Preparing food with a knife
When preparing food in the kitchen, there are lots of different tools to choose from.
Knives can be used to slice food into smaller pieces.
They are very sharp, so they have to be used very carefully.
Make sure you ask an adult to help you to use a knife safely and always use a chopping board.
Video: How to slice safely
Join Suzie, Caiden and Emma in the kitchen to learn how to slice foods safely.
Suzie: I'm in my kitchen with Caiden and Emma. We've washed our hands, our workspace is clean and tidy and we're preparing some fruit salad.
Caiden: We're going to add some strawberries, pineapple and banana.
Emma: Let's wash our strawberries first.
Suzie: Now we need to cut them into smaller pieces, so to do that we'll need to use a knife.
We all know that knives are sharp, that's why it's important to handle them carefully and to use them correctly, with supervision from an adult.
Grip the handle tightly with your writing hand. This metal part is called the blade. This is the blunt side and this is the sharp cutting edge.
Emma: We need to use the sharp side to cut the strawberries.
Suzie: That's right! The blade always faces downwards and away from us. Be sure to keep your fingers away from the cutting edge.
To cut the strawberry, I'll use the bridge hold.
Make a bridge with your hand, keeping your fingers together on one side of the fruit and your thumb on the other side.
Hold the strawberry securely and keep the bridge strong and tall.
The knife goes under the bridge and cuts through the strawberry. Do you want to try?
Caiden: Yes please!
Emma: I can cut the pineapple.
Suzie: Great! For this, I'm going to use a different method, the claw grip.
Holding the pineapple securely, curl your fingers like this, so you can't see your fingernails. Keep the knife straight and cut in front of your fingers, keeping them well back. Keep moving your claw grip back to cut more slices.
Do you want to have a go?
Emma: Yes.
Suzie: Another useful cutting method is the fork secure method. This method uses the fork to keep the food steady when cutting to protect your fingers. Always hold the knife with your writing hand. If it's difficult to remove the fork from the fruit, you can use the knife for support.
Emma: It looks delicious.
Suzie: Now you know how to slice foods safely and correctly, you will be able to use these methods to prepare all sorts of foods. But remember - always ask an adult to supervise when slicing. Who wants some?
Children: Me!
Using a knife
You should hold the knife in your writing hand and the food that you want to slice in the other.
Only touch the knife handle and never touch the blade.
Methods of slicing
There are three different methods that we use to hold the food for slicing:
- the bridge hold
- the claw grip
- the fork secure method
Use a small paring knife and some soft foods, like a banana or strawberries, to practise these methods.
Make sure that an adult always helps you to use the knife safely.
The bridge hold
The bridge hold is mainly used to cut food in half, such as a grape or a strawberry.
Take a look at this slideshow to find out how to use the bridge hold.
Image caption, Step 1
Take the knife and hold it in your writing hand. Make sure that the blade of the knife is facing downwards.
1 of 3
The claw grip
The claw grip is mainly used to cut food into slices, such as a banana or a cucumber.
Take a look at this slideshow to find out how to use the claw grip.
Image caption, Step 1
Hold the knife in your writing hand with the blade pointing downwards. Take the food in your holding hand. Rest the nails of your holding hand on top of the food near where you want to cut. Curl your fingers and press down with your nails.
1 of 3
The fork secure method
You can use a fork to hold the food whilst you learn to slice with a knife. Choose a soft food, like a banana, to practise on.
Take a look at this slideshow to find out how to use the fork secure method.
Image caption, Step 1
Pick up the fork in your holding hand and the knife in your writing hand.
1 of 4
Quiz: Slicing safely
Time to put your knowledge to the test with this quiz.
More on Cooking and nutrition
Find out more by working through a topic
- count4 of 6
- count5 of 6
- count6 of 6
- count1 of 6
