Learning how to cook is so exciting! After enough practice, you'll whip up delicious meals for your family and friends to enjoy. Still, there are several steps that you must master before you reach your end goal. For starters, amateur cooks must learn how to handle a knife. This article will detail knife skills every beginner cook should know.

Holding a Knife

There's a right and a wrong way to hold a knife. Handling a chef's knife is much different than holding a dinner knife, for example. Unlike when you use a dinner knife, you don't want to wrap all of your fingers at the base. Instead, direct your index finger and thumb towards the top of the base. Essentially, you should pinch the base of the knife with your index finger and thumb. Don't let the rest of your fingers just fall over the base, either. Rather, your knuckles should be pointed upward so that your hand resembles a claw. If you hold a chef's knife this way, you'll be less likely to obtain a kitchen-related injury. A quick note on placement, as well. Don't lift the blade off of the cutting board every time you handle a new ingredient. Always keep the tip of the knife placed on the cutting board and lift the back of it when you need to cut something.

Slicing and Dicing

Slicing and dicing are essential knife skills that every beginner cook should know. When slicing, it's important to move the knife through the ingredient. For example, if you're slicing a cucumber, cut it by lifting the back portion of the knife upward while keeping the tip of the blade on the cutting board. Keeping the front end of the knife on the board will make it much easier for you to handle things. The same is true when dicing an ingredient. Dicing means you're cutting an ingredient into even tinier sizes. Keep the tip of the knife on the board and work the back end through the food. Also, you must always pay attention to what you're doing. If you don't do these techniques correctly, you could hurt yourself.

Every cook must know how to use a knife properly when they're in the kitchen. Inadequately handing a knife can cause severe injuries. Practice these techniques the next time you're cooking. Remember to be patient with yourself. Don't rapidly chop ingredients after you've watched a few chef videos. Once you feel more confident, suggest doing a team building cooking class at your work. If you book a course at The Real Food Academy, you can impress all your coworkers with your knife skills. Everyone will be in awe of your slicing and dicing skills; they may even want you to host the next office dinner party.