Ham Knife

[coxhaus]

I smoked a large ham on Saturday. I started to use my brisket knife to slice it and I figured out I really needed a point to go around the bone or otherwise the sliced meat would tear apart because it was still stuck to the bone. So, I liked my 10-knife in the top of my picture. I should have taken a picture of the ham. A 12-inch version would not be too large in my mind though my 10-inch worked.

What do you use to slice a ham?

 

[coffeelover191919]

i've only had to carve a ham once in my life, and my wusthof carving set bc that was all i had at the time. it worked well

 

[Benuser]

There is here a serious problem with asymmetric geometry. A right-hander will cut from the right to the left, towards his body. With a common Japanese suji that would mean flat side up, convex side down, which is the least effective. But cutting from the left to the right, away from the body, doesn't seem comfortable. Any thoughts?

 

[KenHash]

There is here a serious problem with asymmetric geometry. A right-hander will cut from the right to the left, towards his body. With a common Japanese suji that would mean flat side up, convex side down, which is the least effective. But cutting from the left to the right, away from the body, doesn't seem comfortable. Any thoughts?

Every Sujihiki I have seen has been double bevel with no flat side. Every Yanagiba hs been single bevel with an Ura. Did you mean the latter? Or did you mean something else?

 

[Benuser]

Every Sujihiki I have seen has been double bevel with no flat side. Every Yanagiba hs been single bevel with an Ura. Did you mean the latter? Or did you mean something else?

I have yet to see a symmetric sujihiki. All had a flat left face, a convex right one and the edge off-centered to the left.

 

[WildBoar]

For carving hams I have used 300 sujis from Harner, Martell and Rodrigue. All are symmetrical. My understanding is Japanese sujis are usually symmetrical, but the only one I have is a 210 Takeda.. My Carter suji is symmetrical as well.

 

[KenHash]

I have yet to see a symmetric sujihiki. All had a flat left face, a convex right one and the edge off-centered to the left.

I think we have a difference in terminology. Are you saying that a Sujuhiki has one side of the blade flat ground and the other side is convex ground? But still double bevel at the edge?
Because I am thinking one side being an Ura as in a traditional Japanese single bevel knife,

 

[Benuser]

Are you saying that a Sujuhiki has one side of the blade flat ground and the other side is convex ground? But still double bevel at the edge?

Exactly. Just as with vintage Sab slicers. Or vintage Germans from the times they took the Sab as a model. What the Japanese have introduced, though, is the off-centering of the the edge to the left. They could do so because ignoring left-handers wasn't such an issue in Japanese culture.

 

[stringer]

Here's the clearest example I have of Japanese suji assymetry. My Ashi 210 pretty much has a full blown ura. Which is kind of crazy seeing as how thin it is. But you can tell where I have thinned that one side is convex and the other concave. I don't think they are all this exaggerated. But I do think assymetry is extremely common on a less extreme scale. My 270 Ashi is also assymetric. But it doesn't have a pseudo-ura like this one.

 

[Benuser]

Vintage Butcher's Tranchelard by K-Sabatier

 

[Hz_zzzzzz]

I have yet to see a symmetric sujihiki. All had a flat left face, a convex right one and the edge off-centered to the left.

Weird the only suji I still have is relatively symmetric. It’s a Takamura Hana 270 suji which is convex on both side.

 

[Benuser]

Weird the only suji I still have is relatively symmetric. It’s a Takamura Hana 270 suji which is convex on both side.
View attachment 154746

This choil shot doesn't look that symmetric to me.

 

[Michi]

The Wüsthof salmon slicer works just as well for ham or turkey. If you want thin slices, this is a good tool.

The blade is quite flexible and allows for controlling the thickness of the slice along the blade length by changing the way I hold the blade and apply pressure. It's a feel thing; the feedback from the blade allows me to adjust the angle of the blade while I'm making the cut, so the slices come out at even thickness.

 

[Hz_zzzzzz]

This choil shot doesn't look that symmetric to me.

But it’s convex on the left side, no?

 

[Benuser]

The right side on the photo, left one IRL is deadly flat.
The left side on the photo, the dominant side for right-handers, is clearly convex. Nothing unusual about it, but it is not symmetric.
Very convenient for cutting roasts.
For horizontal cuts as with a ham, though, one would have to cut from the left to the right. Not very convenient to my old shoulder. When cutting from the right to the left, the slices would stick to the flat, left side.