The Best Japanese Knives for Barbecue & Brisket
Barbecue is a huge passion of mine. Before working at Knifewear, I worked at a little Barbecue joint in Vancouver. Learning to smoke and grill food was one of the most amazing experiences I’ve had in my short time on Earth. I’ve smoked over 1000 briskets, and my pulled pork is always a hit at a dinner party. The most important aspect of making great smoked meats is your rub and the wood you use to create smoke. Once that smoking is done, preserving the delicious juices you worked so hard to maintain and having a nice, smooth cut is critical to good barbecue's delicious flavour and texture. I can’t tell you what goes into my secret brisket rub, but I can tell you the secret to getting an incredible texture on each slice! It comes from having a skinny, razor-sharp knife that causes little friction against the meat and has the length to slice through the whole slab without a bunch of back-and-forth sawing. The product of that equation (skinny+sharp+long knife) results in an incredibly smooth slice that locks the juices into your meat and creates a fantastic mouth feel for whoever is lucky enough to eat it. In the world of Japanese kitchen knives, these blades are called Sujihikis. Here’s a short list of a few of my favourites (in no particular order) based on my experience with barbecue:
