Knife work

How to slice evenly

Cut food into flat pieces of the same thickness.

Step by step

Give round food a flat side to sit on.
Hold it with your fingertips curled under.
Cut with long strokes, pushing the knife forward and down rather than straight down.
Move your guiding hand back the same distance each time so every slice matches.

The slices are even. For meat, slicing across the grain (across the lines of muscle) gives the tenderest bite.

Sawing back and forth with a dull knife, which tears soft food like tomatoes and bread.
Slicing meat with the grain, which makes it chewy.

In those recipes the word is underlined in the steps; tap it for the short version. In hands-free cook mode, ask “How do I slice?”