Introduction
As you may have read in some of my other posts, I have had a hard time in finding a proper peeling knife. A proper peeling knife to me is one that can be used fully in-hand and has no sharp protrusions with which you can hurt yourself.
My first attempt was a Shun Classic paring knife, but this had a pretty large protrusion on which you could easily cut yourself (and I did). I then found two knives that were a bit more rounded at the handle (a Kramer by Zwilling office knife and a Marko Tsourkan peeling knife), but these still had protrusions, although more gentle.
So I asked Robin Dalman to make a peeling knife for me. I had confidence in him, since he had earlier made a gyuto for me I was very happy with.
This is the knife he made:
Profile and geometry
The profile of the knife is quite simple: a nice and simple handle made from birchwood and a pretty straight blade without any protrusions. The blade is 8.2 cm long and 2.2 cm high.
Exactly what I wanted.
The geometry is quite special: it is the thinnest knife behind the edge I know: 0.4 mm at half a millimeter behind the edge. Its thinness close to the tip is even more impressive: 0.3 mm.
Use
The knife is very easy to use and requires hardly any force to cut. Sometimes this may be a disadvantage if you wish to peel a vegetable in a single skin (see below). It is often too easy to accidentally cut through the skin the wrong way, although this is a matter of technique, too. But for the rest I'm very happy with the cutting skills of this knife. It is simply easier to peel a vegetable with a knife that's so thin.
Conclusion
This is a great peeling knife with which you don't run the risk of cutting yourself on a protrusion. It is also very thin behind the edge and at the tip, which makes cutting almost effortless. The knife may not be the most beautiful one in my collection (although Robin did a great job on the birchwood handle), but I'm already sure I'll use this knife a lot.
Factsheet
As you may have read in some of my other posts, I have had a hard time in finding a proper peeling knife. A proper peeling knife to me is one that can be used fully in-hand and has no sharp protrusions with which you can hurt yourself.
My first attempt was a Shun Classic paring knife, but this had a pretty large protrusion on which you could easily cut yourself (and I did). I then found two knives that were a bit more rounded at the handle (a Kramer by Zwilling office knife and a Marko Tsourkan peeling knife), but these still had protrusions, although more gentle.
So I asked Robin Dalman to make a peeling knife for me. I had confidence in him, since he had earlier made a gyuto for me I was very happy with.
This is the knife he made:
Profile and geometry
The profile of the knife is quite simple: a nice and simple handle made from birchwood and a pretty straight blade without any protrusions. The blade is 8.2 cm long and 2.2 cm high.
Exactly what I wanted.
The geometry is quite special: it is the thinnest knife behind the edge I know: 0.4 mm at half a millimeter behind the edge. Its thinness close to the tip is even more impressive: 0.3 mm.
Use
The knife is very easy to use and requires hardly any force to cut. Sometimes this may be a disadvantage if you wish to peel a vegetable in a single skin (see below). It is often too easy to accidentally cut through the skin the wrong way, although this is a matter of technique, too. But for the rest I'm very happy with the cutting skills of this knife. It is simply easier to peel a vegetable with a knife that's so thin.
Conclusion
This is a great peeling knife with which you don't run the risk of cutting yourself on a protrusion. It is also very thin behind the edge and at the tip, which makes cutting almost effortless. The knife may not be the most beautiful one in my collection (although Robin did a great job on the birchwood handle), but I'm already sure I'll use this knife a lot.
Factsheet
