Paring Knives

A paring knife is the knife that stays in hand. Peeling, trimming, segmenting citrus, coring tomatoes, cleaning artichokes - these are tasks that happen away from the board, where a shorter blade and a responsive tip matter more than reach or weight. A good paring kitchen knife disappears in the hand and makes detailed prep faster and less tiring.

In the Japanese knife tradition, what most Western cooks call a paring knife is called a petty knife. The petty is the same tool by a different name, though the Japanese versions tend to be thinner, harder, and more precisely ground than their Western counterparts. They are available in a wider size range - from compact 80mm blades designed purely for in-hand work up to 150mm and 165mm versions that bridge the gap between a paring knife and a utility knife, doing board work as easily as in-hand tasks. CKTG carries paring and petty knives from Tojiro, MAC, Kohetsu, Takamura, and a wide range of Japanese blacksmiths in stainless, semi-stainless, and carbon steel.