Paring Knives Reviews

I own:
- Global G-4 santoku knife
- Global G-9 bread knife
- Global G-12 meat cleaver
- Global GS-7 paring knife
- Global GS-4 deba knife
- Global G-11 sashimi knife
- Bunmei Yoshikin 1802 18-cm usuba knife

The Global and Bunmei knives are both manufactured by Yoshikin. All the knives above are very fine, sharp, ergonomic, and beautiful knives, a masterpiece. You won't regret investing in Global knives even though you have to save money for a long time before you can afford to buy one of them.

I am into Asian cooking that demands beautiful thinly-sliced vegetables so I prefer to have Japanese-style Global knives such as santoku, deba, and sashimi knives, even though Global deba knife design differs from the original deba knife from the Bunmei serie. But from all the knives I own, it turns out that I use the Global deba 10-cm knife most often. It is not too long yet not too small and is surprisingly very balanced. The triangular handle supports your palm nicely. This 10-cm deba knife is just right for various cutting work, from slicing shallots, oranges, carrots, cucumber, fish, to boneless meat. The one-sided edge makes the knife sharper than two-sided edge and makes it easier for you to slice.

If I knew from the beginning that the one-sided edge knives are sharper than the two-sided edge, I would have bought only the 18-cm deba, the 12-cm deba, and the sashimi knives.

If you are on a really tight budget, buy just the 18-cm deba knife first. It is much sharper than the two-sided edge santoku knife and is versatile enough for various slicing, chopping, and cutting work. If you want to invest in the cheaper version of the deba knife, buy the smaller one like I have. The 10-cm deba knife is versatile enough even though it may too short for cutting through big stuff such as water melon.

Happy cutting. Just becareful with your fingers because Global knives are really sharp.

Very nice knife. It is sharp, really sharp. Handle feels good.
One problem with me. The width of the balde near handle is little too wide. It looks cute because of that. When I peel apple, the balde is too close to my thumb. I may not be bothered with it if it is ordinary dull knife. But with this kind sharpness I do not feel safe. I hope I could delvelope safer technique sooner.

You hold Global knives different than European knives--like you would hold a Chinese cleaver. If you do a lot of Asian cooking, you probably hold knives this way, but it is different than your typical European knives. That said, I just wish Amazon carried the rest of the large collection of Global knives. I love my 4" paring knife. It is a little smaller to fit in small hands, but it fits in my larger hands nicely as well. It has a very sharp edge that stays sharper longer than my Henckels knives. It is super easy to sharpen with a good diamond steel (much easier than European knives). I would give it 5 stars except the look is a little funky, and they are priced on the high side as well as hard to find. I hope to replace my Four Stars with these over time.

I bought this knife after it was recommended in the book Kitchen Confidential. The knife is razor sharp, well balanced and it's very comfortable in the hand. Also, I accidently nicked myself with it -- I was shocked both by my own stupidity and how flawlessly the cut healed because the knife was so sharp!