A line cook in Austin told me my knife work looked tense, so I changed one small thing

Michael Coleman · 2026-09-22T07:45:05.628914+00:00

I was prepping onions next to a line cook named Dre at a spot on East 6th about 3 months ago. He watched me for a bit and said my shoulders were up by my ears the whole time, like I was fighting the board. I started raising my cutting board 3 inches with a stacked sheet pan and dropped my grip down to a pinch on the blade. My 50 pound onion prep went from 40 minutes to about 28, and my wrist stopped aching after shifts. Nobody teaches you that stuff in culinary school, they just say keep your knife sharp and move on. Has anyone else messed with their board height or grip and seen a real difference in speed?

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A line cook in Austin told me my knife work looked tense, so I changed one small thing | Chefs - The Design Community Hub