Chef knives are designed to be held by pinching the blade between the forefinger and the thumb, and wrapping the rest of your fingers around the handle. I used to wrap all my fingers around the handle, until Jacques Pepin showed me how to do it properly: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMA2SqaDgG8
I was taught to choke up on the blade by a Western chef as well.
Then I went to Japan and was told to only hold the handle for their style of knives. Apparently, they balance the weight of the blade and handle differently there.
I tried to choke up on the blade at a very professional knife store in a market and was immediately corrected by one of the Japanese chefs there.
Then, the following evening, we went to a Michelin star rated kaiseki, all of the chefs were holding the knives by only the handle, no choking.
I realized I probably looked very foreign choking up on the blade in that store earlier. Humbling moment!
An ex with commercial kitchen experience taught me this. My own experience is that, having held and used a knife the right way even once, the wrong way feels wrong forever after.
Tell that to my wife and in-laws. They’ve asked to be taught, been shown how to do it, shown why it’s safer and faster, have timed their speed and found it to be faster.
They still refuse to do the proper technique. They cut themselves regularly. Their stubbornness knows no bounds. Even when it involves literal blood at least once a week.
It isn't just about the grip. The stance also matters. I had trouble using a knife well for a long time because I would position myself parallel to the cutting board, which meant I would bend my wrist when using a knife.
Once I realized my wrist should be straight when using a knife and adjusted my stance to be slightly angled away from the cutting board, my knife skills leveled up a ton.
The assistant in that video talks about holding the knife around where the center of the weight of the knife is. This spot is different knife to knife. So, knives with a heavier handle are designed to be held by the handle.
The pinch grip is the correct default for all knives in the classic "chef knife" shape and their derivatives like santoku. The exceptions are based on the application, not the knife; for example when cutting through a chicken leg joint you might want to exchange some control for power and a lot of cooks will use a full handle grip then.
The only cooking knives really meant to be held always by the handle entirely are heavy butcher cleavers, that have all the weight in the blade and you're meant to sling it around. Even a paring knife is often best used by holding the blade.
Absolutely. And just work on your knife skills a little bit every time you cook. "The claw" for slicing things makes it so much faster and safer. And keep those tools sharp, a few months ago I finally got a whetstone set and stopped using a diamond steel to half-ass it, and it's a game changer.
