Why the Petty and what size?

Sorry for the newb question but I don't fully get the petty. I get the petty for meat when one does not want a giant knife. Seems like 150 mm is the popular size for veg but wouldn't a 165 nakiri or even santoku be better choice?

Please school me on the subject. Thx

I like the 180MM petty myself...it's still very manuverable, and it's easy to pack in a bag.

I think the 150mm is better for in-hand work, which I don't do much of.

Pettys are nice for butchering if you don't want a single bevel specialist knife, and useful if you want really fine cuts of something delicate--garlic, strawberries, etc. There's not much I use a petty for that you couldn't also do with a gyuto, but the petty's nimbleness lets you have more control in tight quarters--like when dismembering a chicken or duck.

It's a matter of preference. Petty - (petite gyuto) has familiar geometry and feels natural in my hand for small work. I rehandled mine with a longer handle for more comfort/balance. I don't use mine for boning work. I have a honesuke for that - it has a stout blade I don't have to worry about chipping.

heldentenor said:

Pettys are nice for butchering if you don't want a single bevel specialist knife, and useful if you want really fine cuts of something delicate--garlic, strawberries, etc. There's not much I use a petty for that you couldn't also do with a gyuto, but the petty's nimbleness lets you have more control in tight quarters--like when dismembering a chicken or duck.

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I definitely agree with you. I also just take out my 150 mm petty for smaller jobs that I'm too lazy to take out my gyuto for.

Great info so far. Very useful. Thanks all!

I think my friends use my petty more than I do, but it is great for small work. Trimming meat, stemming strawberries, general small work it is great for.

Sometimes, I just need to dice a couple of tomatoes or an avocado or peel a single fruit, etc. Unless I have a large knife sitting there, I'll pick up a 150-210 petty instead.

There is almost nothing you can't do with a gyuto. However, if your gyuto or chef's knife happens to be a carbon, it could make sense to have a smaller stainless blade for fruit. That may be a petty, a Western boning knife, or whatever you have and is thin and sharp.

I love mine for fruit and vegetable work, especially tomatoes. As said, great for detail work. Also, it's my knife of choice for trimming meat especially removing silver skin. I find it more maneuverable in my hand.

-AJ

I never buy the Petty....my 165mm santoku, 180mm gyuto or 155mm honesuki have more useful funtion than the Petty!!

I use my 180 petty all the time. It's a great size and profile for most at home cutting. Never use it for boning. Eric

I have a stainless 150mm wa-petty as well. It's really great for peeling fruit in my hand I do a lot of peeling this way, and a little wa-petty is an ideal... pulling out stems from strawberries, little dotty things from potatoes, slicing something little is also easy with the knife. But I don't do as much of slicing enough to make it worthwhile for me to purchase a real sujihiki, so I settled with the wa-petty

cclin said:

I never buy the Petty....my 165mm santoku, 180mm gyuto or 155mm honesuki have more useful funtion than the Petty!!

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You don't think I could do with my 150 or 210 petty anything that you can do with the three knives you listed? Pray tell.

tk59 said:

You don't think I could do with my 150 or 210 petty anything that you can do with the three knives you listed? Pray tell.

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tk, that is just personal preference. petty's short narrow blade mainly design best for push cut or slice cut for small item. santoku, gyuto & honesuki all can do that parts very well. however, satoku's wider blade make it more easy to chopping food & honesuki's thicker asymmetrical edge doing better job for separate meat from bone. moreover, 180mm gyuto is nimble as petty but with better functionality in my opinion...I just prefere 165 santoku, 180 gyuto & 150 honesuki over 150/180/210 petty...my:2cents:

Saying that something has "more useful function" seems like a pretty strong statement to me. A petty has excellent function. If you only have two knives, they should arguably be something small and pointy and something bigger for the larger stuff and greater quantities. If you want to chop, you really want a cleaver, not a a santoku. Now there, is a knife with low functionality. Santokus aren't very wide, they are just not at pointed. Honesukis are unitaskers. Some are thin enough to be more useful but in general they are good for just one thing. How many people sit around and debone meat or break down chickens all the time? The 180 mm gyuto is the same thing as a petty. Some are a little taller or shorter at the heel. Depending on the size of your hand and what it is you are doing, a taller knife can be worse or better. In my kitchen a gyuto gets most of the use and the rest generally goes to a petty. The knives with the most functionality will be relatively thin and pointed. You can give your preference and you can say what you want with impunity but you're presenting your statement as fact.

If I am in no hurry, I much prefer dicing onions with my 150mm petty than my chef knives. I also prefer it for slicing potatoes and mushrooms if I want to be at a nice relaxed and enjoyable pace.

-AJ

tk, excuses me if my posted let you feeling is mislead statement. I'm sorry about that! when we talk about petty, santoku or Honesukis, they all just for small task only. cleaver is way too much if I just want to mince a garlic, chop half of carrot, 1/4 onion or a piece of celery, I will choice a santoku over a petty just for easy chopping & many Honesukis with 50/50, 30/70, 10/90 bevel can cut as good as petty, I don't think Honesukis are unitaskers! that just "my"opinion!
as far as I know some of chefs think "thick & no pointed" Chinese cleaver have more functionality than " thin and pointed" gyuto! just like I said is all about personal preference!

tk59 said:

Saying that something has "more useful function" seems like a pretty strong statement to me. A petty has excellent function. If you only have two knives, they should arguably be something small and pointy and something bigger for the larger stuff and greater quantities. If you want to chop, you really want a cleaver, not a a santoku........... Honesukis are unitaskers. Some are thin enough to be more useful but in general they are good for just one thing.... The knives with the most functionality will be relatively thin and pointed. You can give your preference and you can say what you want with impunity but you're presenting your statement as fact.

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I use petty for a few prep things but mainly it's just my line knife. Small enough to not get in the way and, aside from slicing roasts and what not, it can handle most necessary tasks during service.

I use a 210mm petty/suji on the line for slicing meats. I have a 150mm stainless for things that might be discolored from carbon (shallots for one).

Pettys hold a strange place in my heart, and I'm not exactly sure why. But, they do! I find anything in the 150-170 range to be great for "everyday, two person meal" tasks. I'd say if I had to choose two knives to use, it'd be a toss up between a suji with some height at the heel, and a gyuto and my definite knife would be a mid-sized petty.

I've actually saved a picture of Karring's "Travel Knives", because it just makes sense to me. I'm not a paring knife guy, eve though I try to be, but with a small gyuto, mid-sized petty and parer, you're ready for 98 percet of the tasks a home user would need. In fact, I might bring. My Marr petty into work today, as a result of this thread. I think it's all I'll really need at the hall....

Yes, TK is back. :O

tk59 said:

You can give your preference and you can say what you want with impunity but you're presenting your statement as fact.

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:idea2:

This is EXACTLY why you should all have disclaimers in your sig line!

:spankarse: :happy2:


I like a petty for cuttin the cheese. No seriously, the shorter profile has less drag. :thumbsup:

wenus2 said:

Yes, TK is back. :O

:idea2:

This is EXACTLY why you should all have disclaimers in your sig line!

:spankarse: :happy2:

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good point!! you should let me know that earlier:eyebrow:

@ tk, no hard feeling! those statements just "my personal opinion and nothing more"

I use my petty like I used to use my paring plus a bit more. Good for in-hand work with fruits, and adequate for chopping off ends or slicing something like a tomato or two. Oh, and great for semi-soft and hard cheeses