TK59 for somebody who is constantly searching for a knife with the perfect grind, who has mentioned more then once that a pointed tip is the critical to the success of a knife design, but cannot explain the advantages of a pointed tip, besides I like them. Something is amiss.
I do think that every knife type has a place in the kitchen. The best all around knife, in the western kitchen is the gyuto. Somebody who is doing a lot of dicing, should look at a nakiri. What makes a sujihiki or yanagiba work, is its pointed tip. A takohiki is an exception to the rule, so there must be more to slicers, then a pointed tip. While I have my doubts about a santoku as a primary knife, I think it would make a good utility knife, or at the very least a cheese knife.
What about my go to knife the cleaver? Do I think its a better knife then a gyuto? No. In my mind they are equal. The gyuto is a much easier knife to use then a cleaver. Put a full size, 240mm, 500-800 gram, cleaver in the hands of most forum members, and I don't think they will be able to drop it fast enough. Cleavers also take time to learn how to use. Pinch grip a cleaver or try to muscle one around, is an exercise in futility. What is the advantage of a cleaver? Production.
Isn't part of being a knife nut, exploring different knife types, finding what knife works best for a particular task?
Jay
Reading through TK's posts, I think he made clear points as to the advantages of a tip:
I don't have a whole lot to add to the information already given. Pointed, thin tips allow you to get into tight spaces in a pinch, afford less resistance when push-cutting and less drag when slicing. Can you prepare all of the same foods with a cleaver or even a nakiri? Sure. Can you do it the same way? No. You would need some sort of pointed, thin-tipped blade. Some examples that haven't been mentioned are skinning a filet and removing silver skin which can be done easily with a gyuto but would be comical with a nakiri (or cleaver, for that matter). I don't like push-cutting near the heel because the food can get up in my hand. I use it mainly for slicing or mincing.
Personally, I agree with all of these things. I don't use santokus and don't really like santoku-like tipped knives because it's more difficult to see the tip and gauge distance, etc. (something previously mentioned).
Also, it is possible to butcher roundfish with a Chinese Cleaver or santoku. Absolutely. Is it easier? In my opinion, no way. It's much, much harder to butcher or fillet fish with a knife that doesn't have a pronounced tip because you simply cannot do delicate work in crevices, between bones with a santoku or cleaver - it's a matter of size and design. The height of the area by the tip of a knife is much higher on a santoku, cleaver or nakiri than a gyuto. You have less than, probably an inch from the tip to where the spine reaches nearly full height. You can't bone out belly bones from a fish more easily with a tall knife than a shorter knife - you can't compensate for the curvature of small bones with a tall knife. In order to adjust a tall knife to a curve, you'll have to move the bones around more, which leads to tearing of flesh. On a gyuto, you have at least two inches or so where you could do this. I've tried skinning fillets and removing silver skin with a cleaver - for sh*ts and giggles - it's a painstaking experience.
Frankly, I would never pick up a nakiri for dicing. One, they're too short. Two, there are very few nakiris that I've tried with good grinds. The effort by most makers to improve nakiris simply isn't done (I've used several and own one currently - I haven't used it in 2 years). I would much rather use a Chinese Cleaver than a nakiri - 100% of the time. But, again, the cleaver has limitations. You can't do long slices - you'll end up sawing meat and see the saw marks in the flesh. Any work requiring turning (to follow the shape of food) is much harder with a cleaver than a gyuto - again, a product of the height of a knife.
For what it's worth, I am a former Chinese Cleaver user. For several years I only had two knives in my fish butchering kit - a Dexter Chinese Cleaver and a Dexter-Russell fillet knife - and those knives were the only knives I used at home as well. I have two cleavers, but rarely use them. As much as I agree that there are knives that are best for certain purposes, some of us are limited by funds, time and other constraints, so many of us, including me, buy the best all-around knife we can. IMHO, that's still a gyuto. And I would hardly say that my kitchen is a "western" kitchen.
