Gyotu or Sujihiki?

[Koop]

I'm a noob here. I frequently smoke meats and last week I smoked a beef brisket. When I sliced the flat of the brisket across the grain, I found I needed a little more knife. I have a ~210mm gyuto and a ~210mm santoku. I favor shorter knives due to small living space, including kitchen and counters.

I'm looking at the JCK Natures Series Blue Moon 240mm Gyuto and 240mm Sujihiki - I think the added 30mm blade length will be beneficial at times like this. These are Blue #2 core, stainless clad blades. My question is - for occasions when I feel the need for a longer blade to slice meat, which is the recommended style - gyotu or sujihiki?

 

[Nemo]

Either will work for slicing but a suji will do it better.

A gyuto is more versatile but a sujihiki tends to shed food better and is ideal for slicing.

If you are sure that you will only use the knife to slice and portion meat, go the suji.

If you want to experimemt with a longer main knife, go the gyuto.

 

[jacko9]

I would go with a 270mm Gyuto. I have several 240mm Gyuto's and a Kagekiyo 270mm Sujihiki. I would use the sujihiki when the brisket comes off the smoker but for cutting cold meat it's a Gyuto every time.

 

[JAKsQandBrew]

What size brisket do you typically cook? If you are only cooking 11 pounders you can easily get away with a 240. If you are cooking big boys like 19 pounds you really need 270+ to do the job right.

 

[Koop]

I don't smoke large briskets - flats are usually in the 6 - 9 lbs range. Even at that size 210mm seems a bit short.

 

[daveb]

When I'm catering it's not unusual to cut 10+ flats at an event. I would not use anything but a 270 suji. Pardon the board - I take what I can get coming off the truck....

The knife is probably my Zwear HSC. For this type of work I want a 165g min and more is better. The Zwear comes in about 210g IIRC.

 

[JAKsQandBrew]

For a non professional, a 240 should be enough for cutting flats for friend and family. 270 would obviously work as well but can be a lot for a home cook and means you need a big carving board to really use it well.

Weight is a tougher one and is a lot about preference and feel. I was using a 270 cheap ass western slicer that is 225g, but never really liked that. I went through a number of other options.

I'm now using a sweet Dalman 240 gyuto with a wicked s grind that only weighs 148g. I'd never use it if I was trying to carve a lot for a big group as it is a bit delicate, but man does it carve a brisket like butter.

 

[landshark]

for slicing brisket i would use a minimum of a 240 sujihiki, but prefer something longer 270 - 285

 

[stevenStefano]

Sounds like a 270 suji is exactly what you need. A 270 gyuto would also work but it would be pretty tall and give a lot more drag when slicing. It will also cost a bit more than a suji most probably

 

[Koop]

Thanks for all of the advice.

 

[Koop]

As I mentioned in the OP - space is a consideration. I decided 240mm was the max I would go. I pulled the trigger on this:
JCK Natures Blue Moon Series BM-6 Kiritsuke-Sujihiki 240mm (9.4 Inch)
Koki and the folks at JCK were first rate once again.