Too Long?

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Bill Burke

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I made a couple of rather large knives and took them to blade show. One a 13.5 inch gyoto with stainless bolsters and a 52100 blade and the other an integral 52100 scimitar with a 13.5 inch blade. Everyone who looked at them at bladeshow asked "what do you do with a knife this big?" My answer was cut big stuff. So how big is too big?
 
There are definitely people who can use knives that long. Professional chefs, butchers and fishmongers that break down whole sides of large fish, beef, etc., could definitely use such knives.

A 13.5 inch scimitar would be great for breaking down 25+ pound fish, especially rounder large fish including tunas. I've used a 10 and 12 inch forschner scimitar to quarter yellowfin and albacore tuna. For larger yellowfin, the 12 inch was just long enough to get all the way down to the spine (when cutting at a downward angle of about 45 degrees, not straight down).
 
For most I think 13.5 is a bit too large of a blade, even for many pro's. That being said, I don't think that it is too long to be practical, can't tell you how many times I woulda loved to have a 13+'' knife when slicing steaks off of very large primals. Once had a ribeye that measured 11'' across the small dimension, 13.5 woulda been nice. Basically I guess I'm trying to say that fopr most its totally impractical, but indispensable when needed.

Cheers
Drew
 
13.5inch schimitar absolutely awesome. There are plenty of practical applications for that. A gyuto that big I would never use honestly. I have a 12 inch one that I bought cheap and just using it on small occasions say bbq.
 
I would say it depends on the size of your cutting board. If the knife is balanced right, no knife is too long, IMO. I'd rather have too much knife than too little, but space does not always allow.
 
You know we can't make that call...without some pictures Bill!
 
I sent these two to EE on consignment as soon as I get pictures I'll post them.
 
I agree,
We would love to see photos of these and any of your other knives.

Will you be at the Boise Show this year.
They changed the date so it would fall on my birthday!
hint....hint

Did you make the Rambo Chef Knife yet for the Marine Chef who saved that other Marine's life?
 
I sent these two to EE on consignment as soon as I get pictures I'll post them.

saw them yesterday at Epic. Edge beautiful like all of your knives but WOW they are huge! I could them used for big breakdown jobs but I dont think my countertop cutting boards are near big enough.

I love the santoku I got from you at the Boise show. It is my go to knife and amazing how it holds an edge.

Mike
 
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I might use a suji that length but that's about it, lol. I once used a 300 mm/12" honyaki gyuto. That was enough beastliness for me!
 
a 13.5" scimitar seems like it would be good for portioning strip steaks, etc. We're hoping to do a bit of that in the future for big dinner, etc. I can't imagine trying to use one that is much shorter then that (although I can't say that I've used any up to this point).
 
I thought I heard someone say "13.5 scimitar"? Ah, it's not on their website, at least currently. Ah, oh, ah, ummm...........
 
pretty sure that means Salty wants...

I would use a knife like that for a lot of things. It is definitely too big to be an everyday knife though, at least in a professional kitchen. It would probably be awesome for prep(I used to rock a 12" Sabatier a long time ago) but be too bulky for a service knife.


Can't wait to eventually see pics of these.
 
should have pics up in a week or so. Mike glad you like the santoku. I am doing the Boise show Hope to see some new faces there this year. Moving the show up two weeks should make the weather better.
 
Here is a quick dirty snapshot. I will take better photos next week.

Burkes.jpg
 
Hmmm, Hard to tell from the photos. Something is ??????????????
 
You know Bill you should always give the bro's here 1st dibs on your knives EE marks up to much, and they are D!CK$ to deal with. They held my money for a knife ( full price, 1200.00) for almost two years then when the knife came in they told me it would be 800.00 more as the yen has changed in the past few years, I have bought 1000's of $$ worth of knives over the years from them, never again, to boot when I told them it was not fair for them to mark up a knife I already payed for they gave me a lot of adatude, exact quote
we understand if you can't afford the knife, we will have no trouble finding someone else to buy it
Rant over,love the scimitar, and it's not to big, more of a curve might be nice but hard to tell from the pick.
Yup should give us boys here 1st shot before you farm them out, we all love your work here.
 
Thank you Colin I will keep that in mind for future use. these two are on consignment there so anyone here wants one I'll be happy to pull it down for them.
 
Those are really beautiful knives Bill. And the following is by no means a knock on your knives, but looking at them makes me think back to a thread on KF almost a year ago that started out as something obscure, and quickly deteriorated to "best zombie killing knife"...well, this...yup, one of these bad boys would be my ultimate zombie killing knife in 2012. :viking:
 
Seeing these knives brought back memories.
When I was a kid we lived in a small neighborhood in North Florida.
One time the whole neighborhood had a cook out where they roasted a whole pig.
One of our neighbors, an old Cajun gentleman that everyone called Grandad.
He was the one in charge of the pig roast.
All day long we impatiently watched the pig roasting.
When Grandad finally said it was ready he pulled out a giant knife and started cutting up the pig.
This was a long long time ago but your knife photo brought back this forgotten memory.
 
these knives are amazing Bill - been following your work and many others for years now and continue to be blown away with your craftsmenship. Chef Niloc - not only are you a chef but you got Bill The Butcher as your avatar - Cheers to you bro (thats my favorite movie of all time) - and I feel you on the EE story about mark up's - ******

THANK YOU ALL - This forum is inspiring for me to gain more of a depth of knowledge on knives
 
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