Paring knife tales and the humble opinel.

So... Hattori FH paring knife arrived. Far too small in the hand and the curved heel of the handle didnt agree with peeling.

So its back off to jck, the search continues.

So thats so far.. A warther, A custom harner (lovely but handle too short) and a hattori FH.

why do knifemakers insist on tiny handles for paring knifes, gah!

Tonight, I'm making a curry and decide to lump in a few potatoes, I pull out my carbon Opinel #7 and use it, honestly It felt more comfy than any of the others so far. Also nice and thin and takes a good edge (stropped on newspaper after and it was good to go)



I might just use this and wait until murray carter makes some paring knives lol

I've never tried opinels kitchen stuff? anyone?



its about $20 for two of these lol.

Maybe try the yoshikane from JNS I think it has quite a large handle for the size of the blade?http://www.japanesenaturalstones.com/Zensho-Yoshikane-SKD-Kasumi-Paring-80-mm-p/625.htm

I know I already recommended it in "the other place" but have you thought about the Eden VG10 parers? I got the sheepsfoot one but wish I just got the normal one. I'm pretty happy with it. They do a blue steel wa-handled one for £43 which seems like even more of a bargain. Had my eyes on a FH parer for ages but in the end couldn't justify spending so much on a VG10 parer. Those Opinels actually look quite nice

Traditionally French an German makers have peelers with large handles.
Look for the ones by Robert Herder, Solingen, or, here, by Sabatier Aîné & Perrier:

http://www.sabatier-k.com/imgpop.php?ref=&id_image=1428

Yeh i had my eye on Eden's blue 2 parer, just noticed them the other day. They do seem like a great deal. I'll just need to take the plunge and see whats what!

I think the hunt for the perfect parer can be if anything worse than the perfect gyuto!

I only noticed now it's blue steel. Had I known that a few weeks ago I'd have got it instead of the VG10 one. Yeah it's tricky to find good ones because they are fairly uncommon compared to gyutos.

We have an Opinel paring knife in the block in the kitchen and it is my wife's favorite knife. Very thin and slices very well with some flex in the blade. Sharpens easy but also does not hold an edge for too long which is fine for the price. The handle is a little small but it still handles well. I use it for things like sectioning oranges for an Asian pork stew I just made.

Carbon Opinels are one of my favourite pocket knives.

kazeryu said:

Carbon Opinels are one of my favourite pocket knives.

Click to expand...

And they make superb, razor sharp paring knives.

Apparently they are still 100% made in france.

How they make a knife that isnt junk for $8 in the EU is beyond me. I mean what are they selling then to retailers at? $4?

Don't the sabatier nogents have full sized handles on their 6 inch slicing knives?

1+ on Opinels. Used them for years. Even the stainless ones aren't bad.

rdm_magic said:

Don't the sabatier nogents have full sized handles on their 6 inch slicing knives?

Click to expand...

Mine is a touch smaller than my 10" slicer, but much smaller than my chef's. The wood measures 90mm end to end and ~10mm in width.

I've lost many a nice pocket knife, which I use for box cutting at work...bought an opinel carbone #5, for cheap, and have had it for years...lol, figures.

My wife got me a set of the olive wood handled parers from sabatier. I have to say I like them a lot. I use them more than any paring knife I've had before. the handles seem to be good sized, but I guess I've never measured them.

playford said:

why do knifemakers insist on tiny handles for paring knifes, gah!

Click to expand...

Unfortunateky Koki is sold out, but the next time he gets some in, do give an Itou 65mm paring knife a try. I got the ironwood handled one, 5th from the top (together with the ironwood "sheepfoot", 3rd from the top), and the handle on the 65mm is really big. Very, very comfortable!

http://japanesechefsknife.com/Page3.html