Cutting chocolage

So, my girlfriend has a business where she makes chocolate and confections. She has been using a Mercer 8" Chef's knife for this mostly, but she wanted something else that is not going to dull up her knife. She also wanted a Japanese Chef's knife since she has played with my Tojiro and really likes it. I might give that to her.

Anyway, we were talking to a chef who taught us a knife skills class and he was suggesting that we use a bread knife for this purpose. I've also read that a Deba would be good for this as well. If she will get a Chef's knife already, I think a nice bread knife like the Tojiro 270mm ITK Bread Knife would be a good option. What do you guys think?

Also, can I get this bread sharpened anywhere here in NYC?

The Tojiro bread knife is way too flexy for chocolate!

knyfeknerd said:

The Tojiro bread knife is way too flexy for chocolate!

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So maybe a Deba would work better?

SJTrance said:

So maybe a Deba would work better?

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Deba is for fish. I would just use a thick chef knife for chocolate.

Forget the bread knife for chopping chocolate. Bread knives have a serrated edge that works like a saw, and is pretty useless for chopping.

A deba is a fish filleting knife, not a chopping knife, though it may look like one from the side.

What you are looking for is a heavy knife with some thickness behind the cutting edge. There is a knife style called a yo-deba or Western deba (maybe this is what you read about?) that is suited for what you want to do. The spine is thick (usually 4 mm or so) and it is ground to leave a lot of metal behind the cutting edge for support. It is well suited for chopping nuts and other hard foods like chocolate.

Yo-deba on left, gyuto on right.



Korin has several in their catalog:

http://korin.com/Styles/Style-Yo-Deba

Rick

I like to use a Henckels cleaver.

-AJ

The Tojiro DP "Western Deba" would also fit the bill...

Yes, I'm seeing this. I think this might be a good route. Heck, I still think I'll get a cheap Forschner bread knife to have around, though.

You could stop into any of the Chinese run restaurant supplies in downtown and select a number of cleavers for 10-12 bucks.
Not sexy- but may be just the ticket.

I just ordered the Tojiro Western Deba in 240mm length. Thanks a bunch, guys. I hope the GF likes it.

I would just buy a house knife from the guy who comes to sharpen your restaurant's knives. You can usually get them for $10. Then stand the block of chocolate up on its longest end. Hold it at the top and kinda chop away at the bottom of it (very similar motion to using a hatchet on a sapling). Fastest way I have found to break down a giant block of chocolate by far.

Something heavy and thick is right for chopping blocks of chocolate. After having to cut a lot chocolate from blocks, I won't do it anymore. Takes way too much time + the mess. And almost every chocolate maker offers the same bar stuff in a disc or nib form for workability purposes/commercial application. Same stuff, just WAY easier to work with.

Any reason she doesn't use the discs? Just curious.

Pensacola Tiger said:

Forget the bread knife for chopping chocolate. Bread knives have a serrated edge that works like a saw, and is pretty useless for chopping.

A deba is a fish filleting knife, not a chopping knife, though it may look like one from the side.

What you are looking for is a heavy knife with some thickness behind the cutting edge. There is a knife style called a yo-deba or Western deba (maybe this is what you read about?) that is suited for what you want to do. The spine is thick (usually 4 mm or so) and it is ground to leave a lot of metal behind the cutting edge for support. It is well suited for chopping nuts and other hard foods like chocolate.

Yo-deba on left, gyuto on right.

Korin has several in their catalog:

http://korin.com/Styles/Style-Yo-Deba

Rick

Click to expand...

+1 to this for sure. Perfect suggestion.
I have a Suisin carbon yo-deba from korin that's handled all the heavy work for me for almost 10 years. This thpe of knife is a must have IMO.