Sujihiki 240?

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wombat

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Brought this up in the Heiji thread but don't want to hijack it.

I live in an apartment with fairly limited kitchen space and I'm usually preparing things for two people. My gyutos have actual edge lengths from about 202-214mm, tried a 240mm gyuto but ended up selling it. For a suji, I'm looking for something to slice up bbq'd steak, portion chicken and other home meals, occasionally carve a roast for a few people but nothing huge.

Lots of searches say that forum wisdom is to go with 270mm, but I think 240 will do. How large does the piece of meat have to be before 240 is inadequate? Someone try to talk some sense into me :)
 
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Thanks Dave. That gives me some reassurance that 240 will probably be fine for my intended uses.

If I turn out to be wrong, I'll probably be happy to have a reason to buy a 270 in 6 months' time.
 
For most everything I do in a home kitchen I am happy with 210 to 230 gyuto and 240 suji. I have 3 longer sujis and bunches of longer gyutos.

I almost never use a petty- I have tons. I think it is their lack of weight that bother me. I don’t like 150 to 165 bunka, santoku or nakiri. 180 to 210 bunka, santoku or nakiri can be real good.
 
I agree that a 240 would be fine for tenderloin, flank, loin, chicken, etc... but those are all tasks that are easily handled perfectly well by a gyuto (even a 210). For slicing raw fish or removing skin though, a suji definitely has an edge (and isn't a unitasker like a yanagiba). I have a 210 Ginga petty/suji that is fantastic for trimming, slicing, and portioning most things; it's long enough to slice most small-to-medium sized proteins but still short enough to not feel awkward or overlong when removing silverskin. My longer 270 and 300 sujis only come out when I'm cooking something big, and even then they're sometimes bested by a cheapish granton-edged Victorinox slicer (for tasks like cutting roast beef or turkey breast into super thin slices). They're freaking awesome for portioning large things though.
 
I often think that the trend toward 270-330mm Suji's has more to do with the occasion of using a dedicated slicing knife than the practicality of it. Like if I'm bothering to bust out a Suji to slice a roast or something, I'm going to take out a 270+ knife and make it a luxurious experience. That said I have owned several 240mm Suji's and found them coming with me to work quite often. They really improve the quality and experience of butchery and portioning fish and cutting cooked meats while taking up less board space than a gyuto.

Have no fear, you will enjoy using such a knife at home and will certainly be more practical than a long sword sized brisket master
 
Thanks for your responses. Here’s an example of a small task I did recently (excuse the untidy presentation) where a 210 gyuto did the job, but I felt like it would be nicer to have something a little longer. If I’m being honest with myself, I know I don’t need it.

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wombat said:
Thanks for your responses. Here’s an example of a small task I did recently (excuse the untidy presentation) where a 210 gyuto did the job, but I felt like it would be nicer to have something a little longer. If I’m being honest with myself, I know I don’t need it.

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Curious why you feel something longer would have made a difference? What about increased length are you thinking would have changed the experience or end result?

Understand, in no way am I being critical and am genuinely curious about your thoughts. I'm glad you started this thread as a sujihiki knife of some length has been steadily intriguing me but, as someone who also has limited space and more often than not cooks for two, the truth is, I find that a 165mm nakiri (don't tell @daveb, he's all about 180's ) slices smaller cuts of meat really nicely. For me, the thinness of the blade makes the difference.

But, obviously, suji's are meant for that one or two stroke slicing cuts and that's what has me interested...
 
HumbleHomeCook said:
Curious why you feel something longer would have made a difference? What about increased length are you thinking would have changed the experience or end result?

Understand, in no way am I being critical and am genuinely curious about your thoughts. I'm glad you started this thread as a sujihiki knife of some length has been steadily intriguing me but, as someone who also has limited space and more often than not cooks for two, the truth is, I find that a 165mm nakiri (don't tell @daveb, he's all about 180's ) slices smaller cuts of meat really nicely. For me, the thinness of the blade makes the difference.

But, obviously, suji's are meant for that one or two stroke slicing cuts and that's what has me interested...
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No criticism taken. It's the one stroke slicing ability that has me interested too, the idea of a long easy slice with relatively minimal pressure. The 210 gyuto wasn't quite able to do that comfortably and needed a little extra downward pressure on the cut. Admittedly my knife skills are very much a work in progress and there is plenty of room for improvement there.
 
I‘ve really gotten into 240 sujis at work as a line knife, and when I’m jumping between stations. Going off what HHC just said, if it’s thin and sharp enough the length isn’t necessarily as important to achieve the end: cutting in a single motion, whether raw or cooked, and if cooked getting a clean cut through the crust. That’s a big reason for the prevalence of yanagi in lengths beyond what one usually sees in non-sushi kitchens, 330, 360mm, to provide sufficient edge length to not have to stop and restart the motion of the knife. For a steak like the one above, you’ve only got an inch or so of depth and three of breadth. The 270+ is only really a must when you’re working with very large pieces of meat. But I feel the longer length also gives a bit more leeway in terms of precision skill and sharpness required, and is more comfortable after doing a whole bunch of cuts.

That said, a big slicing knife is fun to use by yourself and in front of someone else it’s pretty flash.
 
Personally I found a 270 useful for home usage, but only for 'larger things'. On larger chunks of meat it allows you to get through them without having to saw like a madman, which also tends to get a cleaner result. On really large stuff it means you're still able to cut without digging your entire knife in... ;) So for me it comes out when either portioning or slicing larger cuts, cutting whole hams, cutting blocks of bacon, stuff like that.
But for small steaks, single breasts, etc. there isn't much of a benefit. If you can't slice single portions of meat with a 210 or 240 (whether it's a gyuto or a suji) you're probably better off buying sharpening lessons than a new knife. I sometimes use the 270 for smaller cuts and while it works great it frankly just makes me feel silly whenever I do that.

It's really one of those 'it depends on what and how you eat' kind of things. Personally I'll probably get both a 240 suji and a nicer 270 suji eventually, but more 'because I can' than that I really need it. As mentioned by others; it's not like a gyuto can't do most of the same things.
 
This thread makes me feel better about the 240 suji that I have coming in the mail. I also have a 270 already. My plan is to use the 240 at work. I don’t really need it and my wife doesn’t know I ordered it yet, so I’ve been trying to justify it to myself. Thank you for alleviating some of my guilt, guys.
 
We spend a lot of time in our motorhome. Our winter digs is a small park model house of about 800 square feet. Needless to say, kitchen space is limited. I have a 240 suji - it's my longest blade. I find it useful for steaks, tri-tip roasts and yes, brisket. I don't smoke whole packer briskets, I buy a flat - about five pounds. The 240 works great making thin slices of the smoked meat.
 
Another thing that's advantageous to having a seperate blade is that you can put a different edge on it. Althoguh I guess that's just cognitive dissonance at its finest trying to justify extra purchases. ;)
 
You've got options... divorce, putting up for adoption. Both seem preferable to taking the skin off salmon. :p
 
ian said:
The extra length of a 270 is great for taking skin off salmon filets, or slicing lots of cherry tomatoes in half at once! :)
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Sounds like a takohiki might also be a valid choice too for those tasks; as for slicing lots of cherry tomatoes at once, that doesn't seem that excessively different from a forumite mentioning processing clams four at a time.

wombat said:
Well, I've ordered the 240. Of course I don't need it to slice up something like the steak above, but I want to try it and there will be some larger things.
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Ben.G. said:
This thread makes me feel better about the 240 suji that I have coming in the mail.
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So which 240mm sujihiki's did you get?
 
Qapla' said:
So which 240mm sujihiki's did you get?
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I got a Mazaki migaki. It arrived today. I’ve wanted a Mazaki for a long time, but I don’t like the new profile on his gyutos. The suji isn’t as triangular, but it does have a small flat spot near the tip that I want to round out eventually. I will lose a couple of millimeters, but that is ok since it is actually about 248mm anyway.
 
240mm sujihiki is totally fine to me, I use 240mm to take off silverskin from beef scotch around 2.5-3kg. I don't feel like I need anything longer than that.
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