Knife recommendation for small kitchen (to petty or not to petty)

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Orange Yolks

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 29, 2020
Messages
58
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Location
Los Angeles
LOCATION
Los Angeles, CA

KNIFE TYPE: Originally a petty, but considering small gyutos, bunka, santoku at this point

Are you right or left handed? Right

Are you interested in a Western handle (e.g., classic Wusthof handle) or Japanese handle? No preference

What length of knife (blade) are you interested in (in inches or millimeters)? 6" -ish

Do you require a stainless knife? Not required, but not against

What is your absolute maximum budget for your knife?
Whatever's reasonable for the length, eyebrow's raised >>> $300. Definitely not the $500 Toyama Honyaki.

KNIFE USE
Do you primarily intend to use this knife at home or a professional environment? Home for now

What are the main tasks you primarily intend to use the knife for? I'm looking for a knife that I can do small board work with, but also in-hand work. I cut a fair amount of acidic foods, which makes me think I should look at semi-/stainless, but I'm also pretty diligent about keeping carbon dry and never had any problems with my Aogami gyuto.

What knife, if any, are you replacing? An entire knife roll... hold on, let me find some blood pressure medication. So this is going to be one of many to come.

Do you have a particular grip that you primarily use? pinch

What cutting motions do you primarily use? Push, pull, chop, not really a rocker.

What improvements do you want from your current knife? Not trying to be too bougie, but I want my knives to have a bit soul. I'm not looking for a river jump (life goals), but I appreciate the craftsmanship. Sometimes you cut through something and it's like, "Ha, awesome," that's what I want.

KNIFE MAINTENANCE
Do you use a bamboo, wood, rubber, or synthetic cutting board? Sani-tuff

Do you sharpen your own knives? Yes


Like I was saying above, I was originally looking to pick up a petty (specifically the Gesshin Heiji at JKI until they closed). I was going to pop over there any day when all this happened. I just couldn't make it across town before they closed. Sometimes whipping out the 240 is a bit overkill and my kitchen is cramped. There's very little surface area.

I want something that I can bang out some garlic, shallot, chives, herbs, fruits, mushies, cherry toms and go about my business without too much thought, especially to where I put it down. I was reading a thread on tall pettys and liked what was in there, just thought I'd open it up without hijacking it.

I was thinking about the Takeda Petty, 150mm, 37mm tall, seems like it would do everything I'm looking for.

Then I looked over at CKC at the Yoshikane 150mm petty, looks dope, probably can't go wrong with either.

Then I started looking around CKC's website and saw the Shigehiro Santoku, 157mm, 45mm tall, and per their specs is about as thin at the tip as my ginga... That sounds like it'd be a lot fun to use.

And then it continued to snowball from there to the Nihei Bunka, and maybe put off getting a petty right now... try something new.

I never messed around with a Bunka/Santoku, but maybe this is the situation with the size of my prep space where one makes sense.
 
Sounds like a Takamura R2/SG2 santoku, or possibly an Akifusa/Sakon Ryuga/etc. SRS-15 santoku would fit those descriptions.
 
I'm not the biggest fan of Pettys. I dislike the lack of knuckle clearance. Prefer my bunka. I have a Petty but rarely use it. Also nice choices and budget to play with.
 
For home use a 180mm gyuto can do if it isn't too narrow. Most santokus I see for sharpening have a damaged tip. Tip is really too low for forward slicing AKA 'guillotine and glide'.
I often use an inexpensive Masahiro VC 180.
 
The Ashi Ginga 180mm gyuto in Swedish Stainless or White #2 would be another good choice!
It measures around 170mm x 38mm.
https://carbonknifeco.com/collections/ashi-hamono-knives/products/ashi-ginga-stainless-gyuto-180mm
https://carbonknifeco.com/collections/ashi-hamono-knives/products/ashi-ginga-white-2-gyuto-180mm

I have an extra in White #2 if you are interested, but sounds like you might prefer stainless...
Going with @parbaked 180mm is a good call.
But you also say you want to use the knife for in-hand work. So, this sounds like a 150mm petty to me. I like TF for 150mm petty (and a good value). I also just got a 15omm Kaeru petty that I'm really diggin--nice point profile. You said you wanted "soul" though... TF, sure, but the Kaeru, not so much.

Edit--just saw your list. I wouldn't go with a Takeda petty. A highlight of Takeda is food release, and this can't be maximized really in a little petty the same way it can in one of his tall gyutos (by forging in a hollow). Yoshi is solid (I've never tried their petties, but would in a heart-beat). Shigehiro has a solid rep (and has been om my lis tot try for a while). Nihei seems cool; waiting for more discussion since it's a newer brand. Masahi Kobo in SLD is a dope petty too.
 
Thanks for all the responses!

Man, can't believe I overlooked that 180 Ginga. 170mm blade, 40mm height, sick. I kinda wanted to add another maker b/c I have that ginga 240mm... but I don't have it in White... That may very well be the movement, it looks like it ticks a lot of boxes. I was looking at that Munetoshi too, but the F&F seems a bit rougher than I'm looking for (from what I read online anyways, zero exp there). No overriding pref for stainless v. carbon, all about geometry.

@McMan, thanks for helping me rule out the Takeda in this profile. Someday I want to try one of his. I worked for a chef who had a huge Yanagiba/Suji (it had to have been > 300mm) and the way he butchered a tuna with that thing was incredible. It was before I knew anything about knives I just knew it had a heart on it... Someday I'll get one.

I guess it's gonna come down to more tradition profile with that ginga vs trying out a bunka, and if feedback is needed on Nihei-san... and that blade looks nice...

Does anybody have an op on the Shibata 135 Ko-Bunka?
 
I would recommend a watanabe KU 180 Gyuto.
Stainless clad blue2 core
Price will be around 220-230 (with delivery)
Pros: it stay sharp for a long time, easy to care bcos only the core steel exposed and it takes patina quickly.
Cons: the standard handle can be tricky, some people okay with it some people don’t. Me personally, I kind of like my one, it has a nice texture of a burnt chestnut
 
There are so many cool bunkas out now. At 165mm they take up little space, but still have the height and grind to do serious work. And they are tough, with just enough tip to still be useful, but knocking them around your station wont cause alarm.
 
For cutting garlic, shallots, chives, herbs etc. on a smaller board, I much prefer a small vegetable cleaver to a petty. I've got an inexpensive 175 x 85mm cleaver (Tsubazo) and I use it in preference to my 150mm petty (Tanaka VG-10) for all those things. I usually just use the petty for coring things like strawberries and tomatoes. I like the additional weight of the cleaver (even a light one) over a petty. I don't do much in-hand stuff at all, but it would seem to me that something like a short gyuto, or a cleaver, or a nakiri might be nice in combination with a shorter petty (like a 135mm?) for in-hand work.
 
I'd buy locally whatever available at JKI.

This, but he's closed, so I'm resorting to perving around the internet at all the options online.

I'm gonna grab the Nihei Bunka. I figure, why not try something new, and if this dude survived a level 9 earthquake, tsunami, nuclear reactor meltdown, and then moved back to be his own blacksmith, he's gotta be a boss.

Thanks to everyone for all their opinions and helping me make up my mind.
 
Even on small blades, I find it useful to have some tallness.
Have you considered pairing a paring and a chinese cleaver or tall nakiri ?
 
Even on small blades, I find it useful to have some tallness.
Have you considered pairing a paring and a chinese cleaver or tall nakiri ?

Yeah that's the ideal isn't it? I've been waiting for a particular Nakiri to come back in stock... since like Halloween. Originally I wanted to snag a 150ish petty to complement the kit, and those with my 240 gyuto I would imagine would be pretty complete and everything from there is just playing around with preferences and trying new styles/craftsmen.

It's a process. Juiced for this new Bunka coming in the mail, though I just heard the manager at my local grocery store tested positive for Corona, so f__k that, gonna have to start getting creative with the pantry.
 
Oh man sorry to hear that.

But being creative is often a good choice.
 
I'll throw another vote for the munetosgi petty. 170x40mm it's a great do it all. Fit and finish isn't so bad, at least on my newish batch knife. It's also the knife that gave me my first serious cut.
 
"... or a nakiri might be nice in combination with a shorter petty (like a 135mm?) for in-hand work."
Been messing around with a varied selection of knives and I think this is a good solution. For the petty 135 mm seems to be a sweet spot.
 
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