This page represents one of my lesson plans.

How to Hold a Knife

Your cutting hand grips the knife
Your other hand is the support, holding and stabilizing the ingredients being cut

The Grip

For most chefs, the palm of the hand chokes up on the handle, while the thumb and index finger grip the top of the blade
Home cooks however, often wrap their entire hand around the handle
The chef method is the most efficient way of utilizing the weight of the knife, sharpness of the blade, and strength of your arms to make it easiest to cut your ingredients
Find what works best for you

The ideal position for this hand is with the fingertips curled under and the knuckles pressing down on the ingredients to keep them from rolling or sliding away; this is called the bear claw
- This also helps to protects your fingertips from the sharp knife blade
Another method is to squeeze/bunch all your fingertips together and rest the pads of your fingertips on the top of your ingredient to keep it in place
Ideally for both circumstances, the knife moves back and forth and the supporting hand moves the ingredients into the knife’s path to create perfect cuts (this ain’t no perfect world, so don’t stress if it doesn’t work that way for you!)

Tips and Tricks

Do what feels safest to you and always follow the safety precautions taught by instructors
Knife handles shouldn’t be choked to death; try to relax your hands and loosen your wrists and just let the knife do it’s cutting job
Knives should be around the same or just above the height of your elbows, so that you can use your entire upper body’s downward pressure on the knife
Try to position all of your fingers so that they are next to impossible for the knife to cut them
Knives moves in various ways; rocking motions from front to back as well as up and down
When you feel experienced enough, try gripping the blade as well as the handle