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Sushi knives


jturn00

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I make a lot of fish at home and specifically tuna and salmon sushi and tartar (or lightly grilled tuna and salmon) sliced thin. I haven't been happy with my current knives in how they slice the fish.

I saw a global sashimi knife for around $100 and was thinking of getting for when I make sashimi and sushi.

What are your thoughts? Is there a difference between Sushi and Sashimi knives? How do these compare to samon slicers?

Thanks,

Jeff

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Hi Jeff

If you go looking for a 'sashimi' knife from Japanese blade suppliers you will see two main patterns - Yanagi and Takobiki. The concept of 'sushi knife' isn't one that I'm familiar with - I think it's a marketing term :)

Main differences between a western style slicing knife and a yanagi [the usual 'Sashimi knife']? The western blade is usually bevelled on both sides, whereas the Japanese style blade is sharpened only on one side. That means you need to specifically order left-handed blades if you're a lefty. Most [not all] Japanese blades of this sort are laminated with an extremely hard but brittle cutting edge backed by a softer, tougher main blade. Compared to a western blade, that hard edge can be sharper, but it is also more easily broken or damaged. The Global knife you are looking at will probably be more forgiving in this last regard.

Are your current knives of reasonable quality? Are they really, really sharp? You might want to check out the eGCI for information on knives and sharpening - there's lots of good stuff there.

cheers

Derek

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Thanks for the input Derek. During my lunch hour I went to JB prince to look as some knives. I decided to go with the Global knife if only because it appeared to be more durable and forgiving (like you mentioned). (I spent some time at the Korin website as well reading up). One thing I was wondering is the rough strip (haze) on the some if not all of the Yanagi knives I saw. Is that a more decorative aspect or is there a functional aspect?

I think my knives are pretty sharp but they were just clunky when it came to slicing sashimi and other fish. I was using a slicer (for meats) I had from culinary school but didn't like the results or feel I got from using the knife with fish. Since I make some sort of sushi / sashimi / tartar fish for dinner many nights of the week I felt Yanagi kniife would be a good investment.

I did read the egci and will be checking it out again when I sharpen my knives.

Thanks,

Jeff

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Hi Jeff

Enjoy your new knife! If I understand you correctly, the 'haze' you saw is the soft iron backing on a 'kasumi' constructed blade, and the glossy polished area is the hard carbon steel edge. I'm pretty sure that the Global is not constructed that way.

IIRC kasumi means 'mist', so 'haze' is a pretty good description...

cheers

Derek

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Hi Jeff

Not so much a case of 'serve a functional purpose' as 'result of construction method'.

Traditional Japanese blade construction uses very hard steel for the cutting edge. That hard steel will take and hold a sharper edge than the softer steel used for a western style blade. Global knives are more like a western style blade in their construction.

Making the entire knife from the hard steel would give a result which was needlessly brittle. Instead, the hard edge is forge welded onto a softer, tougher, more resilient body, giving the razor like edge a lot of structural support. What you see is the difference between the two metals.

cheers

Derek

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Used my Global this weekend for the first time- just great. It was particularly attractive for purchase since I am left-handed and almost any other lefty knife would be been special order at a much higher price. Got mine for less than $100 at Warren Cutlery in Rhinebeck, NY- near CIA.

Mark A. Bauman

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