Ban on 210 gyutos

[SHOWERDOOKIE]

My 210's help me better understand my inner woman.

I always like to imagine two midgets in a trench coat when someone refers to their ‘inner woman’.

Anyways I felt this way until recently I was gifted a Miyabi santoku and it’s been my new beater at work for the line, I put an edge on it ootb and I don’t even blink when someone picks it up to use it. I think the stigma in my head around “****ing santokus” prevented me from using one but it’s not like it doesn’t get the job done.. I still feel like ‘master chef jr’ when I use it though.

 

[Nedfeister]

^^ millennial ^^

I wish I was that young!

 

[BillHanna]

*180 gyutos silently sitting in the corner, hoping to not get noticed*

 

[esoo]

*180 gyutos silently sitting in the corner, hoping to not get noticed*

*180 gyutos silently sitting in the corner, looking at the santoku's, thinking it's all their damn fault*

 

[LostHighway]

I certainly understand the appeal of longer knives for the pros with real speed and volume considerations but for the average home user not so much. I figure if the absence of an extra few centimeters in length is really a problem for you you can always stick a couple rolled up socks in your pants.

 

[TSF415]

Im sorry to rain on everyones parade but an extra inch doesn't make you a man.

 

[jacko9]

Haven't made up my mind on the ideal size yet. I have a Mazaki 180 gyuto, a Fujiyama 210, and a Watanabe 210 all useful but recently after I gave my 240 HD2 to my son I picked up a 240 Toyama, a 240 Fujiyama (closer to 230), a 240 T-F Nashiji and a 240 Shigefusa and if I only cooked more often I could get a decent sample size for comparisons.

 

[aszma]

I recently grabbed a 180mm wat gyuto thats been heavily thinned and given an S-grind from BST i grab that thing as often as my 240.

 

[daveb]

But a 180 gyuto is really a big petty and quite the manly knife. The 210 gyuto is small.

 

[aszma]

But a 180 gyuto is really a big petty and quite the manly knife. The 210 gyuto is small.

But then can we call a 210 an extra big petty and make it extra manly?

 

[Boynutman]

Knives are like women: I am attracted to all shapes, colors, and sizes.

...and preferably no virtues.
(so why should you want a santoku with ‘three virtues’ when one is already too many?)

 

[BillHanna]

I have a Mazaki 180 gyuto

From when? Does it have a sizeable flat spot?

 

[daddy yo yo]

I personally divide knives into:
Small - 180 and under
Medium - 210-240
Large - 270 and up

And here we have the no man‘s lands of knives, 181-219 and 241-269, being neither small nor medium not large...

 

[BillHanna]

edit

 

[BillHanna]

If I could chime in here, I personally divide knives into:
Small - 180 and under
Medium - 210-240
Large - 270 and up

Thats a ballpark for sizes 'cause those are the common sizes knives come in and there are inbetweeners obviously. So 210 and 240 in my eyes are pretty much the same in many ways. Let's say you got yourself a 240 Sakai gyuto and I have a 210 Sanjo gyuto they can be just about the same size on the edge. If you factor in weight and heel height
some Sanjo 210 can feel and perform bigger then some Sakai 240.

I prefer a 210 in my personal pro environment. Just my 2 cents on it.

And here we have the no man‘s lands of knives, 181-219 and 241-269, being neither small nor medium not large...

S 0-195
M 195-265
L 265 and beyond?

 

[NO ChoP!]

I will go so far to say that most 210's were purchased to save that extra 20% cost over a 240...aaaand regretted and sold on BST's or unsuspecting coworkers.

 

[BillHanna]

This thread makes me wish Kei cars were legal in PA.

 

[WildBoar]

From when? Does it have a sizeable flat spot?

The "F-spot"?

 

[BillHanna]

The "F-spot"?

I’ll stroke it alllllll niiiiiiight looooong

 

[Barmoley]

The problem with 210s is not the length but the profile.

 

[M1k3]

The problem with 210s is not the length but the profile.

Girth.

 

[ExistentialHero]

I recently grabbed a 180mm wat gyuto thats been heavily thinned and given an S-grind from BST i grab that thing as often as my 240.

That's a super cool knife, glad it's getting good use!

 

[labor of love]

It’s not the size but how you use it.

 

[labor of love]

Just kidding it’s the size

 

[tgfencer]

The problem with 210s is not the length but the profile.

To be semi-serious, I guess the way I see it is, what would I be cutting that I would choose a 210 gyuto over another knife? (Bearing in mind I'm tall and a vocal proponent of the 'a big knife can do it all' philosophy)

Raw, boneless proteins- Either a long slicer or thin petty
Cooked proteins- 210 could be useful, but depending on the size of meat, I would probably again choose suji or petty.
Soft Produce- If it's small enough to be tackled by a 210, I'm more likely to choose a dedicated veg knife like a nakiri/cleaver
Big/Hard produce- Cleaver/longer gyuto/or geometry-specific if its something like a squash

For me I guess I see the 210 as needing to be something of a hybrid between a gyuto, a shorter suji, and a petty, and in almost all cases I'd rather have one of those specific knives than the 210. Then again, it's all preference anyway, so what does it really matter?

 

[Nagakin]

210 profile doesn't feel as fluid or ergonomic for the reasons above. I always feel like I'm compensating.

...damn you guys

 

[Barmoley]

It also depends on the grip, if you use a deep pinch grip where your middle finger is against the choil then you are shortening your blade and mostly use tip and middle of the edge. This is where most knives start to curve toward the tip unless the tip is low, santoku, k-tip. So in the case of normal 210 gyuto you end up with practically no flat spot. Fine for some people, but depending on how you cut awkward for others. Any knife can be used for anything you can make a whole meal with a paring knife if you had to, the question is why? Unless you are very much space limited 2-3 cm can make a positive difference. Most when we polled a few times agreed that 225-235 are the sweet spot, with pros mostly liking longer.

 

[captaincaed]

But then can we call a 210 an extra big petty and make it extra manly?

So how was Ian's grinding work? Post on the 'ol carrot thread maybe?

 

[NO ChoP!]

I feel like you lose that fine tip manipulation with the lesser length. You can make up some of the differences with adding height to the blade, but that makes the above mentioned even less tactile.

 

[Nagakin]

I feel like you lose that fine tip manipulation with the lesser length. You can make up some of the differences with adding height to the blade, but that makes the above mentioned even less tactile.

While we're on it I never understood the preference for height either