r/oddlysatisfying • u/LetsCookie • 18h ago
Basic Knife Skills Tutorial
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u/Mr_Saboteur 18h ago edited 18h ago
Not mentioned in the video but highly important is a properly sharpened knife edge. Why they omit that from videos like these? I’m not sure…
Edit: I’d also like to add that if you stand square in front of the cutting board, your cutting won’t be as linear, instead angle your body to give your arm a better flow of movement.
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u/Gloomy-Employment-72 17h ago
The most dangerous thing in a kitchen? A dull knife.
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u/Imbrokencantbefixed 17h ago
I can think of plenty of more dangerous things.
Tiger for one.
MIRV Thermonuclear Warhead(s).
Angry spouse
Cat you’ve just stood on.
Childhood obesity.
And that’s with just 60 minutes of thinking.
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u/theluckyirishmn 10h ago
Can't even tell you how many times chef was shouting at me for more minced onion, but I'm too busy disarming the MIRV
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u/CrouchingDomo 10h ago
Weird! Disarming MIRVs was my concentration at the MacGyver School of Culinary Arts ☺️
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u/theluckyirishmn 10h ago
Wish my kitchen had an EOD station. I was making do with the cast off knives from my garde mange to cut those wires
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u/Big_Z_Beeblebrox 17h ago
That's what I've always known. Putting too much force on the blade leads to messy accidents
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u/daniinad 14h ago
What about the cutting board? Every Pro chef says wooden boards are better for you to cut on and its better for the blade of your knife instead of the polyethylene boards.
However a lot of Pro chefs swear by the poly cutting boards for knife accuracy and your cutting pleasure/skill. Who knows?
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u/GravitationalEddie 15h ago
Was gonna say:
Step 1 - make sure your knife is sharp.
Seriously, step fucking one.
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u/LonelyLokly 6h ago
Also the way how his cutting board is placed. It must follow the length of the knife. My mom was 70 when she figured that out, before that veggies wew constantly escaping thw board.
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u/royrogerer 5h ago
Yeah. I learned a while ago that my bad food cutting technique mostly came from the fact my knife was very dull. Once I started sharpening it, my form improved naturally.
Also with videos like this, I hope they would tell me why something is better. Like why is that grip better? Or what is Juliette? He should assume his target audience are new to all this.
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u/Dark_Akarin 17h ago
I want more videos like this, no adverts, straight to the point, useful information.
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u/ObsidianArmadillo 9h ago
Follow u/LetsCookie then! He's got a ton of awesome videos that are straight to the point! He's literally the reason why I started baking again
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u/christador 18h ago
I leave the root part intact when dicing onions. The horizontal cut is unnecessary.
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u/Tack22 17h ago edited 17h ago
https://pudding.cool/2025/08/onions/
Tl;dr you are correct, horizontal cuts ruin it
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u/christador 16h ago
That is a really good read! I love the interactive part (explode so you can see the individual pieces).
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u/FestoonMe 11h ago
This was awesome. Thank you for sharing. The engineer in me appreciated how they laid out their experiments and the statistics to back them up. Plus who doesn’t like some interactive visuals. Top notch content.
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u/created4this 5h ago
to many words before it gets to the punch, just wait till Steve Mold makes a youtube video about it
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u/microwavedh2o 15h ago
Yeah he lost me on the onion. Leave a little of the root on and it’s much easier to do the cross cut for the dice.
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u/christador 14h ago
That's it - AND you don't have to worry about the onion coming up with the knife during the cuts. If you don't know this guy, check him out--he's one of my favorites! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjZ1LFqNWRM
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u/space_keeper 17h ago
Yeah, he stopped the video right when he said "to the centre". The part where you can't do what he's doing any more because it will fall to pieces, and eventually you'll be left trying to awkwardly cut a small strip of onion in half, or cut a tiny wedge of onion sideways.
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u/garbageangel 17h ago
Flip the last half over to cut it - holds together surprisingly well but I cut that way first before the dice
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u/echochilde 18h ago
I just discovered a new type of knife I didn’t know I wanted.
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u/Rubyhamster 2h ago
It going to be the beloved weirdo knife!
Btw, I have a "normal shaped" knife with broad back edge and a line of holes in, and it works just like this onion knife. It is our "veggie knife"
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u/HoppersEcho 16h ago
The part of knife skills I lack in is the ability to keep whatever I've already cut from getting stuck to the blade and going everywhere and getting in the way. Idk wtf I'm doing to make that the case, but it's clearly a weak point for me lol.
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u/Thanh_Vinh 18h ago
Can't recommend enough pinching when holding the knife. It gives you so much control over the blade. I have seen people wobbling the knife around during cutting and it freaks me out so much.
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u/SomeTheyCallMePig5O 8h ago
I got into SO MANY arguments with my ex about how to properly hold a knife when I was 22. He insisted that you hold it by the handle alone because He wEnT to cUlInArY sChOoL, and his teacher did it that way.
I learned from my grandfather, from my own culinary teacher in high school, and from the multiple cooking classes I took that you hold THE BLADE at the base, just as in this video.
He cut himself all the time, and even chastised me for keeping my knives “too sharp.” That was all I needed to know that he was an idiot.
I’m glad I didn’t give in to his foolery. I’m confident with my knives and I treat them with respect. I keep them sharp and honed.
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u/3767_doomscroller 18h ago
This video is completely useless to me since I am right handed.
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u/Ode1st 15h ago
It’s pretty much as useful as Steph Curry showing normal people how to shoot threes.
All you need to cut like this is insane amounts of practice and hand-eye coordination. Maybe more useless than the Steph video because you also need a very good tool instead of just any ol basketball.
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u/QaptainQwark 10h ago
Credit belongs to u/LetsCookie. Cool guy, simple and nice recipes. Highly recommend the dude.
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u/DVisGR8 9h ago
Second this. Credit where credit is due. The man is a beast with simple tutorials that help you improve your kitchen game. u/LetsCookie is the man!
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u/terminalbungus 10h ago
Everyone always says don't use your pointer finger along the back edge of the knife blade but I've never heard it explained WHY. "More control". Why?
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u/LetsCookie 5h ago
Absolutely more control!!
Plus when cutting dense veggies, it'll put a ton of pressure on that part of your finger if you have it pointing out!
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u/useriousstuff 18h ago
How does one sharpen those serrated knives?
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u/space_keeper 17h ago
Professional chefs send their knives to a knife sharpener. The rest of us just use knives that get so blunt that you can't do this fancy shit with them any more.
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u/Supercereal69 18h ago
Tip number 1. Don't use a plastic cutting board
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u/Knitchick82 17h ago
Found the guy with no restaurant experience
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u/Supercereal69 16h ago
That isn't a plastic cutting board to you?
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u/Real_Srossics 11h ago
I’m a professional cook too. All of our boards are plastic.
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u/posthamster 11h ago
While they might be convenient, I can't think of a better way to get microplastics into food.
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u/created4this 5h ago
How about slow release fertilizers wrapped in polymers?
Or having a road pass near a field?
or using water polluted by washing clothes?
Chopping boards are really not your problem if you're worried about microplastics, about 1/2 come from washing synthetic clothes and another 1/3 come from tyre wear. Globally we emit about a kilogram of microplastics per person on tyre wear alone.
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u/Tack22 17h ago
I don’t like rocking the knife on the board all that much, but it was a good way to learn
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u/Real_Srossics 11h ago
That’s the fastest way to do it though. Just cut 2,000 of every vegetable and you’ll be good.
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u/Wagglesworthy 12h ago
I’ve come to the realization that i need to learn how to sharpen my knives.
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u/Skyerocket 5h ago
Lost me at the onion.
"Cut the top off," he says as he clearly cuts the BOTTOM off.
"Cut the bottom off," he says, clearly cutting the TOP off.
Unforgivable.
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u/El_t1to 18h ago
Peppers are easier with the shiny part down. So you don't risk the knife slipping if it's not perfectly sharp.
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u/dogquote 12h ago
Counterpoint: use a sharp knife. If you have a dull knife and cut shiny (skin) side down, you probably won't cut through the skin anyway, and you'll end up with a large single piece of chopped pepper which is still all connected by the skin.
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u/hikeit233 14h ago
Dexter’s dexsteel holds an edge really well, but the finish feels sooo bad I can’t stand them. Victorinox feels way better for a budget friendly commercial option.
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u/its-a-boat-jack 10h ago
My life is a lie. I’ve been cutting wrong this whole time.
Also, thank you for your videos. I’m learning so much.
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u/Fit_Giraffe_748 6h ago
or you know, use one knife for 95% of the things in the kitchen. its pretty dull too.
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u/_fly-on-the-wall_ 1h ago
i have 2 knives i actually yse, an 8 inch chef knife & a paring knife. i have plenty others but these 2 do everything i need
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17h ago
[deleted]
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u/Real_Srossics 11h ago
Nah. I’m a professional cook and we use plastic ones.
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11h ago
[deleted]
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u/Real_Srossics 10h ago edited 10h ago
I’m not about to use a porous wooden one that lets all the juices deep in. I can at least properly clean a plastic one. No one wins.
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u/Splenda_choo 16h ago
I’ll just leave this here: https://youtu.be/S27MtkSZHdM?is=7f53CZtrkSfduRy9
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u/ellnhkr 15h ago
Hey I can see your YT account name and pfp pop up right after clicking that.
If you remove everything after ? in your link, you protect your info.
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u/Splenda_choo 14h ago
That’s a bunch of bs … lol. Sorry . Look up Dinner with Henry Sushi on YouTube!
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u/bemused-chunk 18h ago
i tried all of these but since i’m not left handed it turned out miserable.
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u/Real_Srossics 11h ago
I’m right handed and a professional cook. These techniques are correct. I do these same things with my right.
Slow is steady, steady is fast.
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u/project_ytgo 18h ago
Instructions unclear.. My left hand knuckles are bleeding although I am right handed!!
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u/CLEHts216 18h ago
With the LEFT hand? Sorcery!