I'm pretty happy with 200mm at home cooking for two, and 300mm at work cooking for 500.
210 verus 240?
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VoodooMajik
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210 is much to small for me, If I need a smaller blade for tight space or what have you I go to a nakiri. But if I have the space or can word around things I go for 270mm most time. I even cheat and choke up on the blade when the board/counter space isn't sufficient for the size of blade. I was considering a 210 for finer tasks and line work but I think if I where to go that small I would get a Petty...
210 works great for one of my good friends at work and home, She's tiny and has small hands so it's more comfotable.
210 works great for one of my good friends at work and home, She's tiny and has small hands so it's more comfotable.
As for the OP's question: find a knife in your price range with steel you like, aesthetics you like, a profile you like, a handle you like, and which you can hopefully wield before purchase. It doesn't matter if it's 210 or 240. They're the same damn knife. As with all knives, some 240s are measured short and some 210s are measured long, and either way we're talking the difference between an 8 inch knife and a 9 inch knife. Lol. Are the exact tasks requested of the knife, the space in which it will be used, and the skill level of the user really considerations?
Knives are like stones, but instead of being sold in iterations within the categories of "coarse, medium, and fine," they're sold in iterations within the categories of "small, medium, and long." 210 and 240 knives are both within the medium category. All the discussion about the merits and flaws between one or the other within the same category is the obsessive minutia of hobbyists (as it is with stones), and very little of it has practical merit. For starters, a 240 can become a 210 by pinching it just a wee bit further down the spine. The extra "useable edge before you need to sharpen" is, as mentioned, about the width of a bottle cap, and completely useless anyway: people cut things the way they learned, and will sharpen when that way stops working (not readjust their technique just to procrastinate). An extra inch adds little to a knife's weight and agility compared to it's geometry and profile, therefore a thicker and taller 210 will be clunkier than a thinner and narrower 240. The amount of product you can cut at once might theoretically increase with an extra inch of edge length, but it depends entirely upon the edge profile (and how you use it).
Just sayin'. There's a lot more things to worry about when picking a knife besides a measurement which is often borderline arbitrary, and not at all reflective of how it'll perform.
Knives are like stones, but instead of being sold in iterations within the categories of "coarse, medium, and fine," they're sold in iterations within the categories of "small, medium, and long." 210 and 240 knives are both within the medium category. All the discussion about the merits and flaws between one or the other within the same category is the obsessive minutia of hobbyists (as it is with stones), and very little of it has practical merit. For starters, a 240 can become a 210 by pinching it just a wee bit further down the spine. The extra "useable edge before you need to sharpen" is, as mentioned, about the width of a bottle cap, and completely useless anyway: people cut things the way they learned, and will sharpen when that way stops working (not readjust their technique just to procrastinate). An extra inch adds little to a knife's weight and agility compared to it's geometry and profile, therefore a thicker and taller 210 will be clunkier than a thinner and narrower 240. The amount of product you can cut at once might theoretically increase with an extra inch of edge length, but it depends entirely upon the edge profile (and how you use it).
Just sayin'. There's a lot more things to worry about when picking a knife besides a measurement which is often borderline arbitrary, and not at all reflective of how it'll perform.
Very good advice.
At home I use 390mm santoku that is 70mm tall. My board is 40x40cm so the edge length is perfect for me cause I can slice an onion, a sandwich and a tomato all in one clean swipe.
Sometimes while at home on my day off, I make parties for up to 100 people so the extra length helps when I have to cut through that 200KG potatoes or onions, sometimes I just do a small meal for family of 50 then I just take out my 330mm petty.
At work I used to use Sandokans sword something like that:
But now its waaaaaay to small, so I just bought small katana one meter of usable edge. This way I can slice onions and stab someone as far a 2 metres away! How good is that?
Im thinking what Im going to get next cause tuna sword I bought is not enough for me to slice sashimi, just a tad too short.
Sometimes while at home on my day off, I make parties for up to 100 people so the extra length helps when I have to cut through that 200KG potatoes or onions, sometimes I just do a small meal for family of 50 then I just take out my 330mm petty.
At work I used to use Sandokans sword something like that:
But now its waaaaaay to small, so I just bought small katana one meter of usable edge. This way I can slice onions and stab someone as far a 2 metres away! How good is that?
Im thinking what Im going to get next cause tuna sword I bought is not enough for me to slice sashimi, just a tad too short.
If you can't chop the bacon while doing the tomato, onion, and sandwich at the same time, you have failed. Bigger knife IMO.
Oh I thought it was the skill[which I clearly lack] not the tool, but anyway was soooooooo right to order that 450mm honyaki chefs knife.
An some bigger sanituff
I am not going to show off my mod 365mm gyuto since you guys are envious of stupidly long knives :lol2:. For home cook, most of the time I use 210mm, next is 240mm, then 180mm petty, 150, 120, 365. Excellent excuses for getting knives.
