alan wrote:
> somebody got for me a mini chef's knife, specifically the Messermeister
> "petite" chef knife 5005-4. It is as "tall" as a regular chef knife,
> but only about 4 inches long. The blade is pretty much triangular,
> although the entire cutting edge is curved. I'm not sure how I am
> supposed to use this knife. It's hard to cut anything using the normal
> rocking/sliding motion coz the short length of the blade means that you
> have to lift it at a really high angle to get anything under it. I also
> can't quite use it for straight push down cuts coz the cutting edge is
> rounded so the cut is incomplete unless I rock or drag the blade. The
> only type of cutting that comes easily so far is to have the knife
> nearly parallel with the cutting board, and push/slide the knife
> forward, using the edge under the raised tip to cut small objects.
>
> Any suggestions for how to use this knife, or what to use it on?

I guess it works ok as a 2" salami slicing knife. A salami is too hard
and sticky to cut with a pulling motion. With this knife, I can hold
the blade at a 45 degree angle and push straight down. I might have my
knife sharpening buddy thin down the blade a bit and/or put a chisel
edge on it.