YOU are holding your Chef’s knife WRONG! 

Very comprehensive, detailed and balanced information. As many others have stressed, you give great advice. Thank you!

It is amazing how many videos tell you “the right way to hold a chef’s knife” without ever mentioning the balance point (?!) or how you want the knife to behave in your hand for a particular task. Without knowing those things, I cannot tell you how to hold your knife. Chef Panko does a great job of explaining this.

I use a pinch grip but I don't when I started using it. My grandmother cooked for a living and was my first cooking instructor. I also picked up things from fellow soldiers I knew who were cooks and while stationed overseas I liked watching the people prepare and cook food especially in the mom & pop restaurants and street venders.

*Tell me what gripping style you are using and why.* *Here is what I use:* The Pinch grip at the neck/bolster/blade (depending on the knife ''point of balance'' if it is handle heavy I will not buy that kind of knife as it does not fit my needs) Example: 2:46 *Why?:* The knives I use will have a straighter blade profile to accommodate the ''forward chopping'' motion that I use the most. The ''Point of Balance'' should be exactly at the point where I pinch grip the knife since it will neither be front nor back heavy with my gripping style. Since the knives I use are usually 24cm+ the pinch grip at the blade or bolster will help a lot with stabilizing the blade. You will have more control and the blade will not wobble that much if you increase your cutting speed since pinching at the blade/bolster supports the blade. *Extra info:* My secondary gripping style is the fingertip grip, but this grip is not used all the time and is mainly used because of the extra range of motion and flexibility you have with the blade and wrist. It is used on softer produce (avocado, pear, mangoes, etc), and when I don't want the food to stick on the blade (for presentation reasons or other reasons, etc). With the fingertip grip, the knife will be front heavy assisting me with my slicing motion towards myself (Example: 0:46). (Usually, I will use the fingertip grip with a Yanagiba or a Petty knife depending on what I slice but when I'm too lazy to grab a specialized knife for the task the Gytuo will do just fine). As demonstrated at 4:05, I prefer a petty for that kind of task to the 27cm knife (If I'm at work I rather make it easier for myself to switch the 27cm knife out for a smaller petty but if I just need to do 1 pear I will stick to the Gyuto but If I need to do 20 pears I will switch to a petty).

Nice to see this video from you Panko! Good to change it up from the reviews and to build a catalogue of basic videos (new) people can fall back on!

Thank you Chef for an excellent primer on correct handle grips. I own some very nice knives but have not been taking advantage of their design. Thanks to your explanations and illustrations I Now understand and will begin using the pinch grip on my Chef's knives. I always felt the knife was unstable when I would work quickly, so I slowed down. Now I can move quickly and safely using the pinch grip which I will try. Thanks again and take care!

a wonderfully thorough and informative video, thank you!

Fantastic video, because so many people are told “x is always right” or “y is always wrong”. I use four chef’s knives, all with different handles and balance points, and I hold them all differently because that is the way they were designed. I generally save my gyuto for precision slicing soft foods; I grip it at the balance point far down the blade. My main knife has a German profile and relatively thin blade, great in the hand and perfect for high speed, high volume rock-slicing, held with a pinch grip nestled against the front of the bolster. I also have a heavy-bladed full bolster French profile knife I use when likely to encounter bones or for squash, etc. I grip the bolster itself, it is a real battle-axe. The fourth knife I sometimes use is my wife’s Zwilling santoku, usually because it is lying out, although it is very comfortable for light use. I use a full handle grip because it is balanced that way; quite handle-heavy with a very thin blade. The handle is very ergonomic and resists twisting (at least for light duty as Chef Panko says; I will not be setting any speed records with it!) It is clearly a home cook knife, but a well designed and high quality one that I would recommend to a novice, the “cryo” steel holds quite a decent edge in my experience.

Wow outdoor scenes!! Sunshine, on my shoulders makes me happy 🎵🎶. I mainly use pinch grip at the blade for western chef and chinese slicers, pinch at bolster for japanese chef/santoku, handle grip when i need to stab someone.... I mean when i am handling a machete.

For most knives pinch grip at the blade or near the choil depending on the knife balance point. For Chinese Vegetable Cleaver I use a modified pinch grip with extended fingers. It helps to hold the extra weight and there's no risk of cutting the gripping hand because of how tall the blade is. Transitioning from one style to the other feels awkward untill I adapt again.

I mainly use a pinch grip, but when I do Horizontal cuts in vegetables, I automatically switch to a fingertip grip ( it just comes to me, I don't know why), Also for slicing meat, I use a fingertip grip, its so much easier to slice things using that grip. I don't usually use a handle grip (maybe for cutting dense foods every now and then).

Hi Panko , nice to see you back 👋👋

I like your approach here. Very nice video. Thank you. Would you make a video about Japanese rubber cutting boards. Is it worth the hype for knife lover home cooks?

Another great and informative video! thank you ChefPanko

Fantastic work, Chef Panko!

Chef, when are you going to cook something for us? I'm sure we would all love to see you cook some of your favorite dishes.

Hm..... always done both grips naturally, never even thought about it. Since handle grip gives crap control.

Back heavy knives typically favor a hammer grip on the handle with a forward rocking motion. These are for traditional western style knives though.

I tried using a pinch grip, and it's fine for Western knifes that have full bolsters like my Wustoff, or even half-bolster like Mercer. With Japanese knives, even ones with yo-handles, the choil and spine are so sharp that I sometimes get little tiny cuts in my fingers from them. It's not super comfortable in general, at least for me. I know it works well for most of other people. My favorite grip is to choke up on the handle and place my THUMB OVER the spine. It gives me great control, especially since I push cut mostly. This feels the most natural to me. I didn't learn it from anyone, I just have always held my knives this way, and it's a mystery to me why more home cooks don't do this.

I see it differently, people who favor big knives will often grab the blade (blade pinch grip) to make it shorter. I use a handle pinch grip because the size feels ok and the spine is too narrow. The long handle becomes the next problem with blade pinch grip. Chinese cleavers having an appropriate wide blade and short handle for a comfortable blade pinch grip.

Misono knives are the BEST!

The only thing he is missing is the Cia dao, or chinese vegtable cleaver. Because of the depth of the blade, it is possible to use a "peace sign" grip by pinching with the middle finger allowing the index finger to sit atop. However, most home cooks will not consider using such a large knife.

I'm not sure these grips are wrong...For example I'll change to handle grip for speed because I need to prolong the lever to gain cutting force at the blade, especially the western handle .