What do you use for cutting hard stuff ie. Pumpkins

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djmm

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I know gyuto should be multi purpose but for carrot or pumpkin / other hard vegies or items, I hesitate to use my "good" knife.

Thinking to get a cheap double bevel deba or boning knife for rough jobs.
What do you guys use for this task at home? Any suggestions?

Should I buy 20 dollar knife for this? Lol
 
I use my Koishi gyuto and Watanabe nakiri almost daily for carrots, sweet potatoes, and butternut squash.
 
Neither pumpkin or carrots are hard.
I don’t usually cut punkins though, but I would use a larger knife. For carrots, whatever I was using before.

As long as there is no bone or it's not frozen you can and should be using your gyuto. It's made for it.
 
Even for peeling off the hard pumpkin skin?
 
djmm said:
Even for peeling off the hard pumpkin skin?
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Butternut squash skin is not that hard and I can actually get it of with the $5 vegetable peeler from ikea. Have never tried cooking what people here call pumpkin though. The hardest stuff I cut is fresh sweet potatoes but my Watanabe takes care of it without a hitch.
 
We have japanese pumpkin here and the skin is quite thick and hard to cut. Most definitely much harder than sweet potatoes/any sort of potatoes.
I wouldn't be safe trying that with expensive gyuto especially thinner ones...

I think this is the pumpkin we usually get:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kabocha

I'm thinking to get a lower priced double bevel deba or honesuki just for working with harder items... is honesuki good for peeling hard skins?
 
Get a good gyuto that is not going to break into pieces if you cut pumpkin with it , it beats the purpose of buying a better knife if you can't use it
 
chefcomesback said:
Get a good gyuto that is not going to break into pieces if you cut pumpkin with it , it beats the purpose of buying a better knife if you can't use it
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What Mert said, that's how I see it. Why buy nice knives if I won't use them. Just get one that is not too delicate.
 
So that means no 64+ hardness thin gyuto then?
 
I use more brittle knives pretty often. I will not take them to woody stems though.

Biggest danger for my thin hard knives is embedded sand or similar.
 
djmm said:
So that means no 64+ hardness thin gyuto then?
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Quite the opposite, if you use proper cutting techniques they will be fine , as mooxg stated the dirt or the woody stems are bigger issue than what you are cutting
 
Toyama 210 nakiri is my favourite. Heavy weight nakiri that is thin behind the edge but can take power through the edge. It is beastly but it does suit taking apart big hard vegetables.
 
The other trick is to avoid any rotation or torque through the skin cuts. If it's a buttercup squash, keep a steady and true hand and you'll be sweet. A Toyama or Watanabe of any kind is also a destroyer of pumpkin.
 
I have used a Sakai Yusuke Shirogami 240 Gyuto on butternut pumpkin. This is a laser, but not the extra thin version.

No problem at all with proper technique. As Badgertooth said, avoid any rotation or torque. Easy peasy :)
 
Have used a slightly thinned Tojiro DP to take the skin off kabocha and cut it into pieces.

Going significantly thicker sounds frustrating and more difficult
 
djmm said:
Even for peeling off the hard pumpkin skin?
Click to expand...

I've never done that, but it should not be an issue. Try to minimize the lateral torque.
In addition, you are better off using sharp knife that bites, rather than a cheap dull one that can slip and hit you in the hand.
 
i agree with what everyone else said, just dont bend the knife while ur cutting and you should have 0 problems, however i do keep an old 240mm Mioroshi deba around for some of this stuff when i feel like getting aggressive with that pumpkin
 
Tojiro yo deba 240 thinned out a bit for stubborn hard/large stuff
 
djmm said:
I'm thinking to get a lower priced double bevel deba or honesuki just for working with harder items... is honesuki good for peeling hard skins?
Click to expand...
Kabocha? I'd recommend neither. Deba is basically too thick to cut hard vegetables, even though you can use it like a splitting wedge.

I'd use a cheap (but not super cheap) santoku/nakiri/gyuto/whatever knife and a rubber hammer.
A very reliable way to break your ceramic knife, though ;)

Or a few minutes of microwave. Science!
 
at home, we use a 240mm white #2 gesshin ginga on kabocha (which we eat rather often)... never once had a chipping issue with it
 
I still remember dealing with big white pumpkins at work.
Not only they are big and have hard (as f***) skin but they barely taste of anything.
I usually use my Hiromoto AS gyuto on harder veg. and it does a good job, but that one was a pain.
I rather use butternut squash. Easier to handle + more flavour. Never tried kabocha tho'.
 
Our biggest veg export is buttercup squash and it's the bomb. It's sweet and starchy and doesn't turn to slush when cooked. But a PITA to peel. Just discovered the skin is edible when cooked which is a game changer.
 
djmm said:
What do you guys use for this task at home?
Click to expand...

I use either a Thai cleaver (left) or CCK kau kong knife (right).
rpIcEVT.jpg


Not for carrots, but hard pumpkin and taro. Other stuff that looks hard and woody. Partly for reducing the probability of knife damage, partly because it's a good opportunity to do something with a cleaver.
 
I want to peel pumpkin not kill the farmer.
 
Cutting might be safe to thin knives... cutting hard peel off against the curve, however, is quite the lateral force on the edge, no?
 
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