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    Nail Care

    My fellow cooks, how do you chop food without chopping your free edge off?


    (Mani tax: Starrily Guardian base coat x2, Kathleen & Co. If they only knew the you that we know x2, Bee’s Knees QDTC)

    I really like having a meaningful but not too long free edge (~1/4 to 1/2 inch) but I’ve been finding it very difficult to slice, dice, or otherwise use a knife while cooking without accidentally cutting my free edge from time to time. I tend to hold the food I’m chopping (let’s say onion) with the meaty tip of my fingers, which means my nails stick out a bit farther than that. When I’m slicing the onion, I’ll sometimes get too close to my nails and nick the tip of my free edge with the knife. Does anyone have tips or tricks for avoiding this?

    I have noticed chefs (on cooking shows) do not keep substantial free edges so maybe it’s just incompatible but I figured if anyone knew tricks to avoid cutting one’s nails while using a knife, it’d be this brain trust.

    by External_Weird_8251

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    17 Comments

    1. External_Weird_8251 on

      Oh and yes my ring fingernail is shorter as a casualty at the end of a santouku knife

    4. peacock_head on

      I don’t know but that color is amazing! I keep telling myself I don’t need it because I have Lumen’s Espress Oh! and it is nearly the same but the draw is strong.

    5. amrita666 on

      I was JUST thinking about a similar issue – PEELING GARLIC is my worssssttttt enemy. I’m not sure how to do it without jeopardizing the polish on the corner of my thumb nail especially 😬

    7. Individual_Many7070 on

      When chopping use the claw method where you curl your fingers with your fingers are not holding but used as a guide. It’s a little hard to describe here. It takes practice to get proficient but it saves the nails. Google chopping by the claw method

    9. DoomLoopNaturals on

      Make a paw! Look up knife work videos for chefs etc and you’ll see the method. It’s actually pretty essential in general to keep fingers safe. No finger should ever be in the way of a knife blade’s path.

    10. Current_Working_2103 on

      I’m not good at the claw method so I hold my veg with my hand in a bit of an L shape. I can semi claw but not enough. Thin gloves are also a huge help for saving hand health in general while cooking bc I wash my hands SO much. I will use a pair while chopping also most times now.

    11. Environmental_Hat_67 on

      I feel you!! I know the “proper/paw technique” as some people have mentioned would avoid this but I just can’t get the hang of it 🥹 also i feel like that one doesn’t work very well with long nails either. so i have often cut my thumb nail too unless i’m really focused. Plus getting food bits under my nails 😩 but I get used to it eventually i guess small price to pay for me haha

    16. CallidoraBlack on

      There are lots of devices you can use to help prevent accidents when cutting things. You might want to look to see whether any of them will help avoid this issue particularly.

    17. Mammoth_Solution_730 on

      I wear food prep gloves and that offers a measure of protection, besides just making it so that I protect them from all the hand washing as well. But also I curve my fingers around the item I am chopping. Doesn’t always work though.

      When I worked in food service, we couldn’t have any length of nail or polish (don’t want bacteria under the nails or polish chips to get into food) so there’s something to be said for the incompatibility.

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