Utility/Petty style knife for young daughter

B

BostonBull

Joined
Dec 15, 2007
Messages
154
Hi everyone.
My 10yo is a huge help in the kitchen and loves prepping veggies and fruits for us. We don't eat a ton of meat and hardly cook it at home, so that's not a criteria.

She cuts on the board 90% of the time, this is important.

As of now she uses western style handles, but it's not a deal breaker to have a Japanese handle.

I want something in the 120mm - 150mm length

We have a Hapstone V7 with some nice stones, keeping it sharp won't be an issue.

Reactive steel also not an issue, it will teach her to care for something important.

I'm thinking a Petty knife is a good option. She uses a cheap Wustof now with a similar shape and excels with it

Budget is $50

Any black Friday or cyber Monday deals I can take advantage of?
 
MAC makes a 5" kid's knife. That's literally the name. It comes in various colors and has a blade shape designed to be safer for youngsters. I have no personal experience with one, just seen them when looking around.
 
No need for a kid specifics knife. She does great with the knives we have here and it's time to upgrade into a knife that she can care for and keep for a long time
 
A Wusthof Gourmet 6" Cook's Knife would be really hard to beat but it's more in the $60-70 range. Both my daughters used the one I have for many years while they were at home. Heck, I still grab it once in a while. Light, great ergonomics with good grip, very deft and easy to maintain.
 
This is what I am leaning toward, and hoping a cyber Monday deal helps. We can replace the handle down the road.

Misuzu SKS93 Bunka

Thoughts?
 
There is a learning curve going from a western style knife to a Japanese style. The former encourages rock style cutting and the latter is more vertical cutting. Also, the bit of tang protruding from the handle of a Japanese knife can very much change the feel of the pinch grip if that is what she currently uses.

I guess if she's already accustomed to one style of knife, why change at such an early age? Not saying you shouldn't, just the question I would need to answer for myself first.

Sharpening a Japanese style knife is another thing altogether.
 
Eli Chaps said:
There is a learning curve going from a western style knife to a Japanese style. The former encourages rock style cutting and the latter is more vertical cutting. Also, the bit of tang protruding from the handle of a Japanese knife can very much change the feel of the pinch grip if that is what she currently uses.

I guess if she's already accustomed to one style of knife, why change at such an early age? Not saying you shouldn't, just the question I would need to answer for myself first.

Sharpening a Japanese style knife is another thing altogether.
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Excellent points! Your last comment strikes me, what am I in for? Can I not sharpen it as I have been doing on my Hapstone V7?
 
Eli Chaps said:
There is a learning curve going from a western style knife to a Japanese style. The former encourages rock style cutting and the latter is more vertical cutting.
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I have a different take. The only western style knives I know of meant to rock are mezzalunas. Western knife techniques pull through the food whereas Japanese technique is to push. Watch a Japanese sushi chef, not a local kid without classical Japanese training. Western, Japanese and Chinese knife techniques all utilize vertical chopping with large blades. No rocking involved.
 
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marchone marchone , Agreed on the push vs. pull but the curved belly of a western style knife does promote rock-chopping as well as pull slicing. You can do a ton of chopping with a western style knife without it ever losing contact with the board by rocking on the belly and feeding the item with your other fingers.

Not saying any particular style is better than any other, it isn't, just different. I'm transitioning to a Asian-style after many, many years of western style.
 
BostonBull said:
Excellent points! Your last comment strikes me, what am I in for? Can I not sharpen it as I have been doing on my Hapstone V7?
Click to expand...

I would not sharpening a single bevel, clad blade on a guided system. For that matter I'm not sure I'd sharpen one freehand on anything other than water stones. A guided system for a single bevel knife won't work. The flat side is generally concave and needs some attention to knock the burr off.

I didn't look close so these may be double-bevel, but still, I don't think I'd want to go at them with anything other than water stones. Japanese blades are particularly intended to be sharpened up to what is called the shinogi (I think) line. The idea being you are removing material up the knife to keep the edge thin. Sort of like a single-sided scandi grind. But I'm getting into waters over my head here as I don't have first hand knowledge.

You could go into the Maintenance, Tinkering, and Embellishment section and post up a thread with the question. Those boys will have solid answers for you.
 
Have a look at the KAI Wasabi Nakiri. It's double-beveled, great veggie cutting design, and usually around $40. I haven't used that exact model but it was short-list contender when I was looking for a cheap nakiri-style knife to test out.

You could sharpen that up no problem.
 
Zwilling J.A. Henckels Pro Prep Knife, 5 1/4" - $49.95 from several on-line retailers. Use that entire string in Google search.
 
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