What Is a Chef’s Knife Used For?

This guide contains affiliate links. If you buy through them, I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Learn more

If you could only own one knife, this would be it. Search interest in “what is a chef’s knife used for” has jumped a lot over the past few months, which tells me plenty of people just bought their first real knife, or unboxed a block set and wondered which one does what.

I make knife handles in my workshop, so I spend a lot of time looking at how a blade’s shape decides what it’s good at. A chef’s knife’s shape is a set of compromises that happen to cover almost every job in a home kitchen.

What a chef’s knife looks like

• Blade length: usually 8 inches for home cooks. Japanese versions (gyutos) are often 210 mm, about 8.3 inches. Shorter (6 inches) and longer (10 inches) versions exist.
• Curved edge: the edge rises from the heel to the tip in a gentle curve called the belly. This is what lets you rock the knife.
• Pointed tip: for fine work like scoring, trimming and mincing.
• Wide heel: gives knuckle clearance above the board and weight for chopping.
• Handle: in line with the spine, with room for a pinch grip.

What a chef’s knife is used for

Chopping vegetables. Onions, carrots, celery, peppers, potatoes. Rough chops for stocks, even dice for sautés.

Dicing. Onions, peppers, tomatoes and potatoes into even cubes.

Mincing. Garlic, shallots, herbs and ginger, with the rocking motion and your other hand on the spine.

Slicing. Boneless chicken breasts, steaks, pork chops, fish fillets and cooked meats, in long, smooth strokes.

Chiffonade. Basil, mint and leafy greens rolled up and sliced into thin ribbons.

Crushing. Lay the flat of the blade on a garlic clove and press with your palm.

Scooping. Turn the knife over and use the spine (never the edge) to move chopped food to a pan.

Breaking down produce. Halving squash, splitting melons, coring cabbage. Use care on very hard squash.

Cutting boneless poultry and meat. Trimming fat, cubing stew meat, slicing cutlets.

What a chef’s knife isn’t for

• Bones and frozen food. These chip or roll the edge, especially on harder Japanese steel. Use a cleaver, a boning knife or a saw.
• Crusty bread. The edge slides and crushes. A bread knife does this better.
• Peeling and fine in-hand work. Too big. Use a paring knife.
• Deboning. Too wide to follow a bone. Use a boning knife.
• Long slices of roasts or brisket. An 8-inch knife is too short for one-stroke slices. Use a slicer.
• Opening packages, cutting string, prying lids. Use scissors.

How to hold a chef’s knife

The pinch grip gives the most control. Pinch the blade just in front of the handle between your thumb and the side of your index finger, and wrap the other three fingers around the handle. It feels odd at first and natural within a week.

The handle grip, with all fingers around the handle, is fine for beginners and for heavy chopping, but you lose some control at the tip.

The guiding hand matters as much. Curl your fingertips under, so your knuckles touch the side of the blade and guide it. The edge can’t reach fingertips that are tucked away.

The three basic motions

Rock chop. Tip stays on the board, handle goes up and down, the belly rolls through the food. Great for herbs and garlic.

Push cut. Push the knife forward and down through the food, so the whole edge slices. Great for onions and carrots.

Pull cut. Draw the knife back toward you as it cuts. Great for slicing meat and fish, and for soft things like tomatoes.

A chef’s knife handles all three. A santoku, by comparison, does push cuts and chopping very well but rocks poorly because its edge is flatter.

What size chef’s knife should you get?

If you’re unsure, 8 inches (or a 210 mm gyuto) is the safe choice. It handles everything from garlic to a whole cabbage.

German vs. Japanese chef’s knives

German-style (Wüsthof, Victorinox, Mercer) have softer steel, a more curved belly and usually a thicker blade. They’re forgiving and easy to sharpen.

Japanese-style (gyutos like the Tojiro DP or Mac) have harder steel, a flatter profile and a thinner blade. They stay sharp longer and cut more precisely, but need gentler use.

My Japanese vs. German knives guide goes into the details.

Chef’s knife vs. other kitchen knives

That’s why the classic advice is a chef’s knife, a paring knife and a bread knife. My 3 knives you need guide explains why that trio covers almost everything.

A week of cooking with one chef’s knife

To show how much one knife covers, here’s what a typical home cooking week asks of it:

• Monday, stir-fry: slice chicken thighs into strips, cut peppers into thin strips, mince garlic and ginger, slice scallions on a bias.
• Tuesday, soup: dice onion, carrot and celery; cube potatoes; chop parsley.
• Wednesday, tacos: dice tomatoes and onion for salsa, mince jalapeño, chop cilantro, slice a cooked flank steak against the grain.
• Thursday, roast vegetables: halve Brussels sprouts, cube butternut squash (carefully), cut cauliflower into florets.
• Friday, salad and fish: chiffonade basil, slice cucumber thin, portion a salmon fillet.
• Weekend: break down a whole pineapple, slice a watermelon, chop nuts for baking.

All of that is chef’s knife work. The only gaps in that week are slicing a crusty loaf and peeling, which is why a bread knife and a paring knife are the two knives most people add next.

How to cut an onion with a chef’s knife

The onion is the one job that teaches almost every chef’s knife skill, so it’s worth learning properly.

1. Cut off the stem end, leave the root end on. The root holds the layers together.
2. Halve the onion through the root and peel off the skin.
3. Lay one half flat side down. Make vertical cuts from near the root to the stem end, keeping the tip of the knife pointed toward the root and stopping just short of it.
4. Optional: make one or two horizontal cuts parallel to the board, again stopping short of the root.
5. Slice across the vertical cuts with your fingertips curled, and the onion falls into dice.
6. Discard the root end.

A sharp knife makes this faster and less tearful, because it cuts cells cleanly instead of crushing them.

How to tell when your chef’s knife needs attention

• It slides off tomato skin instead of biting in.
• Onion slices stick together at the bottom instead of separating.
• You hear crunching when you cut through herbs.
• You push harder than you used to.
• The paper test fails: hold a sheet of printer paper by one corner and slice down. A sharp knife cuts cleanly; a dull one tears or snags.

Try honing first. If that doesn’t fix it, sharpen.

How to keep a chef’s knife cutting well

Hone it often. A few strokes on a ceramic rod every few cooking sessions keep the edge straight.

Sharpen a few times a year. Use a whetstone, a guided system or a decent sharpener. My sharpener guide compares them.

Use a wood or plastic board. Glass, stone and ceramic dull an edge in a few strokes.

Don’t scrape with the edge. Flip the knife and scrape with the spine.

Hand wash and dry right away. Even knives listed as dishwasher safe last longer washed by hand.

Store it safely. A magnetic strip, block or blade guard, never loose in a drawer.

Common mistakes

• Using a dull knife. It slips and takes more force, which is how people get cut.
• Lifting the whole knife off the board for every chop. Rocking or push cutting is faster and easier on your wrist.
• Choking up too far on the handle. Use the pinch grip just in front of the handle.
• Cutting toward your hand. Keep the guiding hand’s fingertips curled.
• Twisting the knife in hard squash. Use a slow downward rock, or switch to a heavier knife.

Which chef’s knife to buy

For most people, the Victorinox Fibrox Pro 8-inch is the easy start: light (5.8 oz), forgiving and inexpensive. If you want a harder Japanese edge and will sharpen on a stone, the Tojiro DP gyuto is the classic upgrade. My full comparison is in best chef’s knives under $100.

Chef’s knife safety basics

A chef’s knife is the knife people most often cut themselves with, simply because it’s the one they use most. A few habits prevent almost all of it:

• Keep it sharp. A sharp knife goes where you aim it. A dull one slips.
• Use a stable board. Put a damp towel or a non-slip mat under the board.
• Flatten round food first. Cut a thin slice off one side of an onion, potato or squash so it sits flat.
• Never catch a falling knife. Step back and let it fall.
• Don’t leave it in the sink. Someone reaches in and finds it with their hand.
• Carry it point down, edge back, along your side.

My knife safety page goes into more detail.