Parer Ideas

[DevinT]

This is one knife that varies more than most.

What do you like?

What makes it good?

How do you use it?

I usually make some for Christmas and give them out.

Help me come up with something cool this year. Move to Panaca and you might get one.

Hoss

[Lucretia]

I have a short and stumpy little custom parer that I LOVE. I had to have one made because I couldn't find one short enough. With smallish hands and stubby fingers I couldn't do some tricks with longer blades, like the one where you put your thumb on the stem of an apple and pivot the knife around your thumb to remove part of the core. This one is just shy of 2 1/2". The choil curves away from the handle towards the blade so there's nothing poking me when I choke up on it to do fiddly work. It's a great little knife--my favorite parer. I use it for peeling stuff, cutting out nasty bits, or on the table when there's a block of cheese that needs nibbles cut off. It's carbon damascus, so when it comes to cutting up limes I pull out a stainless parer. Both are western handles.

Now if I could find an AEB-L parer in a short and stumpy size with a western handle I'd be set...hint hint!

[Crothcipt]

This might make you cringe. Maybe a birds beak/ sheepsfoot (I think that is right). It would be still in the same tradition, but a little different.

[kalaeb]

Personally, I like a western "bottle" handle with a little more palm swell, 3.5 inches in length, with the first two inches being thicker and rounded on the spine with the last .5 inch stupid thin.

[Chuckles]

I had a four inch vintage carbon sabatier parer that was the best I've ever used. I could peel carrots and ginger as fast as with a peeler and it was also great for probing temps on larger steaks. My Chef at the time borrowed it to clean artichokes and must have swept into the trash with the waste because I never saw it again. And I looked through all the garbage cans, I liked it that much. He got nominated for a beard award two months later and Wustoff sent him a 4.5 inch parer as a congrats. I saw it in the office and took it. Use it at home all the time and we call it "The James Beard Knife". It's the newer handled version and is actually a nice knife. I still miss the sab. It is still my standard bearer. Just my 12 cents.

[Chuckles]

Don't rat on me. It's a small town and he won the f'n award.

[scotchef38]

I have used and lost a lot of parers over the years.My favourite used to be the 3 inch henckles,4 star,the steel wasnt great but the shape and length of the blade was great.It was not well balanced though as the handle is heavy.I know have an old Hoffritz parer which is the best parer I have ever used,it is not the best steel and it has these odd black markings on the blade,but it is lazer thin,really light,comfortable and well balanced. http://auctions.findtarget.com/detai...342672/wingen/

[DevinT]

Thanks everyone, good stuff.

Western or wa, what do you think. The posts so far tend to be western.

TK where are you?

Hoss

[WildBoar]

I really like the hybrid handle on the parer Pierre Rodrigue made for me a couple years ago (full tang, a little less bulky then a typical western). I think wa is tough to handle on a knife that will mainly be used up off the board.

[tk59]

I've had a few parers over the years and given away all but one. Part of it is that I've adjusted my technique and the kinds of food I eat to a 150-220 petty. The only one left is a Henckels 3" blade that I spent a lot of time thinning by hand. I thinned the entire blade...a lot. I've never liked the Japanese versions. They really aren't pointy enough. I like the somewhat worn out, triangular, pointy little knife. I like stainless for it but it would be nice to have one that holds a super keen edge well. I've spent a fair amount of time trying to figure out if I really care about balance in a paring knife and I've come to the conclusion that I don't and I might actually like the super-handle-heaviness of the Henckels more than anything. I kinda like the birds' beak parer idea because they are nice for peeling but they aren't awesome all around knives. So there you go: thin, pointy, small (20 mm tall at the heel, flatish profile, 75 mm long) and fairly substantial handle.