My knife angle was wrong for 4 years, a prep cook called it out

I've been prepping for a decade and always thought I had decent knife skills. Last Tuesday, a new prep cook named Miguel watched me breaking down a case of peppers and asked why I was using such a flat angle. He showed me that I was basically scraping the board instead of slicing, which explained why my knuckles kept getting raw and why my blades dulled so fast. I tested his 15 degree suggestion on a bag of onions and the difference was night and day, no more smashing the shallots. Now I'm wondering what other bad habits I've been carrying around without realizing it. Has anyone else had a younger cook point out a flaw in their technique that just clicked?

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terryrobinson10d ago

Wait, are you really gonna let one new guy mess with what's worked for you for a decade... I mean, that flat angle was probably saving your wrist from all that extra pressure, and now you're gonna chop slower to keep your knuckles from getting a little raw? That's part of the job, man. Plus, if your blades were dulling fast, maybe you just needed to sharpen them more often instead of blaming your grip, cause a 15 degree angle on a cheap house knife is gonna chip like crazy on those pepper stems. I've seen guys chase "perfect angles" and end up with sliced fingertips or bent tips, and then they're back to flat again by the end of the week. Not saying Miguel's wrong, but I'd wait a month before you go rewriting everything you've learned...