Did you know that fans of the Rachael Ray cooking show (meals in 30 minutes or less) wrote into Rachael expressing their concern, or perhaps disgust, of the way she held her knife?

True story. After all the hate mail, poor Rach had to change the way she sliced and diced her veggies. Why? Well, Ms. Ray never went to culinary school, so proper technique ain’t her thing (but she can make a mean burger!)

Anyway, there is a correct way to hold a knife, specifically a chef’s knife. I once read that you should hold it like you’re shaking a hand. Here’s what I mean:

Most people tend to put their pointer finger on top of the knife to help direct it. As weird as it seems, you have more control holding it the way shown above.

*Note: most chefs hold the knife as shown in the first picture, but have their hand placed about an inch higher on the knife than I do, so that their thumb and pointer finger are actually on the blade.