Need a recommendation for a second knife.

What type of knife(s) do you think you want? I was thinking either a Petty or a Suji would make a good second knife. I just bought one of Devin's ITK 240 Gyutos. Absolutely love it (Is this what your first hit of crack is like, because I could see getting addicted rather easily).

Why is it being purchased? What, if anything, are you replacing? I have an old set of Henkel 4 stars that I have beat on since 1980 (they were wedding presents).

What do you like and dislike about these qualities of your knives already?

Aesthetics- Polypropylene and stainless - what aesthetics?

Edge Quality/Retention- The only comparison I have is to my DT ITK Gyuto and there is none.

Comfort- They were ok using a hammer grip, but I feel they are not high enough to comfortably use a pinch grip

What grip do you use? Pinch

What kind of cutting motion do you use? Push-Cut, Chop, Slice

Where do you store them? Block

Have you ever oiled a handle? Nope, polypropylene and oil are not a good combination.

What kind of cutting board(s) do you use? Had an old Boos board that warped, just got a couple of BoardSmith boards :biggrin:

For edge maintenance, do you use a strop, honing rod, pull through/other, or nothing? I have used rods simply because that is what I have.

Have they ever been sharpened? Yes.

What is your budget? $300-$400

What do you cook and how often? Beef, chicken, fish, veggies, pasta (you name it) 5-6 days per week

Special requests(Country of origin/type of wood/etc)?

I really enjoy cooking (my wife admits we would have starved to death if it had been left to her), but up to now have just used my old Henkels. We redid the kitchen and while doing it, I discovered the forum while looking for cutting boards. After lurking a while, I decided that I really wanted to try an upgrade and when Devin's Gyuto became available, I decided that that would be a good Christmas present. Well, after using it, I admit to being hooked; the difference is amazing. Since my wife owes me a birthday present also (my birthday is actually Christmas day, don't get me started...) I decided that a good one would be a second knife. I was thinking that the next most useful would be a Petty, although I like the idea of a Suji also. I believe that there is a 150mm Petty by Devin available at CKTG that looks very nice. It would be my first wa-handled knife which I think will be ok, as I have tried Shuns at Williams-Sonoma and didn't get any bad feelings about them. Any ideas on this or other knives and opinions on relative usefulness of Petty vs Suji would be very welcome.

There is nothing you can do with a petty you can't with a gyuto. There is a lot you can with a sujihiki you can't with a gyuto.

i can't think of much i can't do with a gyuto that i can do with a suji, to be honest.

I'd go for a 210-220 suji petty. It's a great length for at home use and really fun. I have a 210 and a 300 suji and the 210 sees 90 percent of the use. I have a Konosuke HD and love it. But there are a bunch of cool knives like this that will be awesome for you and last.

That's my two pennies.

You know it's hard trying to help someone out because there are so many good choices available and the fact that We are not You. I have two 150mm petties, a 210mm Kono HD petty/suji and a 270mm Ashi suji. I use the 150s way more often than the other two. I like using the 150s for slicing cherry tomatoes, olives and prepping broccoli and cauliflower florets. If I had the coin, I'd buy the DT 150mm petty and never look back.

EdipisReks said:

i can't think of much i can't do with a gyuto that i can do with a suji, to be honest.

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I agree. I have 7 or so gyuto/chef knives, and only 1 suji. I LOVE the suji, but I won't be getting another one any time soon, yet I have another chef knife coming my way.
Give me a nice gyuto and a great petty, and I'm all set!

Lefty said:

I agree. I have 7 or so gyuto/chef knives, and only 1 suji. I LOVE the suji, but I won't be getting another one any time soon, yet I have another chef knife coming my way.
Give me a nice gyuto and a great petty, and I'm all set!

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I would add a small gyuto to the mix. I use one along with 10.5" gyuto and both come very hand for different tasks. I also use suji, but less than gyutos.

M

+1 on a shorter all-purpose shape, I like my Carter Funy a lot. It is a nice complement to my 240 ITK.

My second most used knife used to be a 3" parer. That became a 4" parer which was replaced by a 150 mm petty whose cutting time has recently been swallowed by my 220 mm petty/suji. My most used knife is still one of several 240-260 mm gyuto.

If you need a utility knife that can do slicing, get a 210 petty. If it's the other way round get a 240/270 suji. I'd get a 210 petty. It can do slicing if you really need it to but it makes a great utility knife, much more versatile than a 150 petty

Maybe a 210 pettysuji and a couple of stones. Just cause you said you only have rods.

I'm starting to realize that I can't live without my honesuki...yet I can survive (but not saying I want to) without my 210 petty and multiple/redudant gyutos and sujis--really just need one of each.

Grab a variety of Victorinox knives (the ones with the Fibrox handles). They're super cheap and are pretty good in their own right, to boot. Small parers really do come in handy.