[manofgirolles]

Hi all,

I'm working in a small "bistrot" style restaurant. We do a lot of veg prep as well as some beef, chicken and pork prep. One of the things we do is cut sausages into small bite size pieces. Well, I used my fairly new gyuto for the first time on them (masakage yuki) and it now feels significantly duller than before. It still cuts very well, mind you, but it won't push cut through the skin of a tomato for example.

Is this normal? Are my knife skills off? I can cut through veggies no problem without any significant edge loss, but the moment I touch a sausage, it's over.

Would love to get your thoughts. 

PS: Knife has a 10,000 grit polished edge on it.

 

[brianshaw]

This sounds to me like a situation of either bad sharpening or wrong tool.  Too often it seems that some folks get smitten with Japanese knives with thin edges and acute angles only to find out that they are not durable. That could be your situation. There's a reason why the old-fashioned French/German chef knife (or even less impressive cutlery) still persists in both professional and home kitchens.

If it won't push easily through a tomato skin it is dull.

What are you cutting on. Could that be contributing to a loss of edge? I wouldn't be too quick to blame the poor innocent wienie.

 

[azfireball56]

Man....that is some mighty tough sausages !

 

[phatch]

Sounds like a wire edge.

 

[manofgirolles]

It's the wienie, I swear it!!

Cutting on soft plastic cutting board provided by the house. I cut through 20 sausages... don't think that's too much..?

Really not sure what's going on :/

 

[manofgirolles]

I know right? What are they feeding them pigs?!

 

[manofgirolles]

Deburred after every stone I used, so seems unlikely?

 

[phaedrus]

You're not cutting them frozen are you?

 

[vic cardenas]

A few years ago, at another job, I was doing a lot of prep and ran the meat station. I noticed when I mostly used my soft and thin Japanese knives that if I was prepping mostly vegetables then the edge would last a long time.

But on days that I would trim a bunch of Tenderloin, Ribeyes, Salmon, Sea Bass, Mahi-Mahi, I would have to usually sharpen that knife about 2 or 3 times a shift. I was using mostly a fujiwara 270mm stainless sujihiki (58hrc). 

Going though a bit of meat and then trying to cut tomatoes is usually when I'd be pulling out the strop to refine the edge a bit for those tomatoes. I don't think it is necessarily a wire edge but the meat itself is a lot harder on knives than vegetables.