Need an all purpose knife

When you say single bevel, is that chisel point or vee point?

Quote:

Originally Posted by BeardedCrow 

BTW I'm used to single bevel knives.
I've been using water stones for a few years, but no expert.

Your Shun is VG-10, VG-10 is somewhat more chip prone than other alloys, and Shun isn't the least chippy of san-mai VG-10s, cutting maki and temaki is fairly light duty and shouldn't result in chipping.  Shouldn't shmouldn't.  It does, and here we are.

The good news is that it's not hard to move to something better than Shun.  LOTS of better knives than Shun.  LOTS.  "LOTS" as in any good knife.

There's no theoretical reason a kiritsuke -- which combines some of the advantages of usuba, yanagi, and gyuto -- won't work for you.  But that doesn't mean it will.   You might be better off with a more extensive kit.  Most of the sushi men I know use the three knife combo of yanagiba, deba and usuba -- each as appropriate; some use a suji for slicing during the day and reserve their yanagibas for the high-rolling dinner crowd.  

Unfortunately I don't have enough experience with traditional Japanese edges to give you much guidance.  Get in touch with Jon Broida (who owns Japanese Knife Imports) either by PM or phone.  He can help you, no doubt.  

Now that you know how little I know, take it FWIW that I'd probably go carbon over stainless for your purposes anyway.  But talk to Jon. 

BDL 

Quote:

Originally Posted by boar_d_laze 

Your Shun is VG-10, VG-10 is somewhat more chip prone than other alloys, and Shun isn't the least chippy of san-mai VG-10s, cutting maki and temaki is fairly light duty and shouldn't result in chipping.  Shouldn't shmouldn't.  It does, and here we are.

 

The good news is that it's not hard to move to something better than Shun.  LOTS of better knives than Shun.  LOTS.  "LOTS" as in any good knife.

 

There's no theoretical reason a kiritsuke -- which combines some of the advantages of usuba, yanagi, and gyuto -- won't work for you.  But that doesn't mean it will.   You might be better off with a more extensive kit.  Most of the sushi men I know use the three knife combo of yanagiba, deba and usuba -- each as appropriate; some use a suji for slicing during the day and reserve their yanagibas for the high-rolling dinner crowd.  

 

Unfortunately I don't have enough experience with traditional Japanese edges to give you much guidance.  Get in touch with Jon Broida (who owns Japanese Knife Imports) either by PM or phone.  He can help you, no doubt.  

 

Now that you know how little I know, take it FWIW that I'd probably go carbon over stainless for your purposes anyway.  But talk to Jon. 

 

BDL 

just fyi, i'm in japan until october 20th, so while i am responding as best i can, there can sometimes be delays.

I was going to say for a true all purpose, I LOVE a cleaver, or Japanese vegetable knife(Nakiri). Great for almost everything i can think of, with the exception of hacking at heavy bones. . . but I don't think that is something you would have to deal with regularly.

Single edged blade(iirc), great for using the tip for fine work, middle for typical work/prep, the length is great for slicing, and being wide and flat, is great to use as a spatula to help cary things to the bowl/wok/where ever. . .

Which slicer?

Good luck with your new suji.  I hope it not only does what you want, but does all those things beautifully. 

Paranthetically, I must say that a nakiri is one of the worst choices for an all-rounder in a sushi-ya which I could imagine.  But those are my imaginings.  What's your reasoning Jon?  Do you use anything as short as a nakiri for a lot of slicing and other fish prep?

FWIW and without getting into ambiguous single and double bevel/edge terminology:  MOST nakiri are sharpened on both sides in the typical "V" and not sharpened almost entirely on one side in Japanese, "chisel" or "hamaguri" fashion. 

BDL

I may be wrong, but isn't there more to a single bevel than just grinding away the other side? Something about it being more like \( than \| I believe 

So, if one flattens a V, does that mean you grind half of the knife away to create the chisel edge \|/ ?

The easiest way to turn a "V" edge into a chisel is to sharpen primarily on one side, doing just enough work on the other side to chase the burr.  It's a fairly gradual process and you don't waste a lot of metal that way. 

In my opinion you don't get enough benefit in terms of absolute sharpness and lose too much durability when you sharpen a relatively thin knife -- like most sujis, and Masamoto Sweden in particular -- with too much asymmetry.  But to each his own. 

BDL

Why not get a Yanagi in white, or blue steel?  Or maybe a Kiritsuke will be more "all purpose" for you. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by boar_d_laze 

Good luck with your new suji.  I hope it not only does what you want, but does all those things beautifully. 

 

Paranthetically, I must say that a nakiri is one of the worst choices for an all-rounder in a sushi-ya which I could imagine.  But those are my imaginings.  What's your reasoning Jon?  Do you use anything as short as a nakiri for a lot of slicing and other fish prep?

 

FWIW and without getting into ambiguous single and double bevel/edge terminology:  MOST nakiri are sharpened on both sides in the typical "V" and not sharpened almost entirely on one side in Japanese, "chisel" or "hamaguri" fashion. 

 

BDL

Sorry for the long turnaround, been a bit hectic.

I have always preferred a "cleaver" style knife, especially for when there is a LOT of prep to do with produce. I am trying to find an adequate picture of the knife I picked up in Chinatown about a decade ago, and use almost daily, but can't find one that does it justice. . . it's the same shape of the nakiri, but just a bit longer, and a little bit wider. I have done multitudes of slicing  with it, loads of Ahi, loads of pork/beef, and even small butchering jobs like short ribs and what not. For me, I like being able to work from the cutting surface, and into the pan when possible, and I like that it acts as a spatula as well. I like it's length as I can get through most fish in one pull, same with beef. The weight is pretty well balanced for my needs, and for me I just like it's feel. . . your mileage may vary.

The Usuba has a single edge, is very similar to a Nikiri, and a wee bit thinner, IIRC.

Different strokes, for different folks.

Sorry to be unclear 808Jon.  Wrong Jon.  I meant Jon Broida. 

FWIW, a usuba is much less like a nakiri or ordinary Chinese "cleaver" (or the Japanese chuko-bocho variant) than you imagine.  Compared to a nakiri, usuba are heavier and thicker, the edges are differently shaped, usubas promote a variety of specialized cutting techniques which nakiri don't do well, and usuba require substantially more skill to use well. 

BDL