Henckels Cronidur Paring Knife

[Maniacal Pete]

I want a new high quality paring knife and the Henckels Cronidur
has caught my eye. 4" Cronidur 30 steel (Rockwell 60) w/ black linen micarta grips (!).

Anyone have any experience with this line?

I think, being somewhat of a traditionalist (but disliking the big German heel,
which this does not have), that I am going to give it a shot.

 

[looker]

Looks like a neat knife, but why do you need or want a high quality paring knife from a functional pov?

 

[Maniacal Pete]

So the tomato seeds can be more easily cleaved from the fruit.

I still have a 4 star parer that I bought in 1977 as a young cook.

I recently got it properly sharp again, and ground the broken tip to
a point, but realized, that like everything else, time marches on.

The new one is a whole level above it in sharpness,
it is also longer; really nice little piece.

I found a second one, simliar in design, in ZDP 189 , Rc 66,
can't wait to see it.

The Cronidur is everything I hoped it woud be except the handle is a tiny bit thin in width.

 

[looker]

I hope my question didn’t come across as ill-mannered. It’s just that I have mixed feelings about high quality paring knives. From the practical side, I don’t find high quality blades necessary or desirable with paring knives. Since I normally don’t use them against a cutting board or on hard items, much of the advantages of a better blade (edge retention, wear resistance) are irrelevant. Plus, their often thicker and stiffer blades don’t follow contours very well.

Anyway, from the knife nut side, cleaving through tomato seeds works for me. I’d love to hear more about the Cronidur 30 blade steel and the ZDP-189 one.

 

[gak]

...why do you need or want a high quality paring knife from a functional pov? ...I have mixed feelings about high quality paring knives. From the practical side, I don’t find high quality blades necessary or desirable with paring knives.

My wife knows how to properly use bigger knives, but she frequently reaches for paring knives to do absolutely everything out of sheer laziness. As I've sharpened paring knives I've noticed that manufacturers tend to make them softer than their bigger knives, so at some point I'll buy her some better ones so she can enjoy better edge retention as she hacks away at stuff.

 

[Maniacal Pete]

I hope my question didn’t come across as ill-mannered. It’s just that I have mixed feelings about high quality paring knives. From the practical side, I don’t find high quality blades necessary or desirable with paring knives. Since I normally don’t use them against a cutting board or on hard items, much of the advantages of a better blade (edge retention, wear resistance) are irrelevant. Plus, their often thicker and stiffer blades don’t follow contours very well.

Anyway, from the knife nut side, cleaving through tomato seeds works for me. I’d love to hear more about the Cronidur 30 blade steel and the ZDP-189 one.

Not at all, I had the same question.
I was using some good cheap parers (Henckels Twin Grip) to seed some tomatoes and was frustrated that I
was having to dig with the knife and couldn't just "nick" out the seed clusters by their stems
(I was trying to make a salsa with some rather picky cleaned tomatoes).

As a knife nut, this one is worth every penny,
the point is very precise, the fit and finish is excellent.
I can't wait to see the ZDP-189 when it gets here.

The funny thing is that I don't like the lines at all of the large
Chef Knives in the lines, way too fancy for me.

I don't even like the steel butt on the zdp-189 parer in the photo,
but it might be less obnoxious when it I see it in person.

My wife knows how to properly use bigger knives, but she frequently reaches for paring knives to do absolutely everything out of sheer laziness. As I've sharpened paring knives I've noticed that manufacturers tend to make them softer than their bigger knives, so at some point I'll buy her some better ones so she can enjoy better edge retention as she hacks away at stuff.

I'm a little picky when I cook so I can see where you are coming from,
a lot of people just use their cooking knives to smash their food into pieces.

Being a 4"er I do use the little knife against a cutting board for thin slicing small items,
only the tip really contacts the board.

I bought some of the Forschner cases and put all of my knives that will fit in them,
I'm tired of sharpening more than I need to and those $5 plastic covers go a long
way toward protecting the edges.