What (or rather, where) is the point of a nakiri?

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Just a bunch of pointless knives apparently ...
Tanaka Ginsan, Hinoura White#1, Shigefusa, The Big Maz, Heiji 210 SemiStainless



Yu Kurosaki Mini (175x73) Chuka, its almost a marriage between a chuka and nakiri

I often think of my nakiri as the little sports car in my knife drawer. I got the Fiero. You got the Ferraris.
 
Oh, right! I was intrigued by this when you included it in the under $300 thread, but couldn't find any retailer selling it. Where did you get it?

I believe I saw one on KnS under his Syousin Chiku house brand
 
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oh I guess threads like these were what people meant when they said that nakiris weren't popular on the forum...

rip
 
A gyuto is the better all-round knife hands down. You need length and a tip to be able to nicely draw cut proteins IMO, like trimming fat caps and such. A 240mm nakiri workhorse would carry too much metal too far down the blade making it unwieldy, so for longer lengths a tip would be a practical choice to extend the edge without adding too much weight.

That being said, for most all other tasks, my 160mm nakiri has the same flat spot (a bit more) than my old 200mm Miyabi SG2 Birchwood gyuto.

My nakiri is a shorter knife, taking up less space on my counter and board. The length gives me more control, and I can just place an index finger at the tip if I want to guide my knife if I'm thinly slicing shallots or something. It's thinner, meaning it parts through root vegetables and tubers much easier. The slight curve at the tip means I can chiffonade green onions, basil, cilantro, etc. no problem. My claw grip can only hold like 4.5 inches of food max, so as long as the edge is longer than that and sharp enough to go straight down, why would I need a longer length?

I've been using my nakiri almost exclusively for the past year, and while it took a bit to get used to the knife, I don't feel like I need a gyuto anymore (since I'm vegetarian and don't process larger veggies like napa cabbage)
 
Agreed! I don't get people who say you can't de-seed a bell pepper without a tip. Just do it, it's not a problem - you will never need to stab produce if your edge is sharp enough. And as an omnivore, I find a 150mm petty is better for all the meat processing I do at home (mostly chicken, though I'm sure something larger would be necessary in a pro kitchen or for more carnivorous home cooks).

Why do so many people collect multiple 240mm gyutos, rather than diversifying with a wider variety of specialized knives? For what I cook, I use my nakiri probably more than any other knife, closely tied with my cleaver. I used to own a few gyutos, but sold them all after realizing they're never my first choice for any task.

The only problem with most nakiris is they're too short. The dearth of 180mm options is almost criminal.
 
Many discoveries were by accident.
Japanese discovered Nakiri after broken a big gyuto in half by accident. Who needs the tip? They said, & went on defending the broken gyuto as Nakiri and managed to gather a small gollowing
 
You are killing it with this title man! Its obvious that the point of a nakiri is at furtherest bottom corner!

I personally find nakiris kinda useless, I pick mine time to time, but just to use something different. Gyutos are way superior.
 
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