Yanagiba vs Sujihiki

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Hey all,
I need a knife to slice cured meats. Mostly concerned with jamon, salami (thick ones), capicollo, bresaola, etc. They all need to be sliced super thin, and although I could buy a deli slicer I don't have the space to put one in my apartment. It would also be handy to be able to do other work like carving big hunks of meat but THIN cured meat is my main concern.

I suspect this means I'll need a very small bevel, probably single bevel and it needs to be crazy sharp.

I don't mind the type of steel.

I'm in Australia, and I don't have a budget. I'm willing to pay for quality although I don't really care about fancy damascus patterns.

Currently looking at this:
FB-4 Sakimaru Takohiki 270mm
http://japanesechefsknife.com/FurinkazanHonKasumiSeries.html#FuRinKaZan

Open to suggestions as to whether I need to go yanagiba or sujihiki. As I understand, yanagiba will probably give me a thinner, finer cut whereas suji will be more versatile.
 
IF I remember correctly, the blade height of a sakimaru is narrower as compared to a regular yanagi and those with a kiretsuke tip and hence the weight adn thus feel and how it cuts on firmer /hard food materials.

JUst food for thought...

I am more inclined to a heavier knife with a good balance point.

Good luck and hv fun...

rgds d
 
I don't think yanagi or suji is the answer for slicing hard meats like salami. Maybe a gyuto is more suitable. Something taller and heavier that you can slowly push cut with.
 
ThEoRy said:
I don't think yanagi or suji is the answer for slicing hard meats like salami. Maybe a gyuto is more suitable. Something taller and heavier that you can slowly push cut with.
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Yep, gyuto sounds like a much better choice for salami slicing.
 
Currently have a couple of high end gyuto and while I agree that it's good for smaller salami, it's not great for larger pieces like coppa and jamon/prosiutto. Really need a longer, thinner blade that's crazy sharp. The Spanish use a jamon knife which is a long thin blade but I prefer something Japanese.
 
I actually found it easier to slice salami, or in my case serrano ham, with a yanagiba than with a gyuto.
The single bevel aided greatly in cutting consistently thin slices.
The 50/50 bevel on a suji or gyuto was causing my slicing to get 'pushed' out of the ham, it was fairly hard.
This may be more to do with my non existent / mediocre knife skills rather than the knifes :)
 
Honestly, I would get a knife that is made for it. As you said, in Spain a special knife (cuchillo Jamonero) is used. Since Jamon is something typical to Spain and not Japan I would think they know better. Arcos seems to be a popular spanish knife maker: http://en.arcos.com/uses/knives/ham-knife/

Never the less the choice is yours.
 
panda said:
yup, use the damn slicer machine. it sucks cleaning it, but that's the best cuts youre going to get for deli meats.
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The old ones were easy to clean, now they have so many safety features it is a pain in the A@#
 
I'd be interested to find out how you're search for a cured meat slicer is going. I do a lot that myself and haven't come up with knife that does it all, if there is such a thing given variety of shapes, and consistencies.
 
Fish flesh is meat. It's clearly not a vegetable. . .

Definition from Merriam-Webster in case you doubt me:
"the flesh of an animal used as food."
 
Semantics. However I am not above using yanagiba to slice boneless meats such as hanger, flank or skirt steak.
 
Fish flesh is meat. It's clearly not a vegetable. . .
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Even if you're catholic?:angel2:

How about one of those long-ass usubas?
 
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Pensacola Tiger said:
View attachment 26464
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Good stuff.

I use my my yanagiba on damn near anything that wont hurt the blade. I think as long as you can keep the ura towards the slicee and not the slice they work great. Toss a piece of filet or broiler brick in the freezer until its loosely frozen I can slice you carpaccio that you can see through, by hand.
 
Thin behind the edge gyutos with thickish spines are what I suggest for hard cured meats.
 
Fritzkrieg said:
Fish flesh is meat. It's clearly not a vegetable. . .

Definition from Merriam-Webster in case you doubt me:
"the flesh of an animal used as food."
Click to expand...

Within the context of a knife/food discussion, segregation of food by meat/fish /veg is perfectly acceptable.

If you must have a structured definition then look up meat on urban dictionary. Fish is only mentioned in passing.:cool2:
 
Yesterday, I used my Yangi to cut chicken breast in to thin strips. Will I go to knife hell now?
 
Ruso said:
Yesterday, I used my Yangi to cut chicken breast in to thin strips. Will I go to knife hell now?
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Yes, you will be issued a Miracle-Blade 'Rock n' Chop' at the gate.
 
Haha you guys are dorks

Technically you can use any knife to cut anything you want. Though the yanagiba was designed to slice fish meat once you have fillet a whole fish with your deba.

Single bevel knives are great for slicing thin but you don't get a straight cut. They pull to the back side of the blade.

That's why when westerners started bringing beef into Japan they adopted the French chef knife design and made a Japanese version, the Gyuto. 牛刀 beef, knife.

But you are certainly welcome to use your deba to cut carrots or use your yanagiba as your all purpose knife. I know many restaurants that do.
 
I've used my yanagiba to slice up 3kg of home made bacon. Worked fine and no damage to the blade. I did apologize to it every few cuts though.
 
Ruso said:
Yesterday, I used my Yangi to cut chicken breast in to thin strips. Will I go to knife hell now?
Click to expand...

Nah purgatory maybe prying apart frozen chicken thighs with a Japanese Gyuto will send you to knife hell.
 
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