My sous chef called out my knife work after 4 years on the line

Been cooking professionally since 2019 and thought I had my knife skills down. Then my new sous chef watched me prep onions for about 30 seconds and said 'you're bruising everything with that grip.' Turns out I was holding my chef's knife too tight and crushing the cells. Changed to a pinch grip and my prep speed went up maybe 20 percent in a week. Has anyone else had a tiny tweak like that totally change your workflow?

3 comments

3 Comments

baker.holly3d ago

Oh man, that reminds me of something that happened to my friend Dave. He worked at this busy Italian place for like five years and always held his tongs with the handles crossed. One day the new chef watched him plate pasta for two seconds and said "why are you fighting yourself?" Made him switch to holding them normally and Dave said his wrist stopped aching by the end of the week. He was so mad nobody told him sooner.

nancyjones3d ago

My buddy at the pizza place I used to work at had the same thing happen with his spatula grip on the flat top. He was holding it like a tennis racket and the GM told him to loosen up and use his wrist more, and suddenly his eggs weren't turning into scrambled messes anymore. It's wild how one little adjustment can make everything click after years of doing it wrong.

john_fisher3d ago

I gotta say, I'm a little skeptical that changing your grip is this huge game changer for most people. "Crushing the cells" really? Onions are pretty tough, and unless you're using a rusty butter knife, I doubt a little extra pressure is actually bruising anything that matters. I mean, sure, if you were strangling the knife like it owed you money, then yeah a pinch grip might help a bit. But 20 percent faster in a week? That sounds like more of a placebo effect or maybe just getting comfortable with a new motion. Honestly, I think a lot of kitchen tips get blown way out of proportion. If your knife work was fine for four years and nobody else said anything, then the problem was probably just that one sous chef being picky. Maybe I'm wrong and it really did work for you, but it feels like another one of those chef-isms where people act like a tiny detail changes everything.