# 2" Sabatier paring knife?



## feldspar (Aug 9, 2012)

This thing looks tiny, like a scalpel. He mentions he has big hands but the blade to handle ratio (skip to 4:05) looks to great to be a 3" blade. Stainless, one piece, black rivited handle, can't make out the mark on the blade.

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We don't have a Dinghams in the US. Where can I find one?


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## kokopuffs (Aug 4, 2000)

I've owned one that looks identical but it's made of carbon steel.  Keep searching at ebay for one and you just might get lucky.  And forget stainless steel.


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## feldspar (Aug 9, 2012)

Have a saved search on there now. To be clear, are you saying it will be easier to find a carbon or that's the best version of a Sabatier?


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## kokopuffs (Aug 4, 2000)

I've always preferred carbon steel to stainless, the former being much easier to sharpen (and there've been hundreds of posts related to this statement/preference at cheftalk).


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## kokopuffs (Aug 4, 2000)

Just do a search there, now, on Sabatier Knife. There are several carbon steel knives for sale. And the ones listed by seller "Ralph1396", well, he's quite proud of his stuff.

Here's a couple of links to carbon steel knives and you'll note the *surface pitting* that's characteristic of good carbon steel:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Sab...338?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4606a7b2f2

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http://www.ebay.com/itm/Antique-Sab...561?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item53ee364101

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## kokopuffs (Aug 4, 2000)

And the knife that's third from the bottom, that seems to be the one you're looking for:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/7-Vintage-F...397?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3cc981004d


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## boar_d_laze (Feb 13, 2008)

You want stainless right?

The Best Things sells ****Elephant Sabatier (made by Thiers Issard). You want their "French" shaped stainless which are available with three different types of wood handles.

K-Sabatier Outlet sells K-Sabatier in the US. You want the "Authentique" line.

K-Sabatier sells K-Sabatier but their shipping is exorbitant. Again, "Authentique." I'm not linking because with shipping the cost of the knife is absurd.

There are some very bad stainless Sabatiers running around, and you want to avoid them.

A few words: I've used Sabatier carbons (from several makers including T-I and K-Sab) professionally and as a home cook for more than 40 years. They're great knives, obviously among my favorites, and I recommend them highly for many people interested in a reasonably priced quality knife who can put up with carbon. If you don't already want carbon, don't suddenly decide you do. It means you'll have to rinse and wipe immediately after using it; and sometimes during the middle of a task if you're cutting something very reactive (including all citrus fruit).

If you're at all interested in carbon, I suggest the "Nogent" (T-I) paring knives sold by The Best Things as having both the best blade AND handle.

With props to kokopuffs, the ebay knives he linked are (a) carbon, and (b) in pretty rough shape. The Rowoco knife in particular has been sharpened so poorly (on a steel) and so many times that the blade has an inward curve. If you got it for free, I'd suggest throwing it away.

However, stainless Sabatiers are a different kettle of fish than carbons. they're not nearly the value that the carbons are. With shipping you're going to end up spending something like $40 for a 3" knife. That said, the Sabatier makers are darn near the only ones who put a decent sized handle on a small knife; and it does make a HUGE difference. Worth it? Depends on you.

Finally, you might want to consider doing your small work with a "petty" in the 5" - 6" range instead of a small parer. A petty is longer, but the same basic shape, _couteau office_. There's very little you can do with a parer you can't with a petty. You could certainly do anything the guy in the video did, but there's so much more the extra length allows. The only things I use a small knife for anymore are fluting mushrooms, trimming trussing string, and opening packages.

Good luck,

BDL


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## kokopuffs (Aug 4, 2000)

Me and BDL have beat this ol' horse that just won't die; it keeps coming back for more!  Betcha' didn't know that horses have 9+ lives.  ;DDD


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## boar_d_laze (Feb 13, 2008)

I'm not sure which horse we're supposedly beating.  I think there are some good Sabatier deals on ebay; but not that particular Rowoco knife because it was sharpened so far out of profile and otherwise looking pretty ragged.

FWIW, Rowoco was an importer.  The maker was probably K Garanti/K Jeune; a very good Sabatier whose factory was in Thiers.

BDL


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## feldspar (Aug 9, 2012)

Thanks for taking the time to get the horse out again guys. I really appreciate the advice and perspective.

I haven't committed to stainless or carbons yet. I don't have a problem with cleaning immediately after use. I usually do that with my stainless Germans already.

I began looking at paring knives since they are a cheap way to test out different makers.

Koko, those older Sabatiers are beautiful. Great patina.

Boar, I think you're right and I'll probably end up with 5" Misono or Masamoto petty blades. Right now I'm trying to put my hands on as many different knives as I can, to get a better understanding of builds. Then I need to become more proficient at sharpening. Just bought a low end Messermeister for .25 cents at a thrift store to practice on.

I'll probably grab a carbon Sabatier, use it for a while and see how it goes.


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## boar_d_laze (Feb 13, 2008)

> I'll probably grab a carbon Sabatier, use it for a while and see how it goes.


If you're looking for a parer, the Nogents (at TBT) have the best handles by far. I have two Nogents which I use -- more or less -- as petties. One of them is a 6" "slicer" and I recommend it very highly.

The other is a 7" chef's, which I don't recommend unless you have a very good idea of what you want to do with it. I bought it as a sort of deba for breaking down smallish fish, and it does that very well. Otherwise, it's just a short, sharp knife which is a little too wide to be really agile, but wide enough to chop without altering my normal grip. Again, useful for the shallots, parsley, and so much of the other stuff you (or at least I) use for fish.

Unfortunately, they ain't cheap.

I use my Konouske stainless 150mm wa-petty (also not cheap) and 6" Nogent about equally often.

BDL


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## kokopuffs (Aug 4, 2000)

boar_d_laze said:


> I'm not sure which horse we're supposedly beating. I think there are some good Sabatier deals on ebay; but not that particular Rowoco knife because it was sharpened so far out of profile and otherwise looking pretty ragged.
> 
> FWIW, Rowoco was an importer. The maker was probably K Garanti/K Jeune; a very good Sabatier whose factory was in Thiers.
> 
> BDL


the third knife from the bottom, setting just above the red handled one, looks to me to be a Sabatier.


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## boar_d_laze (Feb 13, 2008)

It is.  It's branded as Rowoco (according to the seller), which means it was manufactured by Jeune K Garanti Sabatier or Jeune Sabatier (same company). 

Rebranding Sabatier knives with an importer's or retailer's marque used to very common.  It doesn't happen as much anymore, but still goes on mostly with a few French cookware sellers -- E. Dehillerin for example. 

BDL


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## feldspar (Aug 9, 2012)

You guys have sold me on the Carbon Nogents. 
Would a 4" - 5" Petty be the best size for cleaning up a chicken breast? It's already removed from the carcass, tenderloin already removed.
Specifically, cutting away all the white connective tissue/skin and then cutting the meat down into bite sized pieces for broiling.


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## boar_d_laze (Feb 13, 2008)

That's such an easy task, anything sharp would do. 

When I prep, I usually have two knives out -- a short one and a long one.  Far more often than not the short one is a 6" petty because it's so versatile.  So, yes, for what you're talking about I'd probably use a 6" petty for all the chicken breaking, boning and trimming -- except cutting out the back and splitting the breast.  For that matter, I could do the same with darn near anything in the 3" - 10" range; and have. 

The things to remember are that there is seldom any one best knife; and just about any sharp knife can perform just about any sharp knife task reasonably well. 

Again... It's all about the sharpening. 

BDL


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