# Kitchen use- Paring Knife vs. Pocket Knife



## FredM (Oct 29, 2008)

I just bought a very nice chef's knife and am now getting the itch to buy paring knife. before I got the chef's knife I was using a pocket knife for everything and am wondering why a knife like this

http://www.kershawknives.com/productdetails.php?id=244&brand=shun

is better than a pocket knife if on a budget OR if someone has really nice pocket knives they are willing to use in the kitchen.


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## jzmtl (Oct 29, 2008)

Eh, $75 for a pairing knife, if you got money to throw around sure, but if on a budget I'd pass. I don't use my pocket knives because they'll be a pain to clean and re lube after every use. I use a $13 mora scout and it works great.


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## karlthev (Oct 29, 2008)

A bird knife might be used---non-folder so it would be easy to clean. I am an avid cook (all the meals in my home for the past 25 years), have an extensive collection of custom knives--folders and "straight" knives but use a regular kitchen paring knife for smaller tasks in the kitchen. The one I have is very cheap by comparison to my custom collector ($25?) "bird" knives and I don't have to worry about dropping it and ruining some exotic handle material or breaking the blade itself on the tile floor. Certainly you could use a more expensive knife but, if the cheaper one works as well (and in most cases sharpens so much easier!) why do so? T oeach his/her own though....


Karl


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## FredM (Oct 29, 2008)

jzmtl said:


> Eh, $75 for a pairing knife, if you got money to throw around sure, but if on a budget I'd pass. I don't use my pocket knives because they'll be a pain to clean and re lube after every use. I use a $13 mora scout and it works great.



Its about $35 at my local store.


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## Lee1959 (Oct 29, 2008)

I have a lot of knives, including a nice A.G. Russell kitchen knife set. The two knives my wife and I use in the kitchen most are a smallish Rapala fishing knife and a small knife I made for myself to use as a patch knife years ago. I put a small swedish patch knife blade in an oak handle and my wife swiped it to use as her paring knife after using it in hunting camp. She uses these two over the ceramic blades I bought her even. 

I once made a mistake and tried to cut off a piece of a chocolate rabbit from Easter and torqued the blade of the small paring/patch knife and it snapped. Boy she was hot till I made another just lke it. Now 
I cannot even use it.

Point being, look around before buying an expensive blade, there are some cheaper priced alternatives that work just as well that you wont cry if you accidently mess up in a thoughtless moment.


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## bullfrog (Oct 29, 2008)

I'm an avid cook and swear by my Shun kitchen knives (owned by Kershaw) - they are pricey, but, if you can afford it they will last a lifetime - their guarantee is on par with Surefire's.

They cut like budda!

http://www.kershawknives.com/productdetails.php?id=393&brand=shun

http://www.kershawknives.com/searchresults.php?search_by=category&search_value=24&brand=shun


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## FredM (Oct 29, 2008)

bullfrog said:


> I'm an avid cook and swear by my Shun kitchen knives (owned by Kershaw) - they are pricey, but, if you can afford it they will last a lifetime.
> ]



I hope so. I just bought a Shun elite Chef's knife.


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## bullfrog (Oct 29, 2008)

FredM said:


> I hope so. I just bought a Shun elite Chef's knife.



I didn't even see that you already went Shun!

Congratulations and use it in good health - YOU WILL LOVE IT! Hard foods honestly "melt" when the blade touches - its unbelievable. 

Just make sure you have a very very good place to have them sharpened or send 'em in to Shun, I'd be afraid to do it myself or have the local butcher do it...

On the pairing knife - I own a bunch of the shun "classic" series as well and they are wonderful. I would think that my pocket knife would not even be anywhere as sharp as the Shun and if it was, it would never ever hold the edge for as long as the pairing knife...


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## nerdgineer (Oct 29, 2008)

Paring knives are designed for kitchen work and beat pocket knives at that game. That said, there are lots of very useful paring knives which do 95% of what that Kershaw does for much, much less money. Also, paring knives - being small - are easy to sharpen and/or have their blade profiles reground. A little stone work on a $12 paring knife (Check Tuesday Morning, Linens n Things closeouts, wherever...) will increase that 95% to 100% in no time.

Unless you're getting the Kershaw for its' looks, in which case you'll need to pay the extra $$, as is so often the case when you're buying looks...


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## HoopleHead (Oct 29, 2008)

by pocket knife do you mean a folding knife? i wouldnt want to get any oil or lube etc on my food...


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## FredM (Oct 29, 2008)

yesh im talking about folding knife. I wash them before use so there is no chance of oil.

anyways it seems likely I need to check out a paring knife or similar small knife since I only have a 8" chefs knife.


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## RA40 (Oct 30, 2008)

The Shun line is to our liking. I prefer using them than any of the others I've tried in the past. Usually you can find them discounted 15-20% over suggested retail. I bought our paring for about $48 and a 8" chef's for $65.

The pocket knife may make do, use the right tool for the task at hand...


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## FredM (Oct 30, 2008)

The deal is I can get superior metal for cheaper in a folding knife. I don;t really understand it but it is true.


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## adamlau (Oct 30, 2008)

I am as much a knifenut as I am a flashaholic. I actually have and use a Shun Elite paring knife. Thinner, flat ground profile means that it slices much better than a thicker, hollow 21.


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## jzmtl (Nov 1, 2008)

FredM said:


> The deal is I can get superior metal for cheaper in a folding knife. I don;t really understand it but it is true.



Less competition compare to folding knives? :shrug:


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## Blue72 (Nov 2, 2008)

FredM said:


> The deal is I can get superior metal for cheaper in a folding knife. I don;t really understand it but it is true.



whats the purpose if you would spend more time cleaning a folder with a superior steel compared to sharpening a kitchen knife with lessor steel.


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## guyg (Nov 9, 2008)

I dont use kitchen knives. The only exception is a Vic potato peeler. As said small fixed blades are just as good as a paring knife.I pick 'hunting 'knives for size appropriate tasks . From the Inyoni and a Bob Cumming custom to the CR Nkonka at the other end.


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## mossyoak (Nov 9, 2008)

i dont use kitchen knives either, i use my edc blade, a bark river mini northstar which is a laser made of sanvik, or a ontario rat-3 d2 depending on what i have with me at the moment, i use these all over the house, they are true tools, i think its funny when people use their edc blade for just opening letters and such.


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## nerdgineer (Nov 9, 2008)

guyg and mossyoak, you guys must not cook very much. I cook a lot and couldn't imagine how much harder it would be without a proper set of kitchen knives specialized for the task. Some (many) commercial kitchen knives are crap out of the box, but a good one with a proper blade profile (I hand grind thinner blade profiles on mine...) is a great work saver and a joy to use. I mostly use 8" and 10" chef's knives and I don't think there's anything equivalent in a hunting knife no matter how good the steel.


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## mossyoak (Nov 10, 2008)

nerdgineer said:


> guyg and mossyoak, you guys must not cook very much. I cook a lot and couldn't imagine how much harder it would be without a proper set of kitchen knives specialized for the task. Some (many) commercial kitchen knives are crap out of the box, but a good one with a proper blade profile (I hand grind thinner blade profiles on mine...) is a great work saver and a joy to use. I mostly use 8" and 10" chef's knives and I don't think there's anything equivalent in a hunting knife no matter how good the steel.



i cook alot, and thats the blade geometry for the mini northstar, just 3.5 inches.


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## Radiophile (Nov 23, 2008)

I use CHEAP paring knives in the kitchen. I'm sure you've seen them at Walmart - they have plastic handles, 2" stamped stainless blades that are sharpened on only one side. Because of that they only work for right handed folks. They're two in a package for about $1. Had I never tried one at a relative's house, I'd have dismissed them as junk, but now they are the knife I use most often for fruit and veggies. I can peel the skin off of the ripest tomato so thin that I can read the newspaper through them. They make thinner potato peels than a vegetable peeler can! The steel holds an edge well, but they should because I only use them for produce. When they do need a touch up, a few passes down the left side of my aluminum oxide sticks makes them wicked sharp again.

I pretty much use stamped blades for whatever I can hold in my hand because they're light and thin. When I cut on a board I use my Henckels Pro S knives. I've got Henckels paring and utility knives that came with the set, but they stay in the block.


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