- Joined
- Sep 4, 2011
- Messages
- 393
- Reaction score
- 116
Home cook here who for over 10 years has supremed a lot of grapefruit in season, usually six to eight boxes a year (so I've done this over 1000 times, literally), plus oranges for salads and such. I've used 50+ general purpose J knives for doing supremes at one time or another. A few things I have and haven't found.
--I would hate to have to do the job with a paring knife because it's so much quicker and safer to remove the rind with a larger knife.
--I have not found citrus to harm my carbon edges, but of course I wipe my blade with a damp cloth and dry it promptly after use. Some all-carbon blades can bring a bit of metallic taste to the meal, though, depending on the steel, patina, etc.
--Anything shorter than 180mm is a pain because I use a single long stroke to get each facet of rind off a grapefruit. I don't mind longer knives, but when they get much wider than 45mm that's a lot of blade in your hands when you're doing the sectioning task.
--My favorite is Watanabe's180mm pro gyuto upgraded w/ an enju handle. It's blue core w/ stainless cladding and one of my few truly "dead guy" knives, as in I'll never get rid of it until I die. It's so nimble and versatile I grab it instead of a petty every time. Gyuto knife | Kurouchi Japanese analog of western chef's knife
--If you want all stainless, the Suisin Inox 210mm gyuto is nice; they come with one of the better stock handles around and are light and nimble. If they make a 180mm, it could be just what you want if you're inclined to stainless only. Suisin Inox Honyaki Wa-Gyuto
--I would hate to have to do the job with a paring knife because it's so much quicker and safer to remove the rind with a larger knife.
--I have not found citrus to harm my carbon edges, but of course I wipe my blade with a damp cloth and dry it promptly after use. Some all-carbon blades can bring a bit of metallic taste to the meal, though, depending on the steel, patina, etc.
--Anything shorter than 180mm is a pain because I use a single long stroke to get each facet of rind off a grapefruit. I don't mind longer knives, but when they get much wider than 45mm that's a lot of blade in your hands when you're doing the sectioning task.
--My favorite is Watanabe's180mm pro gyuto upgraded w/ an enju handle. It's blue core w/ stainless cladding and one of my few truly "dead guy" knives, as in I'll never get rid of it until I die. It's so nimble and versatile I grab it instead of a petty every time. Gyuto knife | Kurouchi Japanese analog of western chef's knife
--If you want all stainless, the Suisin Inox 210mm gyuto is nice; they come with one of the better stock handles around and are light and nimble. If they make a 180mm, it could be just what you want if you're inclined to stainless only. Suisin Inox Honyaki Wa-Gyuto