Previously I answered that a *legitimate use* for a utility knife might be [when you can only afford one knife][1]. In the same post I undermine my own answer showing how I found no historical evidence for this. I wonder if I wasn't more interested in venting frustration at having a poor knife than providing a good answer.

Leaving aside my dubious attempt at an answer, I *did* find a good use for my utility knife a while back when peeling fresh ginger. I alternated between in-the-hands peeling and on-the-cutting-board chopping off of medium sized chunks of root to peel.

This seems to me both a *general* and *legitimate* use for the utility knife.

**A good use for the utility knife is when you need to alternate between in-the-hands and on-the-chopping-board use.**


  [1]: https://cooking.stackexchange.com/a/28537/1549
  [2]: https://cooking.stackexchange.com/a/30306/1549
  [3]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galangal