Do you use thicker knives different than thin ones?

Until now I've only tried a couple of pretty thin Japanese knives and I really like them. Much different from the thick German ones I used before. But I noticed that quite a few people here also like thicker Japanese knives. Like Heiji, Kato and others.

I wondered if there are specific foods on which a thick knife works better than a thin one. And the other way around: do you also cut onions with a thick knife, or do you still cut your onions with a thin knife?

The topic you bring up is the infamaous Laser vs Workhorse debate

In the end, it is a matter of personal taste. I prefer a nifty, good grind to a anorectic laser anytime. And i would not call them thick knives, but knives with a very pronunced (this maybe not the right word, sorry for my english) geometry. Just check out the works of, lets say, Butch, Devin or Kramer. These knives are just as good (if not better) cutters than any superthin Konosuke. Maybe with the exeption of very hard produce, like carrots.. These are just two different approaches, i guess...

There are of course also knives, that are just thick....

Cheers
Benjamin

I understand. I've read a bit about lasers vs workhorses and I didn't want to bring such a discussion up. I understand that good thick knives are also thin behind the edge. And that the good ones have a geometry that may aid in food release.

I just wondered whether the people who like thicker knives use these knives for different types of food than their thinner knives. Or do they use them for, for example, onions as well. Do you prefer your Butch or Devin on anything, except for carrots, Benjamin?

Sadly enough, i traded my Devin gyuto away...

I was a dedicated laseruser for years, but found myself reaching toward grinded knives for for virtually everything lately, even carrots acutally...

Foodrelease is only one of the advanteges of grinded knives. Others are
-more heft (gives cutting support)
-last much longer
-you can see the work and knowlegde of the knivemaker
and much more

Greetings
Benjamin

BrownBear said:

Until now I've only tried a couple of pretty thin Japanese knives and I really like them. Much different from the thick German ones I used before. But I noticed that quite a few people here also like thicker Japanese knives. Like Heiji, Kato and others.

I wondered if there are specific foods on which a thick knife works better than a thin one. And the other way around: do you also cut onions with a thick knife, or do you still cut your onions with a thin knife?

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i usually use thin one when i am slicing and use thick one for chop .

I don't use thin knives (exception for petty).

double post...:dazed:

By design, yes I use thicker knives for certain tasks, if I understand your question correctly. Deba=fish and chicken breakdown for me.
Otherwise if your question is more subtle, my pat answer in this debate is always, "the knife that works best for you." I only use a "thick" knife when absolutely necessary. Anything close to wedging or splitting drives me bats.

I know is should use the knife that is best for me. However, I don't have a workhorse, but am considering one. But the good ones are not cheap , hence my question.

What I though was that a workhorse knife is perhaps less suitable for delicate work, like cutting onions. Or hard vegetables like carrots. And that it may be very suitable for stuff for which you want good food release, like potatoes.

But may it's the other way around, that you prefer a workhorse for hard vegetables/skins like pumpkin. And maybe it works very well on onions.

For big items like pumpkin, use the thinnest knife you have.

**** You Garlic!!!
[video=youtube;CI7CGphzXYI]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CI7CGphzXYI[/video]

I use fairly thick knives mostly, because they match my tasks. If I got tasked tomorrow with daily cutting of hard squash you would see a WTB: Gesshin Ginga/Kono HD2 ad tomorrow evening!

Really, are you kidding? My laser seems far to fragile for pumpkin.

Thinner knives move better through harder foods. If you are careful/use adequate technique (no lateral torque especially) you should be fine.

BrownBear said:

I know is should use the knife that is best for me. However, I don't have a workhorse, but am considering one. But the good ones are not cheap , hence my question.

What I though was that a workhorse knife is perhaps less suitable for delicate work, like cutting onions. Or hard vegetables like carrots. And that it may be very suitable for stuff for which you want good food release, like potatoes.

But may it's the other way around, that you prefer a workhorse for hard vegetables/skins like pumpkin. And maybe it works very well on onions.

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I've never had any problems making very small onion dice with thick knives. Even my incredibly thick Kato Nakiri does onions well. It's about technique, sharpness, and thinness behind the edge. The best super thick knives are still quite thin behind the edge.

[video=youtube;-FMAS29zSpE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FMAS29zSpE[/video]

I like my knives like women, curvy & thin where it counts.

Love that garlic video. I have the Tojiro DP 210 and 240 western debas, and I too would use them if I had to chop through that much garlic. The 240 is a BEAST

I like knives that are very, very thin behind the edge and at the tip, and which have dramatic tapers from the edge to about the halfway point of the blade. I don't actually care how thin or thick the spine is, as long as the section of the blade has that dramatic taper.

Whats a "Thick knife" alternative to the kato? I mostly have thin/laser type knives myself, but I would like to try thicker ones... At a more affordable price point before I splurge for a Kato. I did use a Shig Kasumi 210mm though recently, I might add...

alterwisser said:

Whats a "Thick knife" alternative to the kato? I mostly have thin/laser type knives myself, but I would like to try thicker ones... At a more affordable price point before I splurge for a Kato. I did use a Shig Kasumi 210mm though recently, I might add...

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Toyama Noborikoi and Watanabe have similar features. Or so I've heard.

alterwisser said:

Whats a "Thick knife" alternative to the kato? I mostly have thin/laser type knives myself, but I would like to try thicker ones... At a more affordable price point before I splurge for a Kato. I did use a Shig Kasumi 210mm though recently, I might add...

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Heiji and Watanabe...last Kato I had did not live up to the prior beastliness...I sold it.

chinacats said:

Heiji and Watanabe...last Kato I had did not live up to the prior beastliness...I sold it.

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I like dealing with Watanabe. Great guy, happy to tell a story about "your" knife. Hate that he's using plastic ferrules even for some of his more expensive knives...

alterwisser said:

I like dealing with Watanabe. Great guy, happy to tell a story about "your" knife. Hate that he's using plastic ferrules even for some of his more expensive knives...

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Those aren't "plastic" ferrules on his higher end knives - they are "resin". :whistling:

Pensacola Tiger said:

Those aren't "plastic" ferrules on his higher end knives - they are "resin". :whistling:

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They are not what they should be... LOL

alterwisser said:

Whats a "Thick knife" alternative to the kato? I mostly have thin/laser type knives myself, but I would like to try thicker ones... At a more affordable price point before I splurge for a Kato. I did use a Shig Kasumi 210mm though recently, I might add...

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DamageInc said:

Toyama Noborikoi and Watanabe have similar features. Or so I've heard.

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I have both the Yoshiaki Fujiwara Workhorse Gyuto 240 and the Toyama Noborikoi Gyuto 240. The workhorse is beefier and more blade heavy than the Toyama. The Toyama is thick but feels more "normal" than the Kato. I like them both. :doublethumbsup:

Yoshiaki Fujiwara Workhorse Gyuto 240 choil shot: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxEKq9uJ-aX7cEoyU3dFWGVpcGs/view
Toyama Noborikoi Gyuto 240 choil shot: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxEKq9uJ-aX7N1ZqRlhCdUhRY2M/view

How about Kochi if it's ever in stock or those Wakui? This is the type of knife I'm shopping for too. Right now I'm using a 240mm Itinomonn and it's pretty great. I'm getting into bigger volume catering, thinking about a 270mm.

chinacats said:

Heiji and Watanabe...last Kato I had did not live up to the prior beastliness...I sold it.

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I'm sorry to hear that. I am more than happy with my Kato knives. The nakiri is definitely the thickest of the three, but I don't feel that the gyutos are lacking at all in thickness.

Nakiri choil

I prefer my Watanabe gyuto to the Kato I just sold. The Kato is a bit thicker but not much, I just prefer the blade face grind on the Watanabe.
Both Heijis I have owned are about in the neighborhood of that Shig you test drove as far as spine thickness, but thinner bte.
The Wakui my coworker has is much thinner, it's 270 and thinner at the spine than my 210 Shig at about the same distal taper and bte thinness.

Dardeau said:

I prefer my Watanabe gyuto to the Kato I just sold. The Kato is a bit thicker but not much, I just prefer the blade face grind on the Watanabe.
Both Heijis I have owned are about in the neighborhood of that Shig you test drove as far as spine thickness, but thinner bte.
The Wakui my coworker has is much thinner, it's 270 and thinner at the spine than my 210 Shig at about the same distal taper and bte thinness.

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Hmm... Looks like Mr Watanabe will hear from me again

I guess the Watanabes are good candidates for a handle replacement