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NickVL
62
Dec 5, 2017
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If you had to choose, Santoku or chefs knife? My personal preference is the Santoku, I tend to grab it more often the the chefs knife.
Dec 5, 2017
AngryAccountant
277
Dec 5, 2017
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NickVLChef for me, Santoku's are great for fine mincing with their flatter blade profile, but I don't find myself doing that as much in the kitchen.
Dec 5, 2017
cspirou
220
Dec 5, 2017
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NickVLI use the Santoku a lot more then my chefs knife. I use the santoku for chopping up vegetables but prefer the chefs knife for meat.
Dec 5, 2017
BirdofPrey
19
Dec 6, 2017
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NickVLI prefer a chef's knife, though the one I mainly use at the moment is a Gyuto which is the Japanese take on a French knife (the shape is actually somewhere between French and German, and the blade's a bit thinner), though, honestly, the term is 90% marketing speak.
At the moment, I actually have two, one's a 10 inch for prep work, and the other's an 8 inch for line work where most would use the santoku.
Dec 6, 2017
tsong111
23
Dec 6, 2017
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NickVLI've always used chef's knives, but never really understood the function of a santoku. Do the pits on the side of the knife actually do anything (I realize it doesn't have to have the pits to be a santoku)?
Dec 6, 2017
djfluffkins
157
Dec 6, 2017
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tsong111I'm pretty much in the chef's knife boat. Main reason is that they can more easily pursue the rocking motion that gets used a lot in cooking. Depending on where you're holding it and your technique it can be far more multipurposed than a santoku.
The "pits" on the santoku help keep food from sticking to the blade which can pay off when you're doing higher surface area foods and you don't want a messy pileup on your board when working quickly.
Dec 6, 2017
AngryAccountant
277
Dec 6, 2017
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tsong111The "pits" just allow air in for more moist foods such as tomatoes or potatoes to not stick to it. The shape of a santoku is designed with a rather flat edge without much "belly" to it so its used more for fine mincing than for the rocking motion. This combined with a large blade profile allows scooping of large amounts of food at once. The large blade profile sticking is counteracted by the "pits".
Dec 6, 2017
tsong111
23
Dec 6, 2017
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djfluffkinsThat makes sense, less knife material contacting the food. I've never actually felt that the pits have helped, though that is my own subjective experience.
Dec 6, 2017
cspirou
220
Dec 6, 2017
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tsong111The shape of the santouku is more friendly for two handed use as well.
Dec 6, 2017
Dr.McCoy
345
Dec 6, 2017
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NickVLChef's Knife. I'm pretty killer at doing just about anything with an 8in Chef at this point - got that rocking motion down. The moment I switch to my santoku I'm slowed greatly.
Dec 6, 2017
Friedumpling
46
Dec 7, 2017
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NickVLI have both styles and definitely prefer the French style chefs knife. I’m more of an amateur and the rocking motion of the chefs knife is much easier for me to produce better results, faster.
Dec 7, 2017
Pequenininho
104
Keyboard Club Member
Dec 8, 2017
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NickVLI prefer the deeper bellied German style chef's knife, it handles a "pushing" slice better than the other two, which suit a "pulling" slice better (the lower point of the santoku and french knives tends to snag in the cutting board for me. I've also been using a Chinese chef's knife (aka Asian vegetable cleaver) recently, and love the "tapping" movement when cutting down veggies.
Dec 8, 2017
marlinspike
10
Dec 8, 2017
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NickVLSantoku is really just a nakiri for the unskilled. I'm happy with only a chef's knife, but ideally would have a nakiri and a chef's knife (as someone who mostly cooks western food). Someone mentioned the scallops in most santokus. They accomplish very little. If you want a version of that idea that actually works, get a Glestain, but be prepared to shell out big bucks.
Dec 8, 2017
williamvd4
4
Dec 8, 2017
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NickVLFor a novice knife user I like a Santoku. The height of the blade makes it comfortable to use and have a good amount of knuckle clearance. I also that the blade doesn't taper as much, allowing a new user to comfortable get the knife up against their knuckles as a guide and not worry about bringing the knife too high up and taking their knuckles off with a chef's/gyuto. A sharp santoku can go a long way and I used one for months taking down massive butternut squashes. Once comfortable and if you are doing lots of knife work a larger chef's knife would be greatly beneficial. The smaller tip is useful and more blade will help making big cutting jobs easier (Such as large butternut squash). I love my gyuto, I got a 270mm, and I used it for 8 hours of very fine prep work without hitting a stone or steal. The added length lets you use different cutting areas to even out blade wear. However, for more day to day tasks I think a santoku is perfectly sized and wieldable. But when I'm making stock that gyuto is coming out to slam through 2 heads of celery at once and a pound of carrots at a time.
Dec 8, 2017
A community member
Dec 8, 2017
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williamvd4The answer depends on your use. As others have said you will probably prefer a chef's knife for meat. The narrower tip is better for boning. A chef's knife is also preferable if you do a lot of chopping. A santoku generally better for slicing, which Japanese cooks do instead of chopping. Usually. I started my restaurant career using a chef knife but when I injured my wrist switched to a santoku, which my sous chef preferred. She chose that because she was fairly short. So your size and strength are also factors. On the subject of divots, or more properly a gratton , they are more common on santokus, but are available on chef knives, too. I have both, but tend to grab the santoku first. Either can do well for most uses.
Dec 8, 2017
xilvar
50
Dec 9, 2017
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NickVLI actually prefer a nakiri for general purpose use. A nakiri with a nice flat edge makes it easier to cut with no hanging threads without a need to rock. To lift materials with the blade easily without having some slip under the curve. To lift a lot of materials quickly because of the height of the blade. I use mine sort of like a cross between a chef and a Chinese chef (cleaver). Ideally I would probably actually get a kiritsuke with a similar profile to a nakiri plus a point, but i haven’t seen any cheap high hardness stainless ones...
Santoku tend to still have a lot of curve and can’t lift much material. Chefs tend to have even more curve and a proper point which comes in handy but radically reduces the amount of lifting they can do.
Dec 9, 2017
Kermityfrog
5
Dec 9, 2017
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NickVLSantoku for sure. It's shorter and more agile than a chef's knife. It feels sharper because the edge is at 10 degrees rather than 20. That together with a thinner blade makes cutting hard vegetables easier. With a chef's knife, carrots will jump away from the blade after you cut. With a santoku they will just lie there. Furthermore most of my cooking does not utilize rocking motions. That's only good for fresh herbs, but you can't rock the knife while cutting large vegetables like napa, or hard vegetables like carrot, or when cutting paper-thin slices of frozen meat. My santoku is very sharp so I use it for anything - including carving a roast or chicken and for cutting soft fresh bread. Other people may reach for a serrated bread knife or a carving knife, but I'm using just one knife for everything! The only thing I use my chef's knife for is spatchcocking a chicken or for cutting a pizza at one go - just because it's longer.
As for speed, the Western technique is to stack vegetables lower than the height of the blade (or really the 2nd knuckle of the hand holding the vegetables) for the rocking motion. The Eastern technique is to stack the vegetables as high as you can handle them - so while you may be cutting slower than rocking, you are cutting through way more at one go. This also lets you use more complicated cuts than just julienne and dice (such as cutting long eggplant or carrots into oblique shapes).
Dec 9, 2017
williamvd4
4
Dec 9, 2017
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KermityfrogThe blade angle is all about how you sharpen it. Lay anything down on a stone and you can get it laser sharp. I second using a sharp straight blade for bread. Makes a chef knife very versatile and makes for less clutter
Dec 9, 2017
Kermityfrog
5
Dec 9, 2017
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williamvd4So you take a new chef's knife out of a box and remove a lot of metal to turn a 20 degree bevel into a 10 degree? The bevel is on both sides of a knife, so a chef's knife is actually at total of 40 degrees.
https://www.sharpeningsupplies.com/Detailed-Discussion-on-Knife-Sharpening-Angles-W28.aspx
The chef's knife may not be designed for such sharpening and you may compromise the ability of the knife to hold the sharp edge for long. It will also make the knife more prone to chipping.
Dec 9, 2017
sc_fd
48
Dec 12, 2017
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NickVL9+ inch chef's/gyuto, or 8+ inch Chinese cleaver
Dec 12, 2017
sc_fd
48
Dec 12, 2017
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KermityfrogSo then you simply microbevel until you restore the edge durability desired, hopefully having kept some of the superior behind the edge geometry made from lowering the angle. Really though, if we're talking about the same line of knives, like a Henckels santoku vs a Henckels chef's knife, they're both using the same steel, and should have similar ability to handle or not handle certain behind the edge thicknesses
Dec 12, 2017
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