Need advice on 2 knives

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adletson

adletson

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What type of knife(s) do you think you want?
Honesuki and petty or paring (What's the difference?)

Why is it being purchased? What, if anything, are you replacing?
The honesuki because I have begun to break down nearly all the meat we eat from larger cuts rather than buying it already butchered. The petty or paring because I have a cheap, very light Forschner parer that I use a lot, and would like to upgrade.

What do you like and dislike about these qualities of your knives already?
Aesthetics- Both are pretty vanilla.
Edge Quality/Retention- They're pretty bad. I'm just learning to sharpen, but they dull very quickly.
Ease of Use- Boning dulls quickly and the parer is too small.
Comfort- Neither are bad.

What grip do you use?
I don't that I have a grip for either. I'm not sure if I know enough of technique to answer.

Where do you store them?
Magnetic strip.

Have you ever oiled a handle?
No

What kind of cutting board(s) do you use?
Poly

For edge maintenance, do you use a strop, honing rod, pull through/other, or nothing?
Ceramic honing rod

Have they ever been sharpened?
Yes. I have an Edgepro and a great member here sent me two knife stones that I am learning on.

What is your budget?
Around $75 a piece.

What do you cook and how often?
I peel and cut up a lot of fruit. Kiwi, oranges, apples, mangos, pears, etc. by the pound every week. I also have begun to butcher almost all my own meat from larger cuts.
 
just my opinion here and a lot of people may disagree with me on this one but being the minimalist i am, i will advise that you just get the petty knife. i believe honesuki to be a redundant knife with too narrow of a purpose. i have owned one that i didn't like because i found the petty knife to be more versatile and just better performing when fabricating all kinds of meats. you can trim pork or beef and break down whole chickens the same as a honesuki but it can also act as a paring knife (which is a euro-style smaller knife while a petty is a smaller version of a slicing knife).

really, i would recommend a 180mm-210mm wa-petty. i am a bigger fan of getting nicer knives and having less. if this puts your budget in the $150 range you should be able to get something nice.

if this is for home use, the 180mm might be a better choice.
 
Citizen Snips said:
just my opinion here and a lot of people may disagree with me on this one but being the minimalist i am, i will advise that you just get the petty knife. i believe honesuki to be a redundant knife with too narrow of a purpose. i have owned one that i didn't like because i found the petty knife to be more versatile and just better performing when fabricating all kinds of meats. you can trim pork or beef and break down whole chickens the same as a honesuki but it can also act as a paring knife (which is a euro-style smaller knife while a petty is a smaller version of a slicing knife).

really, i would recommend a 180mm-210mm wa-petty. i am a bigger fan of getting nicer knives and having less. if this puts your budget in the $150 range you should be able to get something nice.

if this is for home use, the 180mm might be a better choice.
Click to expand...
+1 Actually, I had the exact same experience. At one point, I had a garasuki and honesuki. Both are gone. I hardly even use my 150 pettys anymore. I use a 220 petty/suji for most of my non-gyuto work.
 
I like the idea of having one knife to do both the tasks. So what is a good petty for $100 - $150?
 
Is this the part where someone says Fujiwara FKH?
 
Check Jon's JKI, threre are several pettys in your range that I am still making a decision on. Leaning towards a Suein VC 150 as I am partial to carbon knives.

Hax the Cook CLEAVERS RULE!!! :D
 
do you want stainless or carbon?

do you want 180mm or 210mm?

do you want a yo-handle or wa-handle?

is $150 you absolute max?

other likes/dislikes about knives you may have or have used?

these answers can help us really pick one out that would fit your needs.
 
By carbon do you mean a blade that is reactive? Please excuse my ignorance.

180mm would be the longest I think I want. That being said, having never used a petty I have very little reference. The paring I have now is 3.5" and the boning knife I use now is 5.5".

As far as handle, I have only used western handles so I don't really know what difference the yo-handle brings to the table. I love the look of the yo-handles though.

The $150 is probably above my max as whatever I decide to get I will have to save up for. But I will save longer and pay for the right knife if need be.

As far as likes and dislikes, I don't know. I'll think on it when I'm cooking tonight.

Thanks for the help guys!
 
carbon steel is more reactive and requires more care but also gets sharper. for a beginner i would suggest stainless. there is a lot of information here on these forums about carbon steels

a yo handle is a western handle and a wa handle is a japanese handle

if you want western there are plenty of nice options out there and the same goes for wa-handles.

http://www.japaneseknifeimports.com...knife/yoshihiro-150mm-stainless-wa-petty.html

i agree with tk here, this would be your best bet if you would like to try wa-handles which i prefer especially for these uses as it allows you to move the knives handle in your hand when you are fabricating meats. the western seem to make your hand conform and it may not be the best angle or comfort for each individual task/cutting stroke. plus it comes in under budget. the only thing is it is only 150mm. there are plenty of places to find other options if this recommendation does not work for you.
 
If you are set on getting just a petty to act as a petty and honesuki, then I would steer clear of the lasers and go for something more robust or in the middle.

Personally, I love my honesuki and wouldn't want to ever be without it...not to mention I keep it at a rougher/toothier edge than my other knives.

And no way would I use my thin ass 210 Suisin IH petty to do a lot of the things my honesuki dis great at, especially for small butchery...its delicateness doesn't inspire confidence for certain things.
 
I myself, Orders a Fujiwara FKH to give Carbon steel a spin. Inexpensive, Seemed like a good intro knife to a new variety. It was cheaper then any of my Wuthofs.
 
Cadillac J said:
If you are set on getting just a petty to act as a petty and honesuki, then I would steer clear of the lasers and go for something more robust or in the middle.

Personally, I love my honesuki and wouldn't want to ever be without it...not to mention I keep it at a rougher/toothier edge than my other knives.

Agree 100% honesukis are great for most kinds of butchery,but if you're doing alot of fruit,esp citrus,go for SS or clad..
Click to expand...
 
no offense but im exactly the opposite. i use my 210mm suisin IH for everything my honesuki did. because it has some flex and is more narrow, i am able to debone a pork butt a little easier and it holds its edge much longer. i can take down a chicken in the same amount of time (although i use my mioroshi for whole birds). japanese tend to have a knife for every task but i only have 4.

if i never did fish, i would only have a gyuto and a petty. because i love fish i have to have a yanagi and a mioroshi deba on hand.

i just never cared for lugging around a whole knife roll full of single task cutlery. this is just my opinion though and around here i tend to be in the minority lol

mo knives, mo problems... not really though :D
 
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