In article >, 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?

You've got yourself a basic skinner there.

No kidding, hunters use knives very much like the one you described --
short, wide, with a round belly -- almost exclusively for
field-dressing game.

http://www.knifeart.com/hunting.html

Might not be much use for it in the kitchen unless you prepare a lot of
fresh wild game.

-Frank

--
(email: change out to in)