Petty Knife
Posted on March 15, 2010
Filed Under kitchen knives | Leave a Comment
WHAT IS A PETTY KNIFE?
Petty Knives are the Japanese answer to the Western paring knife. Petty knives are typically thin without a bolster on the blade and are very light. Like the paring knife, the petty is considered to be a “everyday knife”. The only difference between the two are their lengths. The typical Japanese petty is 6″, and this has become a sort of standard.
Cooks and chef’s find the extra length of a longer petty useful in a variety of situations. However, people whose skills aren’t quite as strong find the extra length awkward. The petty is used almost exclusively for food prep. A petty knife is a better shape for almost all boning tasks – especially “breaking” chicken – than the normal European desossuer.
Chef’s knives/gyutos come in several different flavors of profile. One thing they share which contrasts them to slicers and couteau office, is a high choil — making for a wide profile at the heel, thus allowing the cook some very useful knuckle clearance for “push cutting” (i.e., chopping straight down). You can chop with a narrow blade, but, you either have to mickey mouse the handle of your knife off the board, or really know what you’re doing. In either case, it’s a chef’s profile is easier.
For example (not necessarily a good one, either), I have a 7″ “Nogent” chef’s knife which I bought specifically for those tasks where I wanted the extra point control which comes from a shorter length, along with the extra blade width that allows chopping without paying too much attention — in other words, a shallot specialist and sort of deba for small fish. I’m actually quite fond of the knife and find other reasons to use it. But chopping aside, it’s not nearly as useful as the petty and it really doesn’t do anything I can’t do with my 10″. It’s actually a lot like a santoku in many ways.
Comments
Leave a Reply
