HOW TO CHOP: THE LEVER TECHNIQUE

You may have mastered the lever technique years ago, but it’s an invaluable technique for young and aspiring chefs, designed to make chopping hard foods, such as melon or pumpkin, effortless. The technique uses the force of both your arms to slice the food in half in one cut, rather than using a sawing motion or getting the knife stuck. Share this with your staff to help them improve their precision and speed when preparing food.

STEP
1

Place your knife at the angle you want to cut the food in, and angle it down towards the chopping board.

STEP
2

With the knife held firmly in one hand, use the palm of your other hand to apply extra pressure by placing it over the back on blade.

TIP: Lay your thumb and index finger over the top of the blade for extra power and control when pushing down.

STEP
3

Push down with a swift force to ensure a clean cut in one go.

TIP: When placing your hand over the back of the blade, keep your fingers flat to ensure they don’t get caught under the blade when it cuts through.

How To: Video

Michelin Star chef, Sebastian Frank, demonstrates how the lever technique can be used to cut through robust and hard foods. This technique is an essential skill for chefs, helping you to cut quick and clean cuts through hard foods to speed up your food preparation times.

How To Chop: The Lever Technique

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.