Aren't Paring Knives the most important in home kitchen?

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Canadian said:
The French call both "couteau d'office," and the only thing that varies between them is length…

For in hand work (coring, pitting, peeling), I have several requirements in a paring knife: a feather light handle, a short blade (less than 3.5”), pointy tip, and very thin edge. I personally use a vintage 3" Sabatier Nogent and 3.25" Robert Herder – neither sees contact with a board.

A longer “couteau d'office” (say 4-6") is a very useful knife. Also known as ‘utility’ and ‘petty’ knives, I use mine for deboning birds, trimming raw proteins, portioning cured meats, small board work, cutting sandwiches, etc. I find around 6" or 150mm the perfect length.

HOWEVER, if my chef's knife is already on the board, I never use my petty. If I am preparing a larger meal, it's always a chef's/paring knife combo. I hate having more than two knives on the board at the same time. More often than not, it's only my chef's knife on the board.

For you, if you find immense utility in a paring knife then that's great. I wouldn't be without mine. With that said, my petty pretty much functions as a smaller chef’s knife in those instances where pulling out a 10" chef's knife is overkill. Therefore, in actual board time it sees far more use compared to my shorter paring knives.
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Like I was saying :), this is so me, even with Sabatier in mind, the knife on the board and cleaning the knives after.
I guess most people that get proficient enough this way, won't reach for anything else if it's not a really specific task.
 
In my definition a ‘paring’ knife is designed for, well, paring and in-hand cutting, what means that the blade is narrow (around 20mm) and should not have a sharp heel that wants to slice open my thumb.
 
@Canadian and @kayman67
If Gyuto is out - it is out. No questions asked - it is the knife that will be in use. Now it seems I need to wrap my head around 120mm petty knifes. Which one's do you use?
 
kayman67 said:
Like I was saying :), this is so me, even with Sabatier in mind, the knife on the board and cleaning the knives after.
I guess most people that get proficient enough this way, won't reach for anything else if it's not a really specific task.
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Back in the day when I was buying lots of knives trying to figure out what I liked, I had a couple long sujihikis in the stable...

It didn't take long for me to realize they would see no use unless I 'forced' the task...

My chef's knives were all shorter in height, and sliced through raw or cooked proteins perfectly well. My initial justification for a slicer was it would do this job better and with less effort, but in practice this 'effort' is not noticeable for the home cook. Moreover, for cleaning up chunks of meat I found I preferred a shorter petty.

I do have a type of slicer in my butcher kit for portioning large cuts of meat, but that's outside the kitchen...

However, I do understand some people LOVE their sujis, and I understand why some would choose a shorter suji (180-210mm) over a gyuto in certain contexts.

So again, it comes down to personal preference and a kind of philosophy of use. I love maximizing the use out of my chef's knives. They are an extension of me arm, and I spend a hell of a lot less time switching between knives, sharpening and cleaning up. I know my standing rib roast isn't better or worse because I used a gyuto instead a slicer to portion it.
 
vlasena said:
@Canadian and @kayman67
If Gyuto is out - it is out. No questions asked - it is the knife that will be in use. Now it seems I need to wrap my head around 120mm petty knifes. Which one's do you use?
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I have two: a 6" Sabatier Nogent marketed as a 'slicer' and a Masamoto HC 150mm Petty.

Will always keep my Sab, but would one day like to replace the HC with a western handled Kasumi Shig - absolutely an extravagance!
 
Keep in mind that I'm an amateur cook. It's a hobby for me, and my choices in large reflect that. Professional chef's often have an entirely different set of variables that effect their choices.

I do have some experience in whole animal butchery, however.
 
At present, my duties as a Sushi Chef demand my workweek be split among several locations in different cities. I bought a knife roll this year, my first ever (toolbox w/padlock being preferable). I carry everything I’ll need if faced with any variety of potential nightmare emergency situations:

2 Yanagiba
1 Sujihiki 270-300mm
1 Gyuto 240-270mm
-sometimes I’ll carry 2 Gyuto no Sujihiki or 2 Sujihiki no Gyuto-
2 Deba- 120 or 140 & 180 or 210
1 Veg Peeler, Swiss style
1 Scissors (Silky Chef X Pro)
1 Microplane
2 Strops (leather-8nm, 2nm)
1 Boning Tweezers
1 Moribashi Chopsticks
2 Makisu

Neither parer nor petty. I do in-hand peeling of small things like ginger with the heel of my sashimi knife. The tip handles whatever precision detail work I may need, on the board.
 
Props to the parer from this home cook.

If I could only have two knives they would be chef's and 3.5 or 4" parer. Third knife would be a shorter, tougher chefs, 180 or 150, on the tall side.

Use paring knife all the time to core strawberries, peel thicker skins, dig imperfections out of fruits and veggies etc. Good for coring peppers. Can slice cucumber or whatever directly into a bowl. Can be placed on a cutting board with a couple of lemons on the dinner table without anyone freaking out.

There are small jobs, like cutting a single apple, where in-hand work may follow and anyway it feels silly wiping down a 240mm blade afterwards.

I guess it depends on cuisine as well. My paring knives find much more use than my one neglected petty.
 
I have never used a paring knife or petty knife at home. At work I keep both in my kit. A paring knife is essential for cutting boxes, straps, and plastic. And a petty knife so you have something to give to bartenders when they need to slice lemons.
 
stringer said:
I have never used a paring knife or petty knife at home. At work I keep both in my kit. A paring knife is essential for cutting boxes, straps, and plastic. And a petty knife so you have something to give to bartenders when they need to slice lemons.
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Lol... I forgot to mention I always carry a pocket knife... that could technically qualify (if you stretch the definition), I suppose but it doesn’t ever contact food.
 
Glestain has offset petty knives that you can handle like gyutos on cutting boards. It seems they are popular in Japan for those who don't like larger knives and have small kitchens.
 
I have small children and need to cut grapes and strawberries in half all the time. I have a Harner/McLean parer that lives on my counter. It is patterned on a sabatier but has a killer grind and a coke bottle handle. It is a knife I would never part with. Harner makes great small knives.

At work I carry an Al Mar eagle in my pocket. It is like a folding paring knife. Use it for utility but it actually cuts food well when needed.
EB5C4A5E-8A77-4209-B9BB-271F9913102A.jpeg
 
Chuckles said:
I have small children and need to cut grapes and strawberries in half all the time. I have a Harner/McLean parer that lives on my counter. It is patterned on a sabatier but has a killer grind and a coke bottle handle. It is a knife I would never part with. Harner makes great small knives.

At work I carry an Al Mar eagle in my pocket. It is like a folding paring knife. Use it for utility but it actually cuts food well when needed.
View attachment 60293
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Yep, that's pretty much an identical blade profile to my 3" Sabatier Nogent - nice knife!
 
I like my Wüsthof paring knife. It has a good shape and cuts well:
IMG_3126.JPG

I'm much less fond of my (much more expensive) Miyabi paring knife:
IMG_3125.JPG

Just look at that heel, and where it is headed on the down-stroke. Total design fail, in my opinion. Just because a heel is right for a chef's knife doesn't mean it's right for a paring knife…
 
I have a 90 mm paring knife, 2 150 petty, and a 180 petty. I use them sometimes but it’s a little forced just because I have them. There’s nothing they do I can’t easily do with a larger gyuto. Of all them, I prefer the 180 but I could easily get rid of them all and lose zero sleep over it
 
stringer said:
I do use my 210 petty as a butcher knife for boneless protein processing. I'm not sure what point a petty becomes a sujihiki.
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My best guess is that general dividing line between a knife being "petty" vs. "gross" is around 180mm-210mm. I've yet to ever hear of a 270mm utility-knife or a 135mm slicer, nor a 240mm bunka-bocho or 165mm kiritsuke-gyuto, even though all of those pairs refer to the same blade geometries. Not sure it matters, though; if a 210mm petty knife works as such for you, then no reason not to call it one.
 
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Nemo said:
I rarely use a paring knife. I have a few nice petties but they don't get too much use.
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SilverSwarfer said:
In my case, by application: the paring knife has approximately zero value.
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milkbaby said:
I don't own a paring knife and thus do not use one. /shrug
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Op - this is why not much talking about paring knives, and when they are talked about it always meh, blades that people love because it's what they are use to.

I have 25 gyuto's & 1 petty that I really don't even use.
I don't know what task done by a petty/ Parer ... that can't be done better than a Gyuto or peeler. Maybe removing potato eyes, but as long as the heel isn't insane I'm good with Gyuto heel.
 
Chuckles said:
I have small children and need to cut grapes and strawberries in half all the time. I have a Harner/McLean parer that lives on my counter. It is patterned on a sabatier but has a killer grind and a coke bottle handle. It is a knife I would never part with. Harner makes great small knives.

At work I carry an Al Mar eagle in my pocket. It is like a folding paring knife. Use it for utility but it actually cuts food well when needed.
View attachment 60293
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I often use a paring knife, for many of the reasons Chuckles mentioned: strawberries, grapes, apples, salami, cheese, opening boxes/packages, etc... I'm still on the lookout for a good one, though.

I mainly use the Vic 3" if which I own a few. I like the size, that the blade is flexible, and that there's no heel to bite you. I also have a Mac birds beak. I like the steel, but the curve makes it very limited in what it can do. I have a Robert Herder on order from Germany, but it's been stuck in customs for three weeks now.

What I really want is that Harder, Chuckles. Not sure if it would replace my Vics, but it would make a great addition to my stable of paring knives!
 
I like all my knives sharp, I don't abuse any of them. I have a decent parer which is a thinned Cutco 4", originally "micro-serrated" and thick as a brick. I use it strictly for peeling strips of lemon peel for the one drink I use lemon peel for, cheap white wine with good vermouth. It is so perfect for the task it replaced my little Robert Herder, which sees some rare use with the occasional apple. I have practically no other use for a parer.
 
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