Abstract: A hand-held jig for confining a bagel, or like object, while it is being sliced by a knife blade and a method of using the jig are disclosed. The jig comprises two identical structures that are joined together by a specialized hinge. The two structures are mirror images of each other and each comprises a circular cage (for loosely surrounding the rim of a bagel) that is attached to the hinge on one side and to a radially extending handle on the opposite side, and clamps in front of the cage for retaining and gripping the bagel and preventing its movement. The hinge is composed of material not injurious to a knife blade when it strikes the hinge, and is so constructed as to be fixed with respect to one of the structures and yet allow rotation of the other structure with respect to the hinge.