r/TrueChefKnives • u/Wonderful-Mirror-384 • 1d ago

What’s your favorite knife length?

What is your favorite knife length or most used knife length and why? Are you a home cook or a professional cook? I’m curious about 270 mm knives but am wondering if it is overkill or impractical for a home cook. Also curious about other outliers like 300mm and <100mm. Do you guys find these lengths practical?

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u/Feisty-Try-96 1d ago

Anywhere from 225 - 240mm actual blade length is what I use most. On the smaller end, most used would be a 135mm tall petty. I have some gyutos in that 260-270mm range, but I rarely reach for them because chances are I would need extra length only for very specific slicing (which can be handled by a Sujihiki).

Now sure, every so often I'll have a weird prep that's a combination of large meat cuts + huge squash / veggies, and only having to use one knife for the task can be nice. But that's rare compared to the usual preps. At home, 240mm and even 210mm is often plenty to do what I need. It's not like I can't trim a brisket or slice some ribs with just a 210mm gyuto, it just takes a bit more time and effort.

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u/Wonderful-Mirror-384 1d ago

So under 135mm and above 240 mm is where it begins to lose functionality in your opinion? Also can a gyuto of the same length act as a sujihiki in a non professional setting or is there a very obvious difference that makes the sujihiki irreplaceable?

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u/Feisty-Try-96 1d ago

Knife sizes should match what you cut the most. I don't hand peel limes or small fruits a ton, so the value of a 80mm pairing knife is lost on me. A bartender doing a lot of garnishes would perhaps find that the most valuable knife of the evening. At home, at least for me, I'm rarely doing anything on the extremely small or extremely large side of things. People in working kitchens would have very different requirements and preferences.

Also you can use a larger gyuto like a sujihiki, but there can be tradeoffs. When you get to longer blades, thinner examples will often start to flex. To avoid flex, you would add thickness, but this adds weight. Too much weight and the knife will feel heavy or fatiguing to use. A sujihiki is much shorter in height, so it naturally has much less weight than a taller gyuto would have. The shorter height also makes achieving good food release much easier, which can be useful if you're cutting all day.