Basic 270 suji options?

So after seeing the girlfriend/ wife-to-be hack through yet another spaghetti squash with her 170mm Takamura santoku, I finally got her to agree she would use a big ol' suji if I got her one that was at least as long as the squashes (which would be at least 10"). This means I want a suji (or, I suppose, maybe gyuto) that's close to 11" long for the purpose. And I wouldn't count on her treating it the way I or you guys would, so it might not be horrible if it was a slightly softer steel than usual for this crowd. And would stand up to her using it and setting it aside wet and dirty for a while before I realize it needs washing (I did finally get her to stop just soaking knives after she's done). No real budget as such, but this doesn't need to be fancy. She likes the cocobolo-handled Hattori FH, but could go for a Misono or somesuch that I'd probaby get rehandled with a suitable brown wood.

LOCATION
What country are you in?

USA


KNIFE TYPE
What type of knife are you interested in (e.g., chef’s knife, slicer, boning knife, utility knife, bread knife, paring knife, cleaver)?

Sujihiki

Are you right or left handed?

Right

Are you interested in a Western handle (e.g., classic Wusthof handle) or Japanese handle?

Western

What length of knife (blade) are you interested in (in inches or millimeters)?

270mm, actual edge length

Do you require a stainless knife? (Yes or no)

Probably

What is your absolute maximum budget for your knife?

Eh... not a ton. $300? I can't say there's a hard maximum, but nothing too fancy.

KNIFE USE
Do you primarily intend to use this knife at home or a professional environment?

Home

What are the main tasks you primarily intend to use the knife for (e.g., slicing vegetables, chopping vegetables, mincing vegetables, slicing meats, cutting down poultry, breaking poultry bones, filleting fish, trimming meats, etc.)? (Please identify as many tasks as you would like.)

Squash

What knife, if any, are you replacing?

None

Do you have a particular grip that you primarily use? (Please click on this LINK for the common types of grips.)

The wifey (to be in four days) will use hammer with it, I guarantee.

What cutting motions do you primarily use? (Please click on this LINK for types of cutting motions and identify the two or three most common cutting motions, in order of most used to least used.)

Slicing open squashes.

What improvements do you want from your current knife? If you are not replacing a knife, please identify as many characteristics identified below in parentheses that you would like this knife to have.)

Be as long as a squash.

Better aesthetics (e.g., a certain type of finish; layered/Damascus or other pattern of steel; different handle color/pattern/shape/wood; better scratch resistance; better stain resistance)?

Comfort (e.g., lighter/heavier knife; better handle material; better handle shape; rounded spine/choil of the knife; improved balance)?

Ease of Use (e.g., ability to use the knife right out of the box; smoother rock chopping, push cutting, or slicing motion; less wedging; better food release; less reactivity with food; easier to sharpen)?

Edge Retention (i.e., length of time you want the edge to last without sharpening)?

Not horribly concerned with retention, as it will be used rarely.

KNIFE MAINTENANCE
Do you use a bamboo, wood, rubber, or synthetic cutting board? (Yes or no.)

Bamboo, end-grain after we move.

Do you sharpen your own knives? (Yes or no.)

Yes

If not, are you interested in learning how to sharpen your knives? (Yes or no.)

N/A

Are you interested in purchasing sharpening products for your knives? (Yes or no.)

Already set. And getting more.

SPECIAL REQUESTS/COMMENTS

Why do you want a long knife to cut squash? The green one, right?
You don't mean pumpkin, the yellow?

If you talk about squash- zucchini, I consider that her santoku might be better than a sujihiki. I suppose she cuts it cubes, since it goes with spaghetti.

If you talk about pumpkin, (they will ban me from the forums, but I will write it anyway), get an Arcos(Spanish brand) butchery knife, wooden handle, around 15- 18 cm. Arcos are stainless, really cheap, better than Icel, equal to henkels, worse compared to Victorinox.

Good luck with your sujihiki nevertheless, since you managed to convince her [emoji4]

Misono Swedish steel, within budget 181 for a 270, for $5 more than budget you could get a 360 and be a baller. Saying that up to 330 is well below budget I'd probably get a 300. It's a good basic suji and it has a sick Dragon engraving. Popular avalible and should get the job done. Using it for squash would sketch me so id toss a micro bevel on the ok girl.

supersayan3 said:

Why do you want a long knife to cut squash? The green one, right?
You don't mean pumpkin, the yellow?

If you talk about squash- zucchini, I consider that her santoku might be better than a sujihiki. I suppose she cuts it cubes, since it goes with spaghetti.

If you talk about pumpkin, (they will ban me from the forums, but I will write it anyway), get an Arcos(Spanish brand) butchery knife, wooden handle, around 15- 18 cm. Arcos are stainless, really cheap, better than Icel, equal to henkels, worse compared to Victorinox.

Good luck with your sujihiki nevertheless, since you managed to convince her [emoji4]

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Oh, I mean like a spaghetti squash (the one that precipitated this) or other hard squashes that I think she cuts occasionally. Yes, the yellow summer squash get sliced with normal knives just fine. This is for big ones that have to be halved lengthwise.

I have the misono dragon Carbon suji but in 300 and a lefty version. Order from jck and they also have sayas, although you have more options to order since you're a righty (few places will carry the actual lefty versions). 60-61 hrc (?) so not too delicate… even though I have nicer sujis such as Toyama and Watanabe honyaki, I still use it a lot (actually was using yesterday to trim the dry age crust alongside the hankotsu).

BTW, I'm thinking that squash/pumpkin have different meanings in different countries.

Getting a Suji for the purpose of cutting squash is not a good plan

easy13 said:

Getting a Suji for the purpose of cutting squash is not a good plan

Click to expand...

Ok. So what's the proper tool for this?

DanHumphrey said:

Ok. So what's the proper tool for this?

Click to expand...

Gyuto is fine, thinner grind, doesn't have to be a 270, but that wouldn't hurt either. Sujihiki would be of no help, you aren't going to slice the squash open, also the grind of most Sujis and the flex on some (misono dragon is one example of a flexy Suji) would just make it even more of a pain than a santoku as originally mentioned.

easy13 said:

Gyuto is fine, thinner grind, doesn't have to be a 270, but that wouldn't hurt either. Sujihiki would be of no help, you aren't going to slice the squash open, also the grind of most Sujis and the flex on some (misono dragon is one example of a flexy Suji) would just make it even more of a pain than a santoku as originally mentioned.

Click to expand...

Oh, and there are just plenty of 270 gyutos. And, for this, it does need to be a 270 - part of the spec of this was that to use a "big knife" she wanted it to be as long as the squashes, which are longer than my 240s.

I also have the 300 misono dragon gyuto and it is definitely less flexy than the suji

Cuisinart Lectric.

Vrooom!

DanHumphrey said:

Oh, I mean like a spaghetti squash (the one that precipitated this) or other hard squashes that I think she cuts occasionally. Yes, the yellow summer squash get sliced with normal knives just fine. This is for big ones that have to be halved lengthwise.

Click to expand...

This cannot happen. You don't need a sujihiki, but a deba or a saw even better [emoji4]

Most likely she cuts it in cubes, or she puree it, or she grates it(the flesh)
So, there is no reason to be symmetrical.
It is easier to cut one side of hard skin, than to cut both sides of hard skin at the same time. Most likely, she will end up having an accident.

You need a 15-18 cm butchery knife, not fillet knife.
Trust me, I am a pro, I try to help.
Get her this knife to cut the squashes, keep the Takamura for smaller veggies, quick precise cuttings, and buy whichever sujihiki you like for yourself and enjoy it.
Plus, she is a woman, they have different sensitivities, while you will enjoy a 30-36cm sujihiki and play with it, she will feel scared by it [emoji4]

i'd recommend a 270 stainless gyuto that is not too tall--one that you too could enjoy

Holy carp! Are you really cutting a raw spaghetti squash lengthwise? Amazing that someone hasn't lost a finger. Them suckas roll, you know.

I cut a spaghetti squash by first trimming the ends off so you can stand the squash on end, and then halve it vertically using two hands, one on the handle and one on the tip (use a towel on the tip if you really want to be safe. You only need a knife the length of the short dimension of the squash or a bit longer.

If I have the time, I'll microwave or par-bake the whole squash to soften it before cutting it.

Rick

supersayan3 said:

This cannot happen. You don't need a sujihiki, but a deba or a saw even better [emoji4]

Most likely she cuts it in cubes, or she puree it, or she grates it(the flesh)
So, there is no reason to be symmetrical.
It is easier to cut one side of hard skin, than to cut both sides of hard skin at the same time. Most likely, she will end up having an accident.

You need a 15-18 cm butchery knife, not fillet knife.
Trust me, I am a pro, I try to help.
Get her this knife to cut the squashes, keep the Takamura for smaller veggies, quick precise cuttings, and buy whichever sujihiki you like for yourself and enjoy it.
Plus, she is a woman, they have different sensitivities, while you will enjoy a 30-36cm sujihiki and play with it, she will feel scared by it [emoji4]

Click to expand...

I should watch her prep it next time. But yes, it gets cut in half lengthwise, then the guts scooped out, and then I forget the next step she said because right now we have a one-person-size kitchen and so I'm not in there for it. I'll see if I can get her to switch to Rick's method. And maybe a 270 gyuto.

As for buying myself a suji, we don't really do anything that needs carving or slicing, or I'd already have one. No real need...

Thanks all!

I use large suji to clean melons etc however I use 280mm gyuto to cut any dense items in similar size .
Along with not cutting towards your self one of the first things I emphasise in cutting is making sure you have a flat surface to keep the item stable , in this case trimming the top and the bottom of the squash( pumpkin ) would be very useful .
depending on the size I might cut it half to have it more manageable size , then I will proceed into peeling or cutting wedges depending on the kind of produce. I am happy to make a video since I cut case at least of b.nut squash a week

chefcomesback said:

I use large suji to clean melons etc however I use 280mm gyuto to cut any dense items in similar size .
Along with not cutting towards your self one of the first things I emphasise in cutting is making sure you have a flat surface to keep the item stable , in this case trimming the top and the bottom of the squash( pumpkin ) would be very useful .
depending on the size I might cut it half to have it more manageable size , then I will proceed into peeling or cutting wedges depending on the kind of produce. I am happy to make a video since I cut case at least of b.nut squash a week

Click to expand...

Video would be awesome. Admittedly probably not necessary but always nice to see you worming Mert.

I do not know the spaghetti squash. I thought it was squash to be cooked for spaghetti, haha, checked it on google and found it.

In Europe we have some other varieties of pumpkin/squash.

But cutting water Mellon feels very different than cutting pumpkins. Much much easier

With all this info, if we need a longer (or just western-handled) knife for this, I'll just get the Tojiro HSPS in whichever size is necessary. Been wanting to try one of those anyway.

chefcomesback said:

I am happy to make a video since I cut case at least of b.nut squash a week

Click to expand...

Yes please to the video- I love seeing those knives at work. The knife skills on display are pretty cool too.

So, to tie a bow on this, I told the now-wife how you'resupposed to open a squash and showed her using my Tanaka, and a light went off like "ohhhhh".

And to that end I picked up a Misono 240 Dragon for the purpose, since she prefers western handles and I've been looking for an excuse for one, and it seems a bit better-suited to the task than the harder and thinner ones.