4" santoku or Chef Knife

T

timbit

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Jul 21, 2011
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I would like to purchase an inexpensive (~$100 or less) small chef knife for my wife. She only ever uses small pairing knives in the kitchen because my larger JKnives scare her.

- I have established that 4" is her optimum length.
- Needs to be chef or santoku knife (or similar shape, wide blade for knuckle clearance.)
- Needs to be stainless of decent quality.

She likes the look of the 4" shun santoku, but the handle is a bit small. I like the look of the shun and the VG-10, but I feel that shuns are often over priced. I will purchase this one if nothing else comes up. I'd rather spend less than $100 as she doesn't cook much. Maybe a Victorinox? I don't care for the fibrox handles, as they aren't as nice as pakkawood..but I could deal looking at that.

Something like this. Small blade, lots of knuckle clearance! OXO (shudder) makes a similar one for 7.99 but I refuse to purchase such garbage.
51qZYNI1OIL._SL1500_.jpg


I'd appreciate recommendations that would fit the above criteria. I'd post over at KNF as there is probably a better kitchen knife knowledge there... but they are a bunch of tightly wound snots...Besides my account was disabled for disagreeing with a mods opinion regarding a knife.

Thanks for the suggestions!
 
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Cool. How deep is the blade? I already have a 4" shun pairing knife. I just want something with more knuckle clearance.
 
Pinch grip this knife would feel like a 4": Kumagoro Hammer Finish Chef's Knife - Petit Santoku - 135mm (5 1/3 in.) - Molded Ferrule

V2 steel (similar to white#2) can takes crazy sharp acute edge, plain fun to use. I've a 240mm gyuto sharpened around 15-18* inclusive.

83669_1_b.jpg
 
Gyutos are much more versatile than santokus but would be tough (impossible) to find one that short. There are some really nice 180mm gyutos out there.
 
Maybe you can find a taller 120-150mm petty that would be comfortable to her.

If not, MAC makes a 4" paring knife with a santoku shaped blade for cheap.
Mac paring
 
Hey guys,
She doesn't like the gyutos, and 5" feels 'scary' to her where a 4" doesn't. I know, its a tough order to fill! She won't pinch, she'll only hammer grip it.
 
I'd also be interested in something like you're describing, timbit. Though could go for something a bit longer.

Bluntcut, do you have any familiarity with this particular site? http://www.epicedge.com/shopexd.asp?id=83669

They have a 5 1/3in (135mm) Santoku by Kumagoro. They're the same price, so would just be which blade shape you prefer.
 
riz_aaroni said:
Bluntcut, do you have any familiarity with this particular site? http://www.epicedge.com/shopexd.asp?id=83669
Click to expand...

I bought over $2K worth of knives+cuttingboards there but that was over 6 yrs ago when I lived 2 miles from them. I got to played with a few cowry-x knives and managed to scared myself handling sharp yanis. Looking back, I should have grab that set of hatori cowry-x knives. The only knife I was disappointed for 5 yrs was Sakon Damascus, however quite happy with it now after I thinned & gave it a proper distal taper. EE owner & ppl were great.

OP - these knives seem nice:
Shun Classic Chef's Knife, 4 1/4 in. - look like the handle is a tad larger
Shun Elite 4-1/2-Inch Wide Cook's Knife - sg2 steel is better than classic chippy vg-10
 
timbit said:
Hey guys,
She doesn't like the gyutos, and 5" feels 'scary' to her where a 4" doesn't. I know, its a tough order to fill! She won't pinch, she'll only hammer grip it.
Click to expand...

Borrow a friends 4" then help participate in a large bbq / dinner function and have her chop up a half dozen heads of lettuce :)
 
sqchram said:
Borrow a friends 4" then help participate in a large bbq / dinner function and have her chop up a half dozen heads of lettuce :)
Click to expand...

I think this may actually be the right thing to do, not necessarily a BBQ, but something similar. I remember somebody else on BF saying that if you could only get people who didn't like knives to actually use them and to have fun with them, that you could turn just about anyone into a knife nut. Point being, maybe just getting a larger knife and having her try it out would work. Worst case, you've got yourself a good knife.

That or buy a 5" inch and say it is 4". Be sure to hide every ruler/tape measure in the house.

Btw, thanks for the good word on EE, bluntcut.
 
Thanks for all the suggestions everyone, I don't think I would have found many of them. I think the winner is going to be the MAC posted above. It looks like there is plenty of knuckle clearance. That shun 4.5" is a beautiful blade but it's a bit too much money. Even though it is a great blade, I don't want to drop ~$150 on a knife I won't use if my wife doesn't like it. Atleast with the MAC its only $40 and is about 90% of what i'm looking for. It would be nice if it was a bit wider, but I can't argue with the price.

I like the suggestion about the BBQ. I think instead i'm going to just make a bunch of salads and get her to do the green leafies for a day or two. Then we'll switch, and i'll do the green leafies and she'll do the other veg. I'll bang out the lettuce right quick with my longer blade. She's pretty smart though, she'll probably see through the ruse.

I've been trying to get her to pinch grip for years, but 'she doesn't like to touch the blade'.
 
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