The Pairing Knife...?

[HumbleHomeCook]

I know the pairing knife is always one of the "main three" recommendations but I've never had a frequent need for one. Of course I have them and do find them good for things but by and large I've just always seen them as more of a niche thing in my cutting. I like to attack things with one knife to the greatest extent possible.

But, I'm starting to wonder if I'm not missing out and shouldn't be putting a pairing knife to work more often? I'm talking in-hand work so, I don't know, maybe 120mm or less knives. For example, I don't usually core out an onion root. I just lop off the end a bit and then work around it when I get to it. I don't use a pairing knife to peel garlic, but maybe I should. I don't core the root of cauliflower with a pairing knife but again, maybe I should, it does look handy...

Just curious how much the KKF community uses their pairing knives, especially in conjunction with their main blade?

Should I up my pairing knife game?

 

[Wagnum]

I feel like being safe in the kitchen is one of the reasons they're suggested as one of your first three knives so often. When you're starting out learning how to properly use knives certain tasks, like coring a tomato, are downright dangerous without one. Is best to let people figure out on their own that they can choke up on a 210 and get the job done once they're confident enough

 

[Nemo]

Never use them.

 

[jcsiii]

In fine dinning I have probably used a petty/pairing knife nearly as much as a gyuto or sujihiki to do intricate knife work or to clean vegetables.

 

[Qapla']

I use one (F-Dick 1905). It's a niche item for me; it's very good for separating broccoli branches and similar small cutting. For the few things where it's useful over and above a gyuto, it's just that much easier and faster to handle than anything else. But I use the gyuto for pretty much everything, and I don't do any in-hand work other than katsuramuki with my usuba.

 

[M1k3]

@daveb

 

[deltaplex]

I know the pairing knife is always one of the "main three" recommendations but I've never had a frequent need for one. Of course I have them and do find them good for things but by and large I've just always seen them as more of a niche thing in my cutting. I like to attack things with one knife to the greatest extent possible.

But, I'm starting to wonder if I'm not missing out and shouldn't be putting a pairing knife to work more often? I'm talking in-hand work so, I don't know, maybe 120mm or less knives. For example, I don't usually core out an onion root. I just lop off the end a bit and then work around it when I get to it. I don't use a pairing knife to peel garlic, but maybe I should. I don't core the root of cauliflower with a pairing knife but again, maybe I should, it does look handy...

Just curious how much the KKF community uses their pairing knives, especially in conjunction with their main blade?

Should I up my pairing knife game?

I use mine quite a bit when I've got in hand work, and sometimes on the board if it's already out. It's more of a specialty knife than an all purpose one, at least for me.

 

[daveb]

I have nice examples from Harner, HHH and Del. Only use them at home and only for fruit. I've had a couple of the Shun and can and do recommend them for folks getting started.

 

[zizirex]

robert herder ftw!!!

 

[tostadas]

I use a 90mm kaeru for strawberries. Everything else is 180+ for the most part.

 

[Naftoor]

I very much enjoy my harber parer. Use it mostly for lemons or other fruit. Also used it for in hand work, the handle is bulkier than the fibrox parers and I can’t tell if it improves its use in hand or not. Either way, it’s beautifully made and it’s extremely fairly priced.

If I were starting my collection over again I’d probably pick up another, price is great and you can definitely prep a meal with a parer alone if you’re in a pinch. Now I need to leave this thread before the cognitive dissonance wears off and I stop myself from buying another gyuto to do exactly what all my other gyutos do.

 

[sumis]

a paring knife is just the best tool certain tasks.

pitting apples, cleaning and tournée veggies and mushroom. all in hand work basically.

8–9 cm for me. anything longer threads too close to a petty, which to me is a very different tool.

i'm tempted to start using a birds beak …
.

 

[Bear]

These things rock, for the money you can't go wrong.

 

[Colorado_cutter]

I use a paring knife for citrus, coring strawberries and tomatoes, and opening packages and cutting the foil or plastic on liquor bottles.

Actually, most of the time, I'll use an Opinel #9 on packages, and about half the time, I'll use my big knife on strawberries and tomatoes. But since my big knife is a full-sized Chinese cleaver, a paring knife is kind of handy, even though I do zero in-hand work.

I like the Victorinox. Perhaps its best use is a "decoy" knife for other people to use. It is so unassuming looking that people grab that and leave my other knives alone!

 

[esoo]

My paring knife is on board quite a bit cutting cheese and salami. It's also the knife I use to open packages.

I do use to for tasks that need a small blade (cutting broccoli and cauliflower into florets, or topping strawberries), but it's very rarely used in hand.

Knife of choice for this is a Miyabi Birchwood 75mm.

 

[Lars]

I have always thought the Hattori forum parer looks nice, but I don't use one enough to justify upgrading my Mac Pro.

 

[MowgFace]

Here's what i use:

• Victorinox Paring
• Wustof Gourmet
• Sabatier Nogent Carbon
• Shun Classic
• Dojo Paring knife

Dojo is my favorite due to its steel, but the shape of the Wustof Gourmet is far preferred. I wish more Japanese makers made paring knives with no heel to poke me in hand.

 

[HumbleHomeCook]

Here's what i use:

• Victorinox Paring
• Wustof Gourmet
• Sabatier Nogent Carbon
• Shun Classic
• Dojo Paring knife

Dojo is my favorite due to its steel, but the shape of the Wustof Gourmet is far preferred. I wish more Japanese makers made paring knives with no heel to poke me in hand.

I have a Gourmet myself. It is a good little knife.

 

[timebard]

I'm in the same boat as OP - have a couple cheap ones, mostly use for opening packages. I don't really do in-hand work, peel stuff with a Y peeler, and usually use a petty or small gyuto for coring, fruit, etc. If I had a really nice one from Harner or whoever I'd probably find excuses to use it, but I don't miss having a nice one.

 

[chefwp]

you can certainly do everything with a bigger knife, but I think you are just making your life a little harder, or at least more awkward.
A paring knife if the perfect tool to help coax the skin off of roasted beets and trim the ends. When I have a sh!t-ton (metric) of garlic to peel, I actually like to sit down at a table with a magazine or paper to catch the skin, and trim the root end and any nasty bits with a small petty in-hand. I find a longer petty the perfect tool for trimming strawberries. I use one in hand to trim the woody outer layer off of broccoli stalks to reveal the tender white flesh below, which can then be tourne'd or cut into interesting shapes to cook along with the florets. These are the tasks I think of right away, but there are more I use them for.

 

[Matt Jacobs]

I have 1 or 2 in a drawer somewhere... Personally I use my petty a decent amount. The pairing is just so short and not really viable for any board use so I don't recommend them.

 

[Heckel7302]

These things rock, for the money you can't go wrong.

Gotta say, I've been thinking of upgrading my paring knife recently and this picture prompted me to reach out to Butch. Knife is already in the works.

 

[Heckel7302]

@Bear curious, what are the length of those? I gather he calls the smaller one a "kitchen scalpel"

 

[Jayl74]

I have a few less than 100mm Kyocera ceramic blades I use for hand work that is all, otherwise I do love a 130 to 150 Petty for many tasks

 

[parbaked]

I keep a couple out on the side of my fridge for quick tasks…

The carbon Opinel opens packaging and portions cheese and sausages.
The Butch slices limes for my gin & tonics and margaritas…

 

[bradmacmt]

The only thing I use a paring knife for is work with fruit. Most Japanese petty's are too big and too tall for this work so my go-to "petty" is a 165mm Santoku lol! I have found ZERO reason for a petty over 90mm in length.

I've found the French/European style blade geometry is my favorite for a paring knife - pointy, not tall, and 90mm or less in blade length. Japanese pettys are mostly too tall and too long - it seems like they are just smaller versions of the Santoku/Gyuto geometry, which I don't find useful for a paring-sized knife.

This 85mm Shun, and 80mm cheapo Henckels are what I use - I prefer the $9 Henckels!

In a moment of possible stupidity I did just buy a Kaeru Kasumi 90mm paring knife from JNS on sale Kaeru Kasumi Stainless Paring 90mm I already wish it were less tall and shorter! But it is pointy, and that may overcome its other flaws. The 70mm Hatori in the link posted above by @Lars would be my ideal geometry if it were Wa-handled and in a carbon steel. If I were starting from scratch, that is the knife I would buy. Instead, I will probably just buy a Shun Bird's Beak (tourne) as I think my wife will love it for morning strawberries.

The Kaeru 90mm:

 

[ch_br]

Fruit, intricate hand work on vegg, and maybe this last one is a bit lazy.... For me its usually a case of Convenience/Ease

Sometimes for a super quick cut, or for a separate item you don't want to cross contaminate, a petty is just faster to wield, use, and clean compared to anything else.

 

[Bear]

@Bear curious, what are the length of those? I gather he calls the smaller one a "kitchen scalpel"

I wanted something even smaller, I think the scalpel is 3" that one is 2 1/2", perfect for strawberries. The other one is his pairing with a scalpel type handle.

 

[Heckel7302]

I wanted something even smaller, I think the scalpel is 3" that one is 2 1/2", perfect for strawberries. The other one is his pairing with a scalpel type handle.

Thanks. That’s exactly what I told him I want, paring with the scalpel handle.

 

[HumbleHomeCook]

I have my @MSicardCutlery 165mm "petty" that I consider more a utility blade for a lot of the tasks described. Quick cuts, especially when prepping lunch in the morning, block cheese, slice a lemon in half for tea or water, etc.

It's the more detailed, in-hand stuff that I don't really entertain that much. From time to time I grab my wife's little Murata petty that she loves but I guess I find myself mostly either using a larger knife or those techniques just aren't on my mind. That's why I was thinking that maybe if I get a nice small petty, I'd find all these tasks/techniques that I've been missing out on.

But, it sounds like most folks are more or less where I am.

EDIT: Although I do think I'll try using a small petty for broccoli and cauliflower work. I keep telling myself to but then I seem to always forget when the time comes.