Difference between a Sujihiki and a carving knife

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Fantality

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Are there any differences between a sujihiki and a carving knife? Or are they essentially the same knives with just Japanese and English names?
 
Suji tend to be thinner than the euro slicing knife.
 
Sujihiki or slicing knife:

91015_1_b.jpg

Carving knife:

85487_1_b.jpg
 
The carving knife I am looking at, which is a mundial 5100 carving knife, looks the same as the sujihiki picture you posted.
 
The carving knife I am looking at, which is a mundial 5100 carving knife, looks the same as the sujihiki picture you posted.

So? Mundial is confused, perhaps. :D

The Sabatier carving knife has the same upswept tip as the Bu-Re-Zen I posted a picture of.

Maybe the only rational conclusion is that sujihiki = slicer = carving knife?
 
I always associate a carving knife with an upswept tip or yatagan style blade, and would be utilized FOH for tableside service.
A 'slicer' would be more like a suji, and be used primarily BOH in my opinion just like what Rick posted.
 
Lol I see. So if the only real difference between a Sujihiki/slicing knife and a carving knife is the tip, then I will give this mundial "carving" knife a try. Whether mundial is confused or not is less important to me than having a straight pointy tip on my slicing/carving or whatever this knife is identified as. I'm just looking for a knife that has a thinner profile than a chef's knife.

I'm going to buy the following knives tomorrow. The only reason I haven't yet is because my wallet is in my car and I'm too lazy to go get it right now lol...



Might as well ask for your opinions on the brand and the knives I picked while I wait.

Mundial 5100 8" carving knife:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0002LXWB6/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

Mundial 5100 santoku knife:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0002LXW98/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

PS- just noticed I am 7 posts away from being granted the authority to create threads in the marketplace. Exciting!
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I thought I had read this once before, some tired brain cells (and google) found: http://www.knifeforums.com/forums/showtopic.php?tid/864371/ Didn't see anything I would disagree with.

Opinions on Mudial? I think they are among the worst knives ever made for retail sale. A GF won a set, they are crap Look like crap. Duller than an Al Gore speach. Tried sharpening a chef and a slicer and concluded they are not worth the wear on my stones. Not even the DMTs. Bought her a Suisin Western. She still won't let me throw them away.

Hope your experience is better than mine.
 
If you must buy inexpensive knives, at least buy decent inexpensive knives. A few years ago I picked up a Mundial at T.J. Maxx just to see what it was like. I should have just thrown away the $20 bill. Soft stainless that wouldn't hold a decent edge and a fingerguard that guaranteed problems with sharpening down the road. The fit and finish was execrable. I got $2 for it at a garage sale and felt guilty for taking anything for it.

For a little less, you can get a Victorinox 7" santoku and 8" slicer. Better steel, better handles and at least some resale value if you want to sell them in the future.

http://www.cutleryandmore.com/victorinox-forschner-fibrox/hollow-edge-santoku-knife-p19770

http://www.cutleryandmore.com/victorinox-forschner-fibrox/carving-knife-p110638

Rick
 
Good thing you left your wallet in your car...you should listen to these guys ^^.
 
Mercer. The bane of culinary students everywhere. In your quest for POS knives for a nickle don't know how you've missed them.
 
I've found that with knives (as with most things) you get what you pay for, however there are always a few exceptions. I'm thinking back to the Shun 7" Asian chef knife post; why not invest in a half decent knife opposed to buying multiple low end ones?
 
The only knives, mentioned in this thread, worth thinking about would be the Victorinox/Forschner. Pretty much the only brand I used (for about thirty years) before I discovered Japanese/custom knives. Never cared much for the German style with their big ass bolsters & finger guards.
 
have to agree, Mundial is no good. Victorinox is one of the best bangs for your buck though, especially their foodservice oriented products.

In regards to the slicing vs carver- I seem to recall reading somewheres that the upturned tip came into favor quite some time back in regards to serving, as it was considered rude to aim the point of a knife at your dining companions.
 
I am kinda hesitant on buying good knives right away because I'm still learning how to sharpen knives. I don't want to get a nice knife and mess it up. I got some nice knives lined up for when I'm confident in my sharpening skills. Until then, I plan on experimenting and practicing on less expensive ones.
 
I am kinda hesitant on buying good knives right away because I'm still learning how to sharpen knives. I don't want to get a nice knife and mess it up. I got some nice knives lined up for when I'm confident in my sharpening skills. Until then, I plan on experimenting and practicing on less expensive ones.

If you go slow and pay attention you're not going to do too much damage.

But, if you insist on going inexpensive, get the Victorinox.
 
I suspect the main differences between a sujihiki and a carving knife are profile, both are intended for slicing and the sujihiki is a "western" knife, not a traditional Japanese style.

I will not speculate on the origin of the upturned tip, but that appears to be the main difference. I feel it limits the effective length of the blade quite a bit, but that is just my personal opinion.

I would expect a sujihiki to have more taper (to a finer spine at the tip) and a thinner blade, too, but that's only because those are japanese knife characteristics in opposition to "German" knives that don't usually have much taper, or my Chicago Cutlery slicer which has no distal taper at all, same thickness down to the primary bevel at the tip. Upturned tip was blunt when I got it, too, but we aren't talking great knives here.

Peter
 
Peter, I have to disagree...one of the most beautiful full distal tapered knives I own is a turn off the century Henckels. My old Sabatiers have really sweet taper as well.

Cheers
 
I am kinda hesitant on buying good knives right away because I'm still learning how to sharpen knives. I don't want to get a nice knife and mess it up. I got some nice knives lined up for when I'm confident in my sharpening skills. Until then, I plan on experimenting and practicing on less expensive ones.


Granted you should not be buying $300+ knives mirror finish knives, or damascus pattern blades or custom handles or custom blades at this time. But for your own good, please buy something, even a Tojiro or Fujiwara, that has a blade that will take and hold and edge. I still own an ugly carbon Tojiro that is about 100x times better than a Mercer. What you're doing now is buying a pile of thick knives with bad steel. Then when you decide to buy some decent knives, you will need to replace EVERY single one of them. How economical is that?

#Too poor to buy cheap
http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=714640
https://www.google.com/webhp?source...1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=i'm too poor to buy cheap
 
Chinacats:

They made better knives then, eh? Old Hickory and Forgecraft knives from 60 years ago were much thinner and had more taper than what I've seen in modern "high end" knives on the German model, which seem to have been designed to survive horrible abuse, not to cut things...

No personal experience with Sabatiers, alas.

Peter
 
If you go slow and pay attention you're not going to do too much damage.

But, if you insist on going inexpensive, get the Victorinox.

Absolutely go with the Victorinox. You will learn much more about sharpening, much faster, by working with a knife that will take a good edge.
 
Granted you should not be buying $300+ knives mirror finish knives, or damascus pattern blades or custom handles or custom blades at this time. But for your own good, please buy something, even a Tojiro or Fujiwara, that has a blade that will take and hold and edge. I still own an ugly carbon Tojiro that is about 100x times better than a Mercer. What you're doing now is buying a pile of thick knives with bad steel. Then when you decide to buy some decent knives, you will need to replace EVERY single one of them. How economical is that?

#Too poor to buy cheap
http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=714640
https://www.google.com/webhp?source...1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=i'm too poor to buy cheap

I am planning on picking up a few tojiro dp's. Probably a 240 gyuto first and then a 270 Sujihiki or a santoku in the future. someone on here said tojiro dp is hands down the best budget knife to practice and learn on though I don't know how true this is.
 
Just wondering if suji would be the next best alternative for just occasionally slicing some sashimi therefore owning a yanagiba cannot be justified.
 
Just wondering if suji would be the next best alternative for just occasionally slicing some sashimi therefore owning a yanagiba cannot be justified.

A sujihiki will work, but the yanagiba is preferred because the edge angle is half that of a sujihiki. The weight of a yanagiba also makes slicing easier.
 

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