HOW TO CHOP: THE CLAW GRIP

Teach your kitchen staff the claw grip technique to keep their fingers safe from sharp blades when preparing food. Simple to learn and endlessly beneficial, the claw grip will help you speed up food prep whilst maintaining complete safety, an essential skill for chefs of all levels.

STEP
1

Start by shaping your hand as if you are about to pinch, resting the tips of your fingers on the food and your thumb behind your fingers. Ensure the foremost part of your hand is your knuckles, not your finger tips.

STEP
2

Hold down the food with your little finger and thumb, your other fingers should act as stability and control whilst you cut.

STEP
3

With your knife in the other hand, move the knife in a cutting motion, allowing the knife to brush against your knuckles as you cut. Gently move your claw hand away from the knife as it cuts through the food. The knife should briefly brush against your knuckles, keeping your fingertips protected at all times.

How To: Video

The claw grip is a basic but extremely effective way to prepare food, and can save you from cutting your fingers when working through demanding shifts in commercial restaurants. It also helps you to achieve a clean cut, as the knife is under control and guided by your knuckles.

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Cut!

All this information, and more, is available from the new Cut! book from F. Dick knives. The Cut! book is a chef's ultimate guide to preparing food, with information on how to cut and prepare foods, which knife to use, how to use it and other information such as how to sharpen knives and an insight into how Dick knives are made. The book also comes with a free App that allows you to get the information you need on-the-move.