Garden throwdown: Chef's knife vs sushi knife

[Robin Garr]

Faced with a giant mound of tomatoes, onions and cucumbers today that Mary wished to have thin-sliced for a big salad she's making for a meeting, I thought it would be fun to try a comparative slicing between two favorite knives, both freshly steel-honed for the occasion.

For some of the veggies I used my beloved Chicago Cutlery chef's knife, which I've pampered since the '70s. For the rest of the veggies I tried my Wusthof Santoku.

They're both fine and they both get the job done. But for fast, precision slicing - "filleting tomatoes as if they were sushi" - I've got to give the edge to the Santoku. I wouldn't have guessed that.

vegsushi.jpg

If you had thrown a Kyocera Chef's knife into the contest... my bet would have been on it.

[Robin Garr]

If you had thrown a Kyocera Chef's knife into the contest... my bet would have been on it.

The ceramic knives? When Chef Ming Tsai was a regular on the old, pre-bimbo Food Channel, I used to covet one, but I've heard they're fragile and can chip or fracture easily. I gather you are super-happy with yours, Karen? I know my Chicago Cutlery (made back before corporate changes when they made excellent knives) is only a middle-of-the-road brand, but mine's been with me for over 30 years (WHOA!) and operates like an extension of my hand. When Mary commissioned me to do some precision slicing, I thought it would be fun to try it against the Santoku, and was surprised to find that the sushi knife slid through the tomatoes with slightly more ease than the chef's knife. (Maybe it's time to give the chef's knife a real sharpening ... )

Robin, I have Santoku knives, as well....and I love the way they cut. I've had Kyocera for years and misused them at first. The company asked me to send them in after I called about breaking two tips and chipping one. For $10.00 they sent back both knives sharpened and repaired, with instructions on how to care for them. You can't use them like tools to pry, or around bone. They are for slicing vegetables, fruits and boneless meats. When I broke my wrist in 2008, I started using the Kyocera Chef’s Knife before I was totally healed, because it is sharper and lighter. During my one year healing process, I grew to love it as my favorite knife for slicing veggies and fruits. I also use it to remove fat globs from boneless, skinless chicken pieces. If you have a kitchen shop in your area that stocks them, take a tomato, and two other items with you and give them a try. Our kitchen shop has a teaching kitchen right next to the knife section, so it is easy to test their sample knives . If your kitchen shop is not set up that way, take a small cutting board

[Robin Garr]

If you have a kitchen shop in your area that stocks them,

The owner of our best kitchen shop was just sent to prison for arson in a suspicious fire that burned down their former location, amid a lot of speculation that she was railroaded by aggressive prosecutors. I'm not sure of its status now, since I don't go over there much. We're really trying to shed excess kitchen toys rather than add more.

You are tempting me, though!

Wow, that story sounds like right out of an Anthony Bourdain book! However, Robin, IMHO good kitchen knives are not toys, but tools to make my life and the life of my aging hands easier. They work hard for me and I have to take care of them....won't hurt just to try one out. If you are a big guy with large hands, you might not appreciate their weight.I have a couple of paring knives and love them as well.

[Robin Garr]

Wow, that story sounds like right out of an Anthony Bourdain book! However, Robin, IMHO good kitchen knives are not toys, but tools to make my life and the life of my aging hands easier. They work hard for me and I have to take care of them....won't hurt just to try one out. If you are a big guy with large hands, you might not appreciate their weight.I have a couple of paring knives and love them as well.

Karen, sorry about the use of "toys" ... I was making gentle fun of myself for having too many of them! I certainly didn't mean to diminish your choice, and I'm sorry if I came across that way. I'd say I'm an average-size guy, but my hands are big enough that I'll run into an occasional chef knife with insufficient handle clearance so I can't get the flat of the blade down without squeezing my fingers. I attribute that to poor knife design rather than poor body design, though.

Karen, sorry about the use of "toys" ... I was making gentle fun of myself for having too many of them! I certainly didn't mean to diminish your choice

I never gave it a thought that you were diminishing my choice. I guess I was thinking about my husband who used to refer to "the toys in my kitchen". He changed his mind when for four months he was on duty to do all the chopping in the kitchen, plus a few other chores. He quickly realized that his wife had a very well stocked kitchen with quality tools. I had to point out to him how well stocked his shop is and about his tools, being an extension of his hands. He understands now.