Root Vegetables - What knife

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welshstar

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If you had to prepare a pile of hard root veg, carrotts, parsnips, etc

Which knife would you reach for ?

Laser Gyuto ?
Thick Gyuto ?
Western chef knife ?
Usuba ?
Deba ?


Alan
 
Heel of a laser or a standard gyuto.
Laser = 2-2.5mm spine thickness over the heel.
Standard=2.75-3mm spine over the heel.

M
 
I had a discussion with Jon about this a while back, using double bevel knives. A laser will give you less wedging issues, but with the thicker knives, a slight change in technique will get the job done effectively too. Maybe a subject for another JKI vid?
 
I like using thinner knives for hard objects. There's pretty much no getting around the splitting. The sticking can be annoying with almost any knife so I like using knives with better release. Faves are Glestain, Carter SFGZ, modified A-type and Yoshikane. My Heiji is not bad but just not as nice as some of the others. I don't really prefer the super thin knives for this mainly for release issues.
 
Cleaver would be good I'd just grab my standard gyuto or depending on how I was planning to cut them the Kiritsuke
 
I use my cleaver for root veggies too, never had any issues.
 
The heel of one of my gyutos usually, but when I want to have fun I use my nakiri. I still love my cheap tosagato nakiri, but I am usually trying to test out my other knives that I don't use it as much these days.

k.
 
Carrots and parsnips are pretty soft in hard-veggie land. Shigefusa gyuto is the best I have used on those. Butternut squash, I really like my Martell 300mm suji. Best I have used. Other super hard squash (delicata, etc), hard sweet potatoes, rutabaga, things of that nature; a well ground non-laser gyuto is usually my go to. Like mentioned, technique matters, a lot. Try different cutting motions and product orientation. The same knife can be awful with one cutting motion and spectacular with another. And yes I know some of these aren't root veggies, but they are hard and the cutting techniques are similar.
 
Carrots and parsnips are pretty soft in hard-veggie land. Shigefusa gyuto is the best I have used on those. Butternut squash, I really like my Martell 300mm suji. Best I have used. Other super hard squash (delicata, etc), hard sweet potatoes, rutabaga, things of that nature; a well ground non-laser gyuto is usually my go to. Like mentioned, technique matters, a lot. Try different cutting motions and product orientation. The same knife can be awful with one cutting motion and spectacular with another. And yes I know some of these aren't root veggies, but they are hard and the cutting techniques are similar.

:plus1: esp on the shige.
 
Butternut squash = CCK
carrots/ parsnips/ potatoes = Kono HD 240mm gyuto
Large radish/ turnips/ daikon, etc... = Tojiro Pro 300mm gyuto
 
only time i did was this weekend with raw spaghetti squash. i didn't want to cut them in half.

Those were some hard ones weren't they! I didn't even put the mizuno to it it just felt too damn hard. Glad I had the crappy stainless cleaver!!
 
I absolutly love my Yoshikane 240 gyuto on the root vegies and Fall/Winter cooking.

This knife tends to get set aside in the Summer for the lighter offerings from the field; in lieu of thinner, lighter, and shorter blades.
But it is truly one of my stars for this time of year when mixing up ingredients for stews, soups, roasts, etc.

I smile every time I pick it up and take it out of it's hot weather hibernation... :happymug:
 
I have had no issues with my new Kochi when it comes to root veg. Lets hear it for KU finishes :)
 
The heel of one of my gyutos usually, but when I want to have fun I use my nakiri. I still love my cheap tosagato nakiri, but I am usually trying to test out my other knives that I don't use it as much these days.

k.

I'm a nakiri guy too. They're great for this particular application.

Lately I'd probably go for my new Shiggy Gyuto, obviously because it's my new Shiggy gyuto.
 
I had a discussion with Jon about this a while back, using double bevel knives. A laser will give you less wedging issues, but with the thicker knives, a slight change in technique will get the job done effectively too. Maybe a subject for another JKI vid?
Okay. I'm curious as to what this technique is. Spill, unka. :)
 
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