Suggestion first (and maybe second) Japanese knife

Kitchen Knife Forums

Help Support Kitchen Knife Forums:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

DragonHB

Member
Joined
Oct 2, 2019
Messages
12
Reaction score
1
Location
Italy
Hi,
I should buy a new knife but I need you suggest to do the best choise!
Thanks


LOCATION
What country are you in?
Italy


KNIFE TYPE
What type of knife are you interested in?
Nakiri knife and maybe a small petty

Are you right or left handed?
Left handed

Are you interested in a Western handle or Japanese handle?
Both, but I like a little bit more Western handle.

What length of knife (blade) are you interested in (in inches or millimeters)?
From 16 to 18 cm

Do you require a stainless knife? (Yes or no)
Stainless cladding and non-stainless core

What is your absolute maximum budget for your knife?
Around 200€ both, but the most of budget is for Nakiri


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

What are the main tasks you primarily intend to use the knife for (e.g., slicing vegetables, chopping vegetables, mincing vegetables, slicing meats, cutting down poultry, breaking poultry bones, filleting fish, trimming meats, etc.)?
Nakiri: slicing and chopping vegetable
Petty: trimming meats and filleting fish


What knife, if any, are you replacing?
Just sold Victorinox santoku

What improvements do you want from your current knife? If you are not replacing a knife, please identify as many characteristics identified below in parentheses that you would like this knife to have.)
Heavier and harder knife

Edge Retention (i.e., length of time you want the edge to last without sharpening)?
As many time as to improve my sharpening skill :D


KNIFE MAINTENANCE
Do you use a bamboo, wood, rubber, or synthetic cutting board? (Yes or no.)
Bamboo or wood

Do you sharpen your own knives? (Yes or no.)
I'll try...

If not, are you interested in learning how to sharpen your knives? (Yes or no.)
Yes

Are you interested in purchasing sharpening products for your knives? (Yes or no.)
I already have cheap sharpening stone

SPECIAL REQUESTS/COMMENTS

I found this one
http://www.knivesandstones.com/sentan-kaigann-sld-semi-stainless-nakiri-170mm/
but I don't know if it's a good choise



Thanks for your help!!
 
Do you know any other EU vendors? I don't know how to choose one insead of other
 
What do you mean? Do you want more alternatives? Or do you want recommendations among the ones mentioned? All best!
 
Last edited:
Thanks for the advice, in terms of quality, how do you position them compared to those I posted before?

Thanks a lot
 
No idea! I’m not a big fan of Shiro Kamo. I suggest you take a good look at the nakiris on CleanCut. In general their knives are good to great and their prices are competitive.
 
Almost all Japanese knives are more or less asymmetric and right-biased — even as sold as symmetric. If a left-handed uses them expect at least serious troubles with food release, even if one can overcome steering issues.
 
Exactly. You can only rely on experience by other left-handers who've actually used a knife for some time. Or consider a knife with an inverted geometry: convex left side, flat right side, edge off-centered to the right. Adapting only the edge is a short term solution that ignores the fundamentals given by the grinding.
 
So I should wait a left-handed who has tested the same knife I want to buy or suggest another Nakiri in budget, sounds like a miracle ahahah :p
 
Or, you contact the vendors and ask them what they have available for left-handed people; then you can post the results here and so see whether any of the offers from the vendors are to the liking of (or recommended by) KKF lefties.
 
Hi,
I should buy a new knife but I need you suggest to do the best choise!
Thanks


LOCATION
What country are you in?
Italy


KNIFE TYPE
What type of knife are you interested in?
Nakiri knife and maybe a small petty

Are you right or left handed?
Left handed

Are you interested in a Western handle or Japanese handle?
Both, but I like a little bit more Western handle.

What length of knife (blade) are you interested in (in inches or millimeters)?
From 16 to 18 cm

Do you require a stainless knife? (Yes or no)
Stainless cladding and non-stainless core

What is your absolute maximum budget for your knife?
Around 200€ both, but the most of budget is for Nakiri


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

What are the main tasks you primarily intend to use the knife for (e.g., slicing vegetables, chopping vegetables, mincing vegetables, slicing meats, cutting down poultry, breaking poultry bones, filleting fish, trimming meats, etc.)?
Nakiri: slicing and chopping vegetable
Petty: trimming meats and filleting fish


What knife, if any, are you replacing?
Just sold Victorinox santoku

What improvements do you want from your current knife? If you are not replacing a knife, please identify as many characteristics identified below in parentheses that you would like this knife to have.)
Heavier and harder knife

Edge Retention (i.e., length of time you want the edge to last without sharpening)?
As many time as to improve my sharpening skill :D


KNIFE MAINTENANCE
Do you use a bamboo, wood, rubber, or synthetic cutting board? (Yes or no.)
Bamboo or wood

Do you sharpen your own knives? (Yes or no.)
I'll try...

If not, are you interested in learning how to sharpen your knives? (Yes or no.)
Yes

Are you interested in purchasing sharpening products for your knives? (Yes or no.)
I already have cheap sharpening stone

SPECIAL REQUESTS/COMMENTS

I found this one
http://www.knivesandstones.com/sentan-kaigann-sld-semi-stainless-nakiri-170mm/
but I don't know if it's a good choise



Thanks for your help!!

For the "home cook" as you've described yourself,,, I'd recommend you take a look at the the MAC JU-65 Nakiri,,, and for your "petty/utility" knife,,, I would go with not less than a 5 1/2" blade since you've stated that you'd be sometime using it for fileting fish and trimming meat. In my opinion, the Victorinox Rosewood 6" chef/utility knife would be a terrific, and very affordable choice for that application. Super-easy to maintain a good edge. Both knives are very light and nimble, which however, conflicts with your mention of prefering "heavy and harder". In that case, an alternative to the Nakiri, might be a Chinese vegetable cleaver. Both would fit very comfortably within your stated budget.
 
Last edited:
FYI I just send 40 email to different vendor asking for lefty knives, let's see their reply.

Anyone whit other suggestion are wellcome!

Again thanks to everyone!
 
Single bevel knives are generally specialized for intended use, and no style of single bevel seems to fit the uses you list. I second the recommendation for a Mac nakiri if you feel you must have a nakiri. (They are less useful than they seem). I think a chef's knife and a petty are better for your needs, maybe a smaller Chinese cleaver and a petty.
 
Back
Top