Paring knives

[lindag]

I need a new 4" parring knife with an Asian blade.  Do you have any recommendations?

I know there some sharp knife enthusiasts among us.

[ElsieD]

I have this one, the 4 1/2" Wustoff Classic and am very happy with it.  

[blue_dolphin]

39 minutes ago, lindag said:

I need a new 4" parring knife with an Asian blade.  Do you have any recommendations?

I know there some sharp knife enthusiasts among us.

Any chance you can link to a photo that shows the Asian blade?  I’m curious what it looks like an how it’s used. 
 

My paring knife went missing so I bought this cheapie Victorinox paring knife (eG-friendly Amazon.com link)

It scared my old one out of hiding but it’s been handy to have a spare. 

[lindag]

Asian blades have a 15 degree bevel. a picture  can't show that.

[lindag]

6 minutes ago, ElsieD said:

I have this one, the 4 1/2" Wustoff Classic and am very happy with it.  

I really like the look of that knife but I want an Asian blade for the extra sharpness

[ElsieD]

I guess that is not what you want, but it is advertised and sold as an Asian Utility knife.  Are you looking for an Asian brand?

[C. sapidus]

I have a Tojiro petty (paring knife) and have been quite happy with it, along with our Tojiro chicken boning knife. Other manufacturers may be better entries in a "my knife is sharper than yours" contest () but I have found Tojiro to be easily sharp enough for everything I need to do, quite durable, and excellent value.

 

Tojiro petty (clicky)

 

^ I did not do a price check, so other sources may be less expensive. Good luck with whatever you choose!

[lindag]

1 hour ago, ElsieD said:

I guess that is not what you want, but it is advertised and sold as an Asian Utility knife.  Are you looking for an Asian brand?

Noy necessarily, just want a knife with an Asian (15 degree blade) 

[lindag]

2 hours ago, ElsieD said:

I have this one, the 4 1/2" Wustoff Classic and am very happy with it.  

Oh, I should take another look

 

[weinoo]

I think any blade can be brought to a 15° bevel - so isn't your best bet is to start with a Japanese paring/petty knife?

 

Here's one that's almost 15 right out of the box...https://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/shun-hikari-4-inch-paring-knife/

 

 

 

 

[dscheidt]

3 hours ago, C. sapidus said:

I have a Tojiro petty (paring knife) and have been quite happy with it, along with our Tojiro chicken boning knife. Other manufacturers may be better entries in a "my knife is sharper than yours" contest () but I have found Tojiro to be easily sharp enough for everything I need to do, quite durable, and excellent value.

 

Tojiro petty (clicky)

 

^ I did not do a price check, so other sources may be less expensive. Good luck with whatever you choose!

 

We have one of those, along with a shorter one.   It's a nice knife, sharpens pretty easily, stays sharp a decent time, okay but not great handle.  It's a bit longer than what @lindag asked for (~4.75").  I think the shorter one is a 90mm (little over 3.5").  They have gotten quite a bit more expensive since I got ours, there may be better values these days, but I haven't looked at knives lately.   the victorinox parers @blue_dolphin linked to are excellent values, we have a few of those.  They're super thin and a little flexy.  They sharpen very easily and take a great edge, and for $10 or so, they're hard to beat.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

7 hours ago, lindag said:

Noy necessarily, just want a knife with an Asian (15 degree blade) 

 

I consulted the Wusthof site today and they say the bevel on their European style knives is 14.9 degrees and on their Asian style knives the bevel is 10 degrees.  I have a couple Wusthof Le Cordon Blue paring knives (no longer in production) and I prefer the Le Cordon Blue to the Classic series because of the gigantic bolster on the Classic.  If I wanted another Wusthof pairing knife I would choose the Ikon.  Not only are the bolsters better but the handles are longer than the Classic and to me more comfortable.

 

However if I really wanted a pairing knife I would go with Watanabe.  I have two Watanabe knives and they are superlative.  There are three pairing knives on this page, one of which is out of stock:

https://www.kitchen-knife.jp/special/petiteknife.htm

 

Those three are double bevel, but if you wanted to know the exact angle you could write and ask him.

 

Other than that I have an almost antique paring knife from Chicago Cutlery from back when Chicago Cutlery made knives and was not just a brand name as sadly it is today.  I reserve mine only for scarifying loaves.  I also have a MAC paring knife.  The MAC is sharp and cuts OK, but it is too light.  For me the MAC does not spark joy. 

 

Have fun on your search!

 

 

Edit:  the Wusthof knife @ElsieD shared I believe is this one:

(eG-friendly Amazon.com link)

 

I was surprised it does not have the typical bolster of the Classic series European style paring knives.

 

Edited 3 hours ago by JoNorvelleWalker (log)

[Rickbern]

I love this little paring knife from Japanese Knife Imports. Super pointy blade, really sharp, I actually have the 105 but only the 90 is in stock now 

 

https://www.japaneseknifeimports.com/products/gesshin-90mm-paring-knife?srsltid=AfmBOorEaWEHT42ChTriHHtbU6kalH4_njLXaZBIBEjtUZ-WURZrk_ir

 

action shot of me degerming garlic