There’s a very good reason why every culinary student must take a knife work class toward the beginning of their studies. Learning how to cut your food properly can make a huge difference in your cooking and the effort you put into preparing food. Let’s take a look at some of the basic techniques outlined for us by Serious Eats:

The Slice

The slice technique works especially well for large vegetables and meats. Slice whatever you’re cutting in half so that it rests on a flat, stable surface. Keep the tip of the knife on the cutting board at all times and rest the flat side of the blade against your knuckles while slicing.

The Chop

You’ll want to use the chop technique when you need to precisely cut veggies and herbs with a santoku-style knife. You can even interchange this method with “the slice,” it just depends on your taste and style.

The Rock Chop

The rock chop is good to use when finely mincing or zesting fresh herbs. You’ll want to first roughly chop your ingredients using the slice or chop method. Then gather your ingredients into a small pile. Put the tip of your knife on one side of the pile and hold it steady with your free hand. Then simply rock the knife back and forth, regathering ingredients as needed, until they are fully minced.

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Check out more great knife advice over at Serious Eats.