That weird toothed or notched section right near the base of the blades on kitchen scissors—often located inside the handle grips or just below the pivot—is a multi-purpose tool designed for much more than just cutting paper.
Here is what that section is actually for, along with 4 brilliant hacks you can use it for:
What the Toothed Section Is For
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The Bone and Cartilage Notch: That semicircular, serrated notch is built to grip and snip through small bones, chicken joints, and thick cartilage without slipping or dulling your main cutting blades.
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The Grip-Cracker: It is also frequently designed to double as a nutcracker or crab/lobster shell cracker when you squeeze the handles together.
4 Brilliant Hacks You’ve Been Missing
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Pop Off Stubborn Bottle Caps and Lids Many kitchen shears have a built-in bottle opener notch right in the handle or inner edge. You can use it to pop off metal crown caps on glass bottles effortlessly.
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Strip Fresh Herb Stems in Seconds Instead of pulling herbs like rosemary, thyme, or cilantro leaf-by-leaf, place the stem into one of the smaller holes or notches near the base of the scissors, pinch lightly, and pull the stem straight through. The leaves strip off clean instantly.
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Open Sealed Plastic Packaging (Without Ruining Your Blades) That serrated notch is fantastic for biting into thick, stubborn plastic clamshell packaging or vacuum-sealed bags. It anchors the plastic so it doesn’t slide around while you cut.
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Unscrew Tight Jar Lids If a jar lid is stuck, you can clamp the handles of your kitchen scissors around the edge of the lid using the textured grip grooves inside the handles to get extra leverage and twist it open.
