Have you ever participated in a chef knife skill competition?

>>9340185
no

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>>9340185
For me it is the McChickeb.

>>9340185
No, because I'm slow as fuck.

I have never heard of such a competition, and I have been learning about knife skills for years now, from every source there is. Can you post a link to something like that?

>>9340185
No, but I'd like to know how to get better at cutting things, so I figured I'd ask here before creating a new thread. Do I hold the knife a certain way or move my hand/arm a certain way? How do I get better and faster?

>>9340357
You're not funny

>>9340684
The grip that combines the best control while also letting you exert decent force on the blade is the pinch grip, where you pinch the blade between thumb and forefinger and only wrap your other three fingers around the handle of the knife. If you need the full blade length (large head of lettuce) use the hammer grip, with all fingers wrapped round the blade. For maximum force (pumpkin) use hammer grip with thumb on spine of the blade. For precision cuts with no force (salmon, tomato) use hammer grip with forefinger on the spine.


Classical rock chopping (where the blade stays in contact with the cutting board all the time) is one of the fastest and most precise ways of cutting, but you need a blade with a German profile for that (convex edge over the whole length of the blade) and it only really works with small and flat stuff.

For other stuff push cutting or pull cutting is better. Here you lift the blade off the board for every cut and then cut through the food by pushing down while simultaneously either pushing forward or pulling back. Pushing forward lets you exert more force, pulling is faster. For this knives with a flatter profile are better, like French Sabatiers or Japanese gyutos, santokus or nakiris. German knives work too, but when you hit the board you have to add a little rocking motion too, otherwise the curved edge will fully cut the produce in only one spot. Chopping is just pushing down without either forward or backward motion. It is perhaps the fastest technique but it requires a sharp knife with a flat edge and works best with soft produce that ideally is round (so it touches the cutting board at only one point) and has no fibers, like bananas or zucchinis.

An "exotic" technique is mincing, where you gently press the tip of your blade onto the board with your outstretched fingers of your left hand (don't pinch the blade! slip->selfmince!) while chopping and "walking" the knife across the board with your right hand.

I was involved in a knife competition, but it ended up being a felony.

>>9340785

I work with a bunch of idiots that have $$$ Japanese knives and I consistently btfo them with my well sharpened German knives and western techniques.

Rock chopping is superior for speed and accuracy and the German knives hit the sweet spot with their steel.

A Wusthof Ikon chef's knife has the best profile for rock chopping and slicing

Literally the perfect knife if you're actually going to use it as a tool

>>9340785
wow thanks i chopped my dick off

>>9340785
Another exotic techniqe is the "draw cut" where you place the tip of the knife on the board with the handle raised and just pull the blade through the produce towards, without any up-and-down motion ot the handle.This technique hs the advantage that the cut slices will usually not stock to the blade. It equires a very sharp knife and soft produce that is stable on the board. It is perfect for slicing halved tomatoes, but not much else.

>>9340806
*towards YOURSELF

>>9340797
For many things it is fast inded, but it doesn't work so well with large eggplants, a head of lettuce or celeriac. Impossible to keep the tip on the board for that.

>>9340785
First paragraph (hammer grip)should read: "...with all fingers wrapped round the HANDLE" of course! Dont wrap your fingers around the blade!!! Fuck, sorry.