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Nakiri profile is such a waste of good steel. It has no point (literally) and it's only going to cut vegetables so it can be almost any steel and serve its purp

Nakiri profile is such a waste of good steel. It has no point (literally) and it's only going to cut vegetables so it can be almost any steel and serve its purpose. Spending this much effort on a kitchen knife is insane. It's just a utilitarian tool, like a mop. Just get a boring stamped carbon steel knife and learn how to hone and sharpen (or just pay someone to sharpen it!), and don't leave it sitting in water. I haven't sharpened my knives in 2 years, they are all <$80 and sharper than most people's. Life doesn't have to be complicated. My kitchen knife layout (on a magnet bar on the fridge): 3x 3.75" stainless paring knife (precision by goodcook) 1x 5.25" stainless paring knife (precision by goodcook) 1x 6" victorinox 1x 7" random japanese high carbon knife 1x 8" zwilling chefs knife These were bought at grocery or department stores. They're still sharp [enough]. I use the big chef's knife mostly to cut pizza, cake, bread. The midsize I use to carve meat and veggies. The paring I use for everything from cheese and fruit to spreading peanut butter and opening packages. I always have a knife handy, they handle well, they aren't expensive, and they perform great.

adrian_b 2y ago
Nakiri most definitely cannot use any steel. Using a very sharp nakiri made of a very hard steel is incomparably more enjoyable than using one made of ordinary steel, due to the reduced force required for slicing, and it avoids the need for frequent sharpening. As long as it is used for its only intended function, i.e. cutting/slicing/chopping vegetables, nakiri has the optimum shape, at least for people like myself, who do not like the rocking motion required with French-style chef knives, but who prefer to slice or chop with precise rectilinear motions. For some things that might require the use of the point with European knives, like removing some defect in a vegetable, the heel of a nakiri blade is actually more convenient. Of course the nakiri shape is not versatile. If you want a multi-purpose blade, I prefer the kiritsuke shape (i.e. a trapezoidal blade, not much different from a box cutter with a longer point), because that kind of point allows a maximum precision in cuts. Using a Japanese peeling/paring knife with very thin, sharp and hard blade is much more enjoyable than using an ordinary paring knife made of stainless steel, due to much less effort for using it and more precise results (i.e. lower vegetable waste). A long time ago, I had been using knives like those described by you, but replacing them with up to 3 better knives (paring/peeling, cutting/slicing/chopping and boning) has completely changed cooking from something that was more of a chore to an enjoyable activity.
- barrenko 2y ago
  ~ omg, thank you for quantifying this for me, I hate what you describe as rocking motion slicing.
kleiba 2y ago
That's one viewpoint, the utilitarian one. But a lot of people simply like to use things that are beautiful - take, for example, new cars (over old beaters) or gentleman's watches (over your phone's clock). And something that is hand-crafted might give somebody enjoyment just for this very fact, not because the end product is necessarily superior to a factory-made alternative.

adrian_b 2y ago

Nakiri most definitely cannot use any steel. Using a very sharp nakiri made of a very hard steel is incomparably more enjoyable than using one made of ordinary steel, due to the reduced force required for slicing, and it avoids the need for frequent sharpening. As long as it is used for its only intended function, i.e. cutting/slicing/chopping vegetables, nakiri has the optimum shape, at least for people like myself, who do not like the rocking motion required with French-style chef knives, but who prefer to slice or chop with precise rectilinear motions. For some things that might require the use of the point with European knives, like removing some defect in a vegetable, the heel of a nakiri blade is actually more convenient. Of course the nakiri shape is not versatile. If you want a multi-purpose blade, I prefer the kiritsuke shape (i.e. a trapezoidal blade, not much different from a box cutter with a longer point), because that kind of point allows a maximum precision in cuts. Using a Japanese peeling/paring knife with very thin, sharp and hard blade is much more enjoyable than using an ordinary paring knife made of stainless steel, due to much less effort for using it and more precise results (i.e. lower vegetable waste). A long time ago, I had been using knives like those described by you, but replacing them with up to 3 better knives (paring/peeling, cutting/slicing/chopping and boning) has completely changed cooking from something that was more of a chore to an enjoyable activity.

barrenko 2y ago
~ omg, thank you for quantifying this for me, I hate what you describe as rocking motion slicing.

kleiba 2y ago

That's one viewpoint, the utilitarian one. But a lot of people simply like to use things that are beautiful - take, for example, new cars (over old beaters) or gentleman's watches (over your phone's clock). And something that is hand-crafted might give somebody enjoyment just for this very fact, not because the end product is necessarily superior to a factory-made alternative.