knife skills, one lesson per page
Twenty-four lessons on the edge and the hands: why a sharp knife is safer and how edges dull, the pinch grip and the claw, the slice, the dice, the mince and the julienne, honing versus sharpening on steel and stone, boards, hygiene and storage, the tomato test, and one habit to keep.
One edge, one diagram, and one thing to try this week. That's a page.
knife skills, one lesson per page
Twenty-four lessons on the edge and the hands: why a sharp knife is safer and how edges dull, the pinch grip and the claw, the slice, the dice, the mince and the julienne, honing versus sharpening on steel and stone, boards, hygiene and storage, the tomato test, and one habit to keep.
Set in Space Grotesk, Inter and JetBrains Mono (SIL Open Font License).
Every fact in this book is as the primary source states it, fetched and read during this build: the Wikipedia articles Chef's knife, Kitchen knife, Cutting board, List of culinary knife cuts, Knife sharpening, Honing steel, Onion and Tomato, the Serious Eats guides How to Hold a Knife and The 4 Knife Cuts Every Cook Should Know, the Chef Knives To Go guide How to Sharpen a Knife on a Whetstone, the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service page Cutting Boards and the FoodSafety.gov page 4 Steps to Food Safety, all cached at build time and quoted in each lesson's source line. Where sources disagree (sharpening angles), each is stated as its source states it. Demand evidence from knife-skills communities, reconfirmed at dispatch, is demand evidence only and supplies no facts; no facts are sourced from Reddit, YouTube, forums or search engines. General information only, not professional advice; safety and hygiene rails are stated as the sources state them. An independent guide; not affiliated with or endorsed by Wikipedia, Serious Eats, Chef Knives To Go, the USDA or FoodSafety.gov.
Your purchase is for personal use only. You do not have redistribution rights: please do not share, resell, or republish this book or its pages.
© 2026 Steve Hodgkiss. All rights reserved. Personal use only; no redistribution rights.
Edition 1.0 · stevehodgkiss.net
Contents
Per the Wikipedia article Kitchen knife: 'While much of this work can be accomplished with a few general-purpose knives, notably a large chef's knife and a smaller serrated blade utility knife, there are also many specialized knives.' Per the Wikipedia article Chef's knife: 'A European chef's knife generally has a blade 20 centimetres (8 inches) in length and a broad 4 cm width'; it is 'the primary general food preparation knife for most Western cooks.'
The knife you need
You do not need the block set. The article's own arithmetic: most kitchen work can be accomplished with a few general-purpose knives, and it names them, a large chef's knife and a smaller serrated utility knife.
The chef's knife earns the headline. A European one runs about 20 centimetres of blade and 4 wide, the primary general preparation knife for most Western cooks.
One good chef's knife, one serrated blade, one parer. Buy the rest when a real task demands it.
Count how many of your knives you used this month; the unused number is the block set's verdict.
Per the Wikipedia article Chef's knife: 'most cooks prefer to grip the blade itself, with the thumb and the index finger grasping the blade just to the front of the finger guard... This is commonly referred to as a pinch grip.' Per the Serious Eats guide How to Hold a Knife: 'Your thumb and forefinger should rest in front of the bolster... directly on the blade. It's a little intimidating, but it offers much better control and balance.'
The pinch grip
Both sources teach the same grip. Pinch the blade itself: thumb and index finger on the steel, just in front of the bolster, the other three fingers around the handle. Wikipedia names it the pinch grip; Serious Eats calls it the blade grip, the one experienced cooks prefer.
The reason is control. The handle grip, all fingers behind the bolster, is comfortable but, in Serious Eats' words, offers only limited control for precision work.
Move your hand forward onto the blade, closer to the edge, and the knife stops wagging and starts steering.
Cut one carrot with the handle grip and one with the pinch grip, and watch the tip for wobble on each.
Per the Wikipedia article List of culinary knife cuts: 'The two basic shapes are the strip and the cube'; the batonnet 'is also the starting point for the small dice', the julienne 'the starting point for the brunoise'; large dice sides are 'approximately 3/4 inch (20 mm)', medium '1/2 inch (13 mm)', small '1/4 inch (5 mm)'.
The dice
A dice is three cuts in order: planks, then sticks, then cubes. The article is explicit that strips are the road there, the batonnet is the starting point for the small dice, the julienne for the brunoise.
The sizes are standard, so learn them once: large dice about 20 mm, medium, Parmentier, 13 mm, small, Macédoine, 5 mm.
Even sticks make even cubes. The uniformity is the point: same size, same cooking time.
Dice one carrot into medium 13 mm cubes, then check yourself against a ruler on three of them.
Per the Wikipedia article Kitchen knife: 'A honing steel... does not sharpen knives, contrary to popular belief, but instead straightens the blade, while a sharpener sharpens the blade.' Per the Wikipedia article Knife sharpening: sharpening is 'removing metal to form a new edge', while straightening 'straightens the existing metal on the blade, but not removing significant quantities of metal.'
Steel or stone
Two words that sound like synonyms and are opposites. The honing steel does not sharpen at all, contrary to popular belief; it straightens a blade whose edge has rolled. The stone removes metal to form a new edge.
So the rule is mechanical. Edge still sharp but cutting poorly? It rolled; the steel fixes it in seconds. Edge truly dull, rounded, no bite? Only the stone helps, and no amount of steeling will bring it back.
Steel often, stone rarely. That division of labour is the whole of edge maintenance.
Do five strokes per side on the steel before your next cooking session and feel the difference in a tomato.
Per the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service page Cutting Boards: 'consider using one cutting board for fresh produce and bread and a separate one for raw meat, poultry, and seafood. This will prevent bacteria on a cutting board that is used for raw meat, poultry, or seafood from contaminating a food that requires no further cooking.' Per the FoodSafety.gov page 4 Steps to Food Safety: 'Replace them when they are worn.'
Board hygiene
The USDA's rule is one sentence: one board for fresh produce and bread, a separate one for raw meat, poultry and seafood. The reason is directional: bacteria from a raw-meat board contaminating food that requires no further cooking.
FoodSafety.gov adds the quiet clause everyone forgets: replace boards when they are worn, and wash anything raw meat touched with hot, soapy water.
Two boards cost less than one mistake. Colour-code them if your memory is only human.
Check your boards tonight for deep knife scars; anything with hard-to-clean grooves goes in the recycling.
This book's plan: the edge, the two hands, the cuts, the stone, the board, closed by one habit. Per the Wikipedia article Knife sharpening: 'a kitchen knife is steeled before or after each use... and sharpened on a stone a few times per year.' Per the Wikipedia article Honing steel: 'It is often recommended that steeling be performed immediately before or after using a knife and can be done daily.'
One habit to keep
Twenty-three pages, and the habit that carries them is ten seconds long. The article's rhythm: a kitchen knife is steeled before or after each use, and sharpened on a stone a few times a year. The honing article adds: steeling is recommended immediately before or after use, daily.
A kept edge keeps every other page honest: a knife that bites, a claw that guides, food flat side down.
Five strokes a side before every meal. Within a year the stone becomes a rarity and the tomato test a formality.
Put the steel where you prep, not in a drawer, and hone before your next three meals without fail.