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Paring knives

lindag

By lindag
in Kitchen Consumer

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lindag

lindag

Posted
Posted

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.

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blue_dolphin

blue_dolphin

Posted
Posted
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. 

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lindag

lindag

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted

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

lindag

lindag

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted
6 minutes ago, ElsieD said:

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

20250820_125609.jpg

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

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ElsieD

ElsieD

Posted
Posted

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?

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C. sapidus

C. sapidus

Posted
Posted

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 (:wink:) 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!

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Bruce, a.k.a C. sapidus

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lindag

lindag

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted
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

lindag

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted
2 hours ago, ElsieD said:

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

20250820_125609.jpg

Oh, I should take another look

 

weinoo

weinoo

Posted
Posted

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/

 

 

 

 

Mitch Weinstein aka "weinoo"

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dscheidt

dscheidt

Posted
Posted
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 (:wink:) 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.

  • Like 2
JoNorvelleWalker

JoNorvelleWalker

Posted
Posted (edited)
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 by JoNorvelleWalker (log)

Cooking is cool.  And kitchen gear is even cooler.  -- Chad Ward

Whatever you crave, there's a dumpling for you. -- Hsiao-Ching Chou

Rickbern

Rickbern

Posted
Posted (edited)
15 hours ago, lindag said:

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

 

J knives are perceptually sharp more because of the thinness of the blade behind the edge than any particular sharpening angle. That’s why the wusthoff knives et al don’t cut as well and why the chef’s choice style sharpeners aren’t so hot. You can’t just change the sharpening angle on a German blade and end up with Japanese level performance. 
 

Pictures can hint at the thinness behind the edge, that’s why the choil shots are so useful 

 

Here’s a pretty exhaustive discussion of this if you’re interested. You can see from the chart that sharpening angles are all over the place 

 

https://www.kitchenknifeforums.com/threads/thin-behind-the-edge.69329/


and some illustrations 

 

https://www.kitchenknifeforums.com/threads/what-is-thin-behind-the-edge-anyway-and-kujira.42359/

 

Edited by Rickbern (log)
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