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Faster Chopping Advice and Understanding Chopping Terms

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Table Of Contents
    How to Use a Ktchen KnfeWhat Do Dfferent Choppng Terms Mean?Tps for Faster Choppng

Whether you’re just learnng how to cook or are lookng for ways boost your sklls and get thngs done faster, effcent choppng s one of the most effectve ways that you can save tme n the ktchen. But for some people, usng a sharp knfe s one of the most ntmdatng parts of the process, so I wanted to share nformaton that wll gve you confdence, save you tme, and keep you safer when t comes to choppng.

How to Use a Ktchen Knfe

There are a couple of tps that wll help you to feel more n control and safe when you are choppng up food.

Use a Proper Grp

When holdng your knfe, make sure that your whole hand s on the handle, behnd the bolster (that’s the part of the knfe where the blade ends and the handle begns). Ths s called the handle grp.

Once you get more comfortable, you can also choose to use a blade grp, whch s when your thumb goes on one sde of the blade and your tucked n ndex fnger goes on the other sde and touches the bolster. The blade grp wll gve you a bt more control, but should only be used once you feel confdent.

Claw Grp

Whenever you’re holdng food n place and movng the knfe down the food towards your fngers, keep your fngertps tucked under and hold the food wth a “claw grp.” Ths wll protect your fngertps and gve you more control.

Get to Flat

No matter what food you’re choppng, whenever possble make the frst step n your choppng journey be to create a flat sde. Once you have that flat sde, you’ll be able to keep the food much more stable, whch wll make everythng go more smoothly.

What Do Dfferent Choppng Terms Mean?

It can be confusng knowng the sometmes-subtle dfferences between chopped, fnely chopped, dced, and mnced. The choppng defntons, n order of sze of the fnal product go ths way:

Julenne: Ths s when you cut food nto very thn, matchstck-shaped peces.

Rough Chop: Ths s the largest and most forgvng of choppng styles. The peces don’t need to be very consstent, t s mostly about just takng the larger tem and turnng t nto smaller peces.

Chop: Ths means thngs just need to be made smaller but not necessarly perfectly even. Usually about 1/4-1/3 nch across.

Dce: Try to make the peces more unform and smaller than a chop, usually between 1/8-1/4 nch across.

Fnely Dce: Ths s between dcng and mncng, so pretty small.

Mnce: Ths s when you chop or grate nto tny peces.

Tps for Faster Choppng

Here are some other suggestons that mght make your knfe work go a lttle more quckly:

Make sure you have good qualty knves

There are two factors to take nto account when determnng f your knfe s a good qualty knfe:

    does t feel balanced and comfortable n your hand when you’re choppng? does t keep ts edge well (.e., does t stay sharp for a week or more of regular choppng)?

If the answer ether of these questons s no, then t s tme to thnk about buyng some better knves. I recommend that you check out my lst of the four knves I thnk everyone should have n ther ktchen or at least take a peak at my absolute favorte knfe, whch I have used for 20 years and doesn’t cost an arm and a leg.

In addton, a good par of ktchen shears, lke these ones whch I really love, can also make easer work of cuttng herbs, scallons, and other delcate foods.

Make sure your knves are sharp

There are two reasons to make sure your knves are sharp: effcency and safety.

A sharp knfe wll cut through food more effcently for two reasons:

    you won’t need to go back and re-cut you won’t need to poston everythng as carefully to get a sold cut n the frst place

In addton, a dull knfe s much more dangerous because t’s more lkely to roll out and cut you.

To see f your knfe s sharp, turn t blade-sde up and see f any lght reflects off the blade. Wherever you see lght reflect back s a spot where there s a chnk n the metal that needs to be sharpened out.

How to sharpen knves

But how do you sharpen knves? Frst, I recommend that you take your knves to be sharpened by a professonal at least once a year. Most hardware stores offer ths servce as do some craft stores, such as Joann Fabrcs.

In between those professonal sharpenngs, I recommend usng an at-home sharpener every week or two. After tryng many dfferent sharpenng tools, I found that ths one was the easest and most effectve to use. I use mne every week or two, just to keep my knves n tp-top shape.

Use a cuttng board

Choppng your food on a cuttng board s more effcent than cuttng on the counter top or plate. Ths s for a few reasons: 1) cuttng on a counter top or plate s terrble for your knves and wll dull them very quckly (see above about the mportance of sharp knves) and 2) choppng on a cuttng board makes t easer to comfortably contan and transport your ples of chopped food (a plate wll be too small, causng you to waste tme maneuverng the food around, plus t’s bad for your knves).

Whle you can use plastc cuttng boards, the wood or bamboo ones are easer on your knves and also more santary (yucky bactera s less lkely to get trapped n the mcrocuts a knfe wll naturally leave on the cuttng board).

A bonus tp: If you fnd that the cuttng board sldes around on your counter, put a dshtowel underneath to stablze t.

Cut through multple vegetables or layers at once

Ths may sound dauntng f you’re just becomng comfortable wth choppng, but f you take the tme to lne thngs up, you wll fnd that choppng does much faster. For example, lnng up carrots or green beans sde-by-sde or stackng onon slces so you can cut through several at once wll save you precous mnutes as you race to get dnner on the table.

Tp down

When choppng smaller vegetables, garlc, and herbs, keep the tp of your chef’s knfe n contact wth the cuttng board and keep your hand on the top (not sharp) edge of the knfe to drect t.

Usng the food processor s NOT cheatng

For bg fne dcng or mncng jobs, you mght want to consder usng a food processor as t can whz rght through vegetables n seconds flat (f you are n need of a good food processor, I’ve been usng my Cusnart for 20 years and t’s stll gong strong!)

Check out our Lbrary of How Tos

We’ve created a collecton of demo vdeos of how to chop many common ngredents such as onons, garlc, belle peppers, avocados, and more n the most effcent ways possble.

Usng pre-prepped ngredents sn’t cheatng

For example, usng mnced garlc and pre-shredded carrots and cheeses can save you tme and effort. It’s a trade off between the value of your tme vs. money.

Take a class

If you really want to up your choppng game or feel the need for more gudance, you mght also consder takng a knfe sklls class at a local cookng school.  The sklls you learn wll pay off nghtly n your ktchen.

Watch the vdeo to learn the 3 knves you REALLY need, how to use them to cut onons, tomatoes, and other vegetables effcently and safely, and how to sharpen them n seconds:

I hope ths gudance wll help make your dnner preparaton even speeder, and please let me know below or on The Scramble Facebook page f you have any other questons or suggestons. If you want addtonal help wth meal preparaton, sgn up for The Scramble’s famly-frendly meal plans so you can see how smple plannng, easy cookng, and joyful eatng can be!

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