equipmentknife-safetyknife-skills
I bought a new set of knives and my dad used the chopping knives to cut onions.
Instead of chopping by slicing the onions with the usual technique, he was using his two hands to hold the knife by the extremities and chopping the onions this way. Is this going to destroy my knives?
I am assuming by "fluted knife", you mean what is sometimes called a granton or hollow edge knife, where there are indentations in the blade intended to reduce sticking or adhesion to the food:
Except in very specific circumstances, this feature makes very little difference, those circumstances being:
For most use, it simply doesn't matter. In fact, the thickness of the blade tends to have more of an effect than the voids in most cases.
Except in the specific case of a slicing knife (which is a specialty knife that most beginning cooks have no need for; you have also in other questions indicated you are a vegetarian where this knife is primarily for slicing hams and other large roasts), this is not a feature I would look for:
Also known as a "bird's beak", it's used for tournéeing root vegetables (turning them into little footballs) and making fancy, delicate cuts when carving garnishes from fruit or vegetables. More practically, the curved blade is great for peeling round vegetables and fruit. It's a complete pain in the butt to sharpen without a belt grinder (or pro sharpening service with same), but gosh, it looks neat. Congrats on the fun present!
Best Answer
Hard chopping will not destroy the knife, but it will dull the knife faster. The edge of a knife is extremely narrow. As a result, regular use will push the edge to the left or right, leading to burrs. Hard impacts accelerate this process, and can even cause the edge of the blade to chip. Knife blades stay sharp longest when they are used gently and on soft cutting surfaces.