The day I realized I was holding my knife like a caveman for 15 years

I cooked dinner at my aunt's place in Portland last Saturday and she casually said, "you grip that chef's knife like you're trying to choke it." I laughed it off, but then she showed me the pinch grip on her old Wusthof, index finger and thumb on the blade, and suddenly my wrist stopped aching. All those years of chopping onions with a death grip, wondering why my hand cramped up after 20 minutes, and nobody ever told me the handle is mostly just for balance. I tried it on a bag of carrots and it felt like the blade was doing the work instead of my forearm. Now I'm watching every YouTube video I can find about knife technique, but honestly I'm a little annoyed at every recipe video I've ever watched that never showed the hand position close up. Has anyone else had that random kitchen moment where a relative pointed out something so basic you felt dumb for missing it?

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william_harris22d ago

Choke it" is exactly what I was doing, my hand wrapped around the handle like it owed me money. I always figured the grip was just personal preference, but I tried the pinch thing two nights ago and it felt like I'd been missing a cheat code this whole time. Kinda mad about all those years of sore wrists, honestly.