What do you use for cutting hard stuff ie. Pumpkins

Find deals on amazon
Shop Knives and stones on ebay
Kitchen Knife Forums

Help Support Kitchen Knife Forums:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
if the peel is thin, its not a problem. It matters when you take off more than needed and the amount of food beeing peeled off is rather thick.
 
Taking off "more than needed" can be a quick solution to uneven peel, or less than fresh stuff with surface defects... and in some cases (cantaloupes!) there are quite a few mm of (comparatively soft, but still potentially edge bending) stuff that you want gone :)
 
TimoNieminen said:
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.
Click to expand...

Woah where did you get that Thai Cleaver? I happen to be in Bangkok right now. And I want to take one of those home with me :)
Thanks,
Kevin
 
fatboylim said:
Is there much flex in the 1303? I heard they were thin!
Click to expand...

It's unbelievably thin but no flex to speak of

Pop down to china town and play with a whole load of different ones at seewoo
 
fatboylim said:
Is there much flex in the 1303? I heard they were thin!
Click to expand...

I have a 1302, a slightly larger version of the 1300 series. It's great. Did a quick rehandle and it's my go to knife at home. Super thin, glides through carrots and potatoes like nothing. Not sure on the HRC but I'm suspecting it's pretty high up there. It's very stiff and hard
 
Great to hear khashy and Danso! How well does CCK cabon sharpen? Can it get to shaving sharp or even screaming sharp?
 
fatboylim said:
Great to hear khashy and Danso! How well does CCK cabon sharpen? Can it get to shaving sharp or even screaming sharp?
Click to expand...

Shaving sharp - easily. Screaming sharp - I'm working on my skills [emoji12].

Joking aside, I think there is a video on YouTube of someone actually shaving with it
 
fatboylim said:
Great to hear khashy and Danso! How well does CCK cabon sharpen? Can it get to shaving sharp or even screaming sharp?
Click to expand...

Awesome, that's all it needs and likely tougher for it. I just went to seewoo this morning and picked up a 1302 (no 1303 available)! So tempted to get a heavy chopper but I just wouldn't use it enough!

I'm going to sharpen it and test it out on butternut squash for lunch. I'll see if it our does the Toyama 210 Nakiri!
 
fatboylim said:
Awesome, that's all it needs and likely tougher for it. I just went to seewoo this morning and picked up a 1302 (no 1303 available)! So tempted to get a heavy chopper but I just wouldn't use it enough!

I'm going to sharpen it and test it out on butternut squash for lunch. I'll see if it our does the Toyama 210 Nakiri!
Click to expand...

Nice. Bet you didn't expect it to be that thin! I hope you like it.

For a heavy chopper, buy a generic one, no need to pay extra for a CCK. You won't need to have it super razor sharp
 
depends on the pumpkin, butternut is really soft and not a problem for a thin knife.
hokkaido on the other hand can be hard like stone and I wouldnt go anywhere near those with a thin japanese knife, so my 12inch Sabatier takes care of them instead.
 
khashy said:
Nice. Bet you didn't expect it to be that thin! I hope you like it.

For a heavy chopper, buy a generic one, no need to pay extra for a CCK. You won't need to have it super razor sharp
Click to expand...

Well it was worth trying the CCK carbon and for the price it is very good. Does it beat the Toyama Nakiri? Not really but it was fun! Can it be effective on butternut squash yes!

The obvious difference is in the cutting techniques of the blades; most noted when taking the head and base off the pumpkin.

A ) Using a light Chinese cleaver, the lack of weight and lack of belly means that push cutting is more practical than accordian cutting. I found the need for more pressure on the ball of my hand closest to the index finger.
B ) using a Nakiri with a radial "belly" does allow for accordian cutting especially for the longer 210 Toyama. This means the power is spread across the palm of the hand like a hammer. So while the nakiri is thicker than the CCK, the control, power and positioning feels better.

So whilst the thinness of the CCK 1302 aids performance, the efficency is somewhat lost by the lack of leverage without accordian cutting and lack of weight for push cutting.

Regarding sharpness, I could get the CCK carbon up to shaving sharpness which is always enjoyable. But the Toyama gets sharper.

All on all it is a fun knife and given the CCK is 1/6th the price of a Toyama, it definitely has its uses. It will not replace my Toyama Nakiri 210. But, no regrets in buying the CCK and on volume veg prep it will be useful.

Regarding the recommendation to try a slicer on butternut squash, it is making me think that a 270 slicer could be ideal to make the accordian cuts easier. It has got me thinking!

Just some thoughts only and worth trying for yourselves.
 
Added note worth mentioning. I did need to sharpen the CCK as it is dull out of the box. My first sharpening got me to newspaper cutting sharpness in around 10 minutes. My thoughts above were based on this level of sharpness. I have since done a longer sharpen using different stones and getting better bite and shaving sharpness (but not quite as good as Toyama sharpness). I'll see if this extra sharpness makes a difference.
 
Glad you're having fun mate. You've tempted me to spend some time on the stones tomorrow
 
Definitely try different stones. For some reason my natural stones that I use normally for carbon blades was less effective than my synthetic stones that is use on lower HRC stainless steel blades. Might be worth experimenting.
 
Slightly off topic, interesting the CCK 1302 works well for crusty topped bread cutting. I remember this trick from my dad 30 years ago!
 
fatboylim said:
Slightly off topic, interesting the CCK 1302 works well for crusty topped bread cutting. I remember this trick from my dad 30 years ago!
Click to expand...

Ha! Would never have occurred to me
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Back
Top