YoshiThere are petty knives, fruit knives, kodeba knives, honesuki knives, and peeling knives.
They are small but very useful.
Master Yoda says…
1. “Size matters not.”
Some people only use a petty knife to cook everything.
Especially if you live by yourself, it is rare to deal with large-sized ingredients.
I recommend having this small knife.
Because…
It is light and small so it is easy to use,
That means you can cut more precisely and faster.
It is easy to wash,
Easy to store,
And easy to sharpen.
2. Sounds very useful. Right?
When I was a kid, my mom used to use a small knife to cut fruits like apples and pears.
A very small and short blade with a light brown wooden handle and case.
I still remember how it looked.
Everytime I see a small knife that has a wooden case,
It reminds me of the time my mom peeled fruits for me.
Do you have a similar memory towards any kitchen tools?
3. Petty knives are actually a smaller version of gyuto knife
It is the equivalent of a paring knife in a Western kitchen,
But petty knives can do a lot of things on their own.
The word “petty” comes from the French word “petite”.
“Pettie” means attractively small and dainty.
Important:
The shape of petty knives is very similar to gyuto knives.
While the length of a gyuto knife blade is 7 to 10 ½ inches(18 to 27 cm)…
4. The length of a petty knife blade is 3 to 6 inches(8 to 15 cm)
If you have a large hand, I recommend picking the blade size of 5 to 6 inches(13.5 to 15 cm)
And if you have a small hand, you should pick a blade size of under 5 inches(13.4 cm)
If you want to use it for only peeling veggie skin, pick 3 inches(8 cm) ones.
Do you want to know the ideal weight of a petty knife?
5. The weight of a petty knife should be under 3.5oz(100 grams)
You feel little heavy if it is over 3.2oz(90 grams),
But if it is under 28oz(80 grams), you feel it is a little light.
6. In a small kitchen, you can use a petty knife without any stress
It does a decent job on a small kitchen board.
It is also a great option for people who don’t like the heavy hard core knives.
A con of a petty knife is that it isn’t efficient when you want to cut a large block of meat or a whole cabbage.
But for homecooks, your petty knife will do almost all the cutting work with no stress.
7. Fruit knife is for peeling and cutting fruits
It is designed to be used outside of the kitchen.
And the length is usually around 3.5 inches(9cm).
Fruit knives look very similar to petty knives.
Do you want to know the difference between a fruit knife and a petty knife?
8. Fruit knife is thicker than petty knife
This is because thicker blades are more stable when you peel apple skins.
A fruit knife has a wide bevel like the picture above.
Petty knives don’t have wide bevels,
And the blade is thinner compared to a fruit knife.
The edge angle of these two kinds of knives are different.
A petty knife has a sharper angle than a fruit knife.
9. Fruits knives have covers
This is because a fruit knife is designed for use outside of the kitchen.
It is convenient to have a cover,
So you can carry it wherever you want to use it.
10. Fruit knife is cheaper
Fruit knife is designed for specifically dealing with fruits.
It is not for cooking your meal.
Because the structure and materials are different from other kitchen knives.
11. Kodeba knives are for cleaning fish
Using a kodeba knife, you can get rid of scales, chop the fish head off, get rid of fish intestine, filet fish, etc.
This is a smaller version of a deba knife. The word “ko” means small in Japanese.
A regular deba knief’s blade is around 7 inches(18cm).
However:
12. A kodeba knife’s blade is around 4 inches(10cm)
It is the best knife for cleaning the smaller fish.
Like mackerel, saury, and sardine.
Because of the size, a kodeba knife is a lot easier to deal with than deba knife.
Usually, these small fish above are fragile since they contain more fat.
So your kodeba will come in handy.
13. Honesuki knives are for tough ingredients
This knife is a specialized knife for professional butchers.
A honesuki knife has a cool-looking shape.
And it is really durable,
Because It deals with bones, so the blade is really thick.
14. The blade of the honesuki knife seems small
It is only 6 – 7 in(15 – 18 cm).
But it is the perfect size to slit the knife in between the spinal columns of beef and pork for chopping them off.
The tip is sharp so it is good at precise work too.
15. You can use your honesuki knife for other hard ingredients
Like…
Black pepper seeds, lemon grass, pumpkins, crabs, and shrimp.
It is very useful, so if you like outdoor activities,
I recommend bringing one out.
16. Peeling knives have a crescent shape
You can use this knife for peeling fruits and veggie skins.
It is for…
Apples, oranges, peaches, potatoes, carrots, etc..
The shape looks strange and dangerous, but it actually makes the cooking job easier.
The curvy shape goes along with the fruit shape,
So you can avoid cutting off extra fruit.
17. You can use it for onion skins and garlic skins
Peeling the brown onion skin is one of the more annoying tasks in your kitchen.
Your peeling knife will be useful for that.
Grab the brown skin with the knife and your thumb,
And strip it off!
18. The length of the blade is 2 1/2 inches(6cm)
It is easy to control because it is small.
You can do the same thing using a petty knife,
But a peeling knife does a better job for this kind of work.
This knife is actually addictive to use.
Hey very interesting blog!