Help me find my next knife - a nakiri

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sherrib said:
I have the CCK 1303 which weighs in at 9.55 ounces. The height of the blade is 92mm. Compare that to the nakiri which weighs 7.2 ounces with a 44.5mm height (half). The CCK is great for many things. But I do a lot of vegetable prep at home and felt that something a little less unwieldy for everyday would work better. I do love the nakiri shape and will most definitely get a carbon one some day.
Click to expand...

This makes me very interested in how you hold or cut with the CCK, and other people in general. I have problems with the nakiri because I can't hold it like a cleaver and the profile makes me want to cut like I am using a cleaver. I end up holding the nakiri with a pinch grip and I would much rather have a larger gyuto with the equivalent amount of flat cutting space if I were to do that. Also I guess how big your cutting board and how much counter space you have matters as well.

Maybe I'm just used to using a chinese cleaver or just don't cut enough variety of things with them. :dontknow:
 
My Watanabe pro 180 weighs 198 grams. with his stock handle. BB
 
Thanks guys, it's not as heavy as it looks. Might end up pulling the trigger on this one soon...
 
Hi sharptools,

I prefer a pinch grip but have also tried holding it the "correct" way (pinch grip but with index and middle finger running down the blade.) I agree, the size of the cutting board matters, but mine is pretty large. I think the issue is me. I'm not very tall (5'3") and have very small hands. The knife is simply too tall and heavy for the amount of vegetable prepping I like to do.

"...I would much rather have a larger gyuto with the equivalent amount of flat cutting space..."

I'm very curious about this. Do you have a very large gyuto or is it that your gyuto happens to have a large amount of flat cutting space? It's the flat cutting space of the nakiri that I'm most happy with. Suits me very well.
 
Naikiri is more fun than Gyuto. Gyuto is more versatile and has more utility. Sports car vs sedan. I like both.

S, I use the two finger down grip with a cleaver. With Nakiri I use normal pinch grip.
 
sherrib said:
Hi sharptools,

I prefer a pinch grip but have also tried holding it the "correct" way (pinch grip but with index and middle finger running down the blade.) I agree, the size of the cutting board matters, but mine is pretty large. I think the issue is me. I'm not very tall (5'3") and have very small hands. The knife is simply too tall and heavy for the amount of vegetable prepping I like to do.

"...I would much rather have a larger gyuto with the equivalent amount of flat cutting space..."

I'm very curious about this. Do you have a very large gyuto or is it that your gyuto happens to have a large amount of flat cutting space? It's the flat cutting space of the nakiri that I'm most happy with. Suits me very well.
Click to expand...

So I wouldn't say that the two finger method method is necessarily the "correct" way. The several chinese pros I know actually don't hold their cleavers like that, and more along the lines of how the guy holds (and cuts) with the usuba in this video.

[video=youtube;HaEYZZapaTs]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HaEYZZapaTs[/video]

The video also illustrates my problem with the nakiri actually, you essentially lose the usable space of where your first finger is pointing out if you hold the nakiri like that. On the CCK (or even the usuba in the video) the height lets you cut very long things without the food hitting your finger. I end up using the pinch grip on a nakiri and for me, a 240mm gyuto probably has close to the amount of flat space as some of the common nakiri sizes. Again, it is very likely it is just my preferences and others have no problems at all. Just wanted to share some of what I have experienced.

Also while we're on the topic, I don't generally see people cut parallel to the board often, which is actually super common in cleaver usage.

[video=youtube;HD_ArSXdyRs]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HD_ArSXdyRs[/video]

I definitely agree that being 5'3" with small hands is what makes the CCK feel a little awkward, especially if you have a thick cutting board and potential tall counters/prep space.

Anyways, glad you found a knife you like and I think that's what is most important.
 
Hi Sharptools,

Just tried holding my CCK cleaver using that grip. My index finger almost immediately cramped up. I think either my hands are too small or I haven't allowed myself enough practice to get used to the cleaver in general (thinking about it, this might be due to the fact that the cleaver has a bit of a belly which is exactly what I'm trying to avoid.) I agree though that a cleaver is much much more useful than a nakiri. A nakiri makes for a fantastic secondary knife, whereas a cleaver is very often a fantastic primary knife.
 
Oh boy. I'm still confused. Can anyone now tell me how much the shig kurouchi nakiri weighs?

Edit: Sorry, forget it, the weights are on the site. :O
 
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