What do you use to cut spaghetti squash

Kitchen Knife Forums

Help Support Kitchen Knife Forums:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Barmoley

Rant specialist extraordinaire
KKF Supporting Member
Joined
Aug 12, 2016
Messages
4,015
Reaction score
7,544
Location
USA
I cut spaghetti squash last week and it was so hard, I got scarred of chipping one of my Japanese type knives. Not sure if it would, but the fear was strong in me. I ended up using my 25 year old 8" Henckels chef. The knife survived, but it wasn't a pleasant experience and the edge got mangled a little.

So today I figured what the hell and took out one of my @HSC /// Knives z-wear gyuto. I figured here we have one of the best, my opinion, steels for kitchen knives. It is probably one of the toughest steels I have, the knife is sharp the grind is good, so "what the hell, I am going for it...."

Remembering how difficult last week was I applied a bit too much force and split the squash not exactly 50/50 it just went through too easily compared to last week. Not easily mind you, just easier than expected.

z-wear vs squash.jpg


No knives, edges or fingers were damaged in this effort. I examined the edge after and it is the same as before. I am sure other knives would survive too, but I am glad this one did and made the job easier. Next time will use less force and cut more evenly 🤷‍♂️
 
Last edited:
Have used Takamura Chromax, Shun 😬, Wusthof Pro, don't tell anyone HSC and Kashima pass arounds, Gengetsu, Heiji and my current HSC.

The Chromax did pretty good but it's short length made it harder than necessary. Gengetsu, Kashima and both HSC's did great. The others worked but struggled...
 
I have a 30-year-old big Henckels 290 mm chef knife that I want to say is a 4 star which works better than all my smaller knives.

PS
I don't have any problem with the edge of the knife after cutting the squash. I find my large Texas watermelons cut better with this large knife also.

I don't like cleavers so I use a large knife. The larger long knife cuts across the watermelon in 1 cut, whereas the shorter cleaver or knife needs to roll around the watermelon.
 
Last edited:
I usually grab one of my Zombie Killers.
the bottom one is a 10" Dexter Russell, top one is a Sab
 

Attachments

  • DSC_0029.JPG
    DSC_0029.JPG
    123.4 KB · Views: 23
Last edited:
I've broken down cases of acorn squash with my z-Kramer without any issues. I think pretty much anything that isn't extremely hard or extremely thin along the entirety of the grind will work so long as you're careful to keep your cuts straight.
 
I have a custom Deba style knife that I bought years ago that is made from 154CM steel that takes all kinds of hard use and never seems to chip or even roll the edge. Can't remember the maker but it's my go to knife when I'm afraid of damaging my regular gyutos.
 
I purchased a Sabatier just for this purpose. We grow a lot of different types of squash I didnt want to ever worry about chipping a "good" knife. Honestly it works great as they are thin enough I dont have to work too hard.
 
My Wat pro is pretty good for tough veg, but I honestly use a mercer millenia. I bought my parents a victorinox fibrox a few years ago, and I really can't tell the difference between the mercer and victorinox.
 
My old 12" 1095 carbon steel "kit knife" that I put together 50 years ago. I forgot where the kit came from and the etched marking is long ago gone but, the knife is a great cutter.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_6577.JPG
    IMG_6577.JPG
    109.7 KB · Views: 20
Back
Top