I'm going to be buying a new paring knife soon. I use my current knife mostly for "air work" – things like coring strawberries, trimming fruits/vegetables, etc. I rarely (or never) use it for work on a cutting board.
I've been looking at different styles/brands of knives and saw in a (printed, not online) article a comment that Japanese-style paring knives were "not good for air work." There was no elaboration.
This caused me to pause and ultimately brought me here to ask, what criteria go into choosing a paring knife specifically for work in the air? Heavier/lighter? Larger/smaller handle? Handle shape? Blade shape?
(Ultimately I'd love to buy a range of knives and decide for myself, but that isn't practical financially. And I don't have any stores nearby that allow test-use of knives, so I have no way to "test drive.")
Best Answer
'Air work' is an interesting term that I am not used to hearing, and I do a lot of it. The trick here is where will you be holding the knife as you work. A long thin blade will mean you are holding the blade as you work, which is not a problem, per se.
Small bladed and hook beak knives are well suited for this, as you can comfortably hold the handle. I love hook beak knives for mushroom garnishing, coring, small veg peeling and trimming, etc...
Small straight paring knives are the standard choice for this, if you don't like the hooked blade.