# Are nakiri's good at pulling when cutting vegetables?



## celbrise (May 13, 2017)

i am interested in buying a nakiri to cut vegetables at work because using my kiritsuke gets tiring and hurts my wrist when cutting the vegetables as it's pretty heavy. most vegetables would be in a push direction but we cut lettuce as well and have to slice it in half thus a pulling motion from the base to the tip. i was wondering if these knives are good for such things.

would it damage the vegetable or would it not make a difference? i mean pushing to cut a vegetable in half length wise just feels awkward to me and feels like i would be more at risk cutting myself especially with long vegetables versus pull cutting then pushing to slice. i assume it doesn't make a difference at all but all the things i read about it state they are good for pull cutting and slicing.


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## notsowooly (Oct 27, 2008)

The front tip of a nakiri is rounded so you can do pull cuts but they are short in length and not the best for halving lettuce (iceberg).


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## celbrise (May 13, 2017)

would they get the job done though i mean the lettuce is the bulk prep of the vegetables at my job the rest is pretty much prepped when needed and even with my current knife sometimes it is hard to slice them because my knife is too long for that prep area so it hits the back of the sink. we cut romaine lettuce at my job


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## dave kinogie (Feb 16, 2013)

Yeah it would be fine for romaine prep, including halving. I love nakiri's! I often just use a nakiri and a petty in place of a gyuto when doing heavy vegetable and fruit prep, although I'm just talking at home haha. I have worked in kitchens for years in the past though and wish I knew about nakiris then.

Give one a try! Depending on which one you get, if you don't like it you can always sell it at a small discount on here or another J-knife forum(maybe to me lol).


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## dave kinogie (Feb 16, 2013)

Celbrise said:


> i am interested in buying a nakiri to cut vegetables at work because using my kiritsuke gets tiring and hurts my wrist when cutting the vegetables as it's pretty heavy. most vegetables would be in a push direction but we cut lettuce as well and have to slice it in half thus a pulling motion from the base to the tip. i was wondering if these knives are good for such things.
> 
> would it damage the vegetable or would it not make a difference? i mean pushing to cut a vegetable in half length wise just feels awkward to me and feels like i would be more at risk cutting myself especially with long vegetables versus pull cutting then pushing to slice. i assume it doesn't make a difference at all but all the things i read about it state they are good for pull cutting and slicing.


Also, I would suggest getting a 180mm, the extra length is very useful.


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