I want a hint first
A cube has to start as a stick. Cut across a 1/4 inch stick every 1/4 inch and you get 1/4 inch dice — so what is that stick called?
💬Last one — then you are done here
Why does a recipe give a number for a cut instead of just saying ‘small’?
Where this goes
Where this lives
Any cook who has to get dinner on the table with every piece done at the same moment — a kitchen at home, a school cafeteria line, a restaurant on a Friday night. Even pieces finish together; uneven pieces never can.
What this feeds
Next unit is Measuring and Reading a Recipe — a recipe tells you the size for a reason, and the rest of it is written the same way.
Name one food in your kitchen that would roll under a knife, and say which flat side you would cut first.
One card at a time — tap “Show me” to check yourself, then Next. Start at Foundation; when those feel easy, climb.
Helpful Hints
🧭 The unit in one line
Damp towel under the board → pinch grip on the blade → claw hand on the food → tip stays down and the knife rocks → square off, make a flat side → cut to the size the recipe names → wash it by hand, dry it, put it away.
Towel, grip, claw, tip down.
🔑 The one idea
A cut size is a cooking time. When a recipe says ‘1/4-inch dice’ it is not asking you to be tidy — it is telling you how long the pieces will need in the pan. Even pieces finish together; uneven pieces never can.
⚠️ Traps to avoid
A dull knife is the dangerous one. It slides off the food instead of biting in, and it is still moving when it reaches your hand.
Honing is not sharpening. A honing steel straightens a bent edge; sharpening grinds a new one. Hone often, sharpen a few times a year.
Never catch a falling knife. Step back and let it hit the floor.
Never leave a knife in a sink of water, and never put it in the dishwasher.
Do not cut on a board that can slide, and do not cut a round thing that can roll. Damp towel under the board; flat side on the food.
Mince is the only cut with no number. Every other cut on the chart has a measurement, and the measurement is the point.
📐 The cut chart
Cut
Size
Looks like
Used for
Large dice
3/4 in (19 mm) cube
a board-game die
roasting, stew
Medium dice
1/2 in (13 mm) cube
a sugar cube
soup, hash
Small dice
1/4 in (6 mm) cube
the end of a pencil
salsa, stuffing
Brunoise
1/8 in (3 mm) cube
a grain of rice, squared
sauces, garnish
Batonnet
1/4 x 1/4 x 2-1/2 in (6 x 6 x 64 mm)
a steak fry
fries, vegetable sticks
Julienne
1/8 x 1/8 x 2 in (3 x 3 x 50 mm)
a matchstick
stir-fry, slaw
Chiffonade
thin ribbons
shredded paper
basil, lettuce
Mince
no size — as fine as the knife will go
damp crumbs
garlic, ginger
🎯 How you will be asked
A drawing of a chef’s knife — “label the tip, edge, spine, heel, bolster, tang and handle.”
A size — “1/4 x 1/4 x 2-1/2 inches. Name the cut.”
“Why is a dull knife more dangerous than a sharp one?”
“A recipe says 1/4-inch dice. Why does the number matter?”
The steps of dicing an onion, out of order — “put them right.”
✅ Before the test, can you…
Name seven parts of a chef’s knife and say what each one does?
Show the pinch grip and the claw hand without being told?
Give the three dice sizes in inches, and the size of a brunoise?
Say which stick cut turns into which dice when you cut across it?
Explain honing and sharpening as two different jobs?
List everything you do before the first cut and after the last one?
📚 Go to the sources
These open another website and need the internet. On the USDA recipe pages, read the ingredient list and count how many cut words you can now name.
Look back at anything you missed — the hint that appeared is exactly what to reread tonight.
How sure did you feel?
Workshop
Work like a cook: name the parts of a chef’s knife, put the steps of dicing an onion in order, tell one cut from another, then explain why a recipe gives a size.
Your practice never leaves this device. There is no account and no sign-in. Your work is saved in this browser only, and you can erase it whenever you want.
Your practice record — saved on this device
This is your record of the module on screen — it stays here and goes nowhere. Independent means you got it right on the first tap; supported means you got it after the explain-and-retry, or marked ‘I had it’ on a revealed answer. Both count, and neither is a grade. If your teacher asks, copy the row or show them this screen.
Date
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Topic
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Level
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Independent
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Supported
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Hints used
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Cards studied
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Lab
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Traps met
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Explained in own words
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Confidence
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The answer key is for a teacher: it prints only from here, for the unit on screen. Print the study packet prints the study pages and a blank quiz — never the answers.