I don't understand what you mean by ''2 3/4''. Are you referring to the height of the blade (largest distance from edge to spine)?

What type of knife is he looking for? 8'' chef's? 8'' slicer? Or a whole ''set''? And, what knives does he have now?

What sort of cutting task is he looking to do? Crack through chicken bones, or make fine slices of vegetables and fish? Or general all-round cooking?

And, most important, does he sharpen his knives, and how does he do it? Is he one to really care for his knives' edges, do you think?

I have some input, but it depends on the situation.

2 3/4 inch is the length of the Bird's Beak knife blade.
Was wondering about other Birds Beak besides my beloved Henkel.

Bird's Beak knives are a type of paring knife.

Ah - I didn't understand the question. I was actually wondering which CF member was called ''Bird's Beak''!

I afraid I don't have any thoughts on paring knives, as I don't use them. Sorry.

Lizzy, I have a Victorinox that I like pretty well, I have small hands and knife handles are often uncomfortable. I think it has a 3 inch blade, though, and some kind of black plastic type handle and a regular straight blade.

I have a cheap bread knife but it works pretty well, I keep threatening to try out those offset blade bread knives but I haven't so I'm no help there.

Annie

"A bird's beak knife is a knife with a specialized curved blade which is well suited to things like carving fruit and producing the âÂÂtournee cutâ which is often used in food presentation. While a bird's beak knife is not a vital necessity for most kitchens, it can be a very handy tool. A number of companies produce bird's beak knives, made from an assortment of materials for cooks of different needs. Most kitchen supply stores carry at least a small assortment."

You need to learn a little how to sharpen a bird's beak knife.

dcarch

I have a 9-inch Wusthof Classic bread knife and I love it. Originally I got it because Wusthof offers it both right and left-handed, but it is the first bread knife I've found that cuts almost entirely crumb-free regardless of how crisp the crust is. Perfect for artisan-style breads.

Carol

Here is a link that might be useful: Wusthof Bread Knives

I have a bread knife called Fiddle Bow. It's offset and extremely sharp. I don't remember where it came from or if they are still made but it works well as long as you want about a half inch slice. I have a variety of other knives and would be satisfied to own nothing but Victorinox. I think they are the best knife for the money.
James

Hi Jim: Wherenhow, havyoubeen ?

Has anyone heard of " Butcher Shop Knives " ???
Lou

Here's an adjustable Fiddle Bow knife that comes left- or right-handed.

Carol

Here is a link that might be useful: Fiddle Bow Bread Knife

I have all sorts of knives, from $$$$ to cheapos, and I have found that the best knives for the money are Forschner Victorinox. They're made in Switzerland. They have a complete line from $3 paring knives to $100+ knives. The cheaper ones are stamped rather than forged, and have a plastic (what they call 'Fibrox') handle instead of wood. Still, the blades are very good and take a good edge. I generally prefer old fashioned carbon steel knives, but if I need to use a stainless blade (for cutting up acidic foods) I reach for the Victorinox knives. BTW, I have some of the Victorinox paring knives. They work fine; and since you use a paring knife differently than a chef knife, the balance isn't as critical. So I have no qualms buying one with a plastic handle rather than spending two or three times as much for the same blade with a wood handle.

Recently Cooks Illustrated rated their $30 chef knife better than some costing five times as much.

They are readily available from Amazon and other online merchants. My next present to myself is gonna be their 12" Granton edge slicer.

Here is a link that might be useful: Forschner knives

Okay I'm going to walk in the kitchen with a ruler....

Henkel~ 2 3/4" Just picked this one up at Ace for Black Friday Sale 3 piece set..but I noticed there is a bit of a "drag" feeling using these knives vs my Messers.
Messermeister~Park Plaza Line 3 1/2" Had this one for 2 years from Christmas Present. Sharpens well.

OMG...the sizes are stamped on the BLADE..LOL I never noticed that..

Now to compare for me, but I'm not much of a "paring" knife user. The 2 3/4 is a bit to short and feels odd to me..but I'm not used to it either. The MM will cut an average size apple in half with one "slice". The Henkel is to short.
So I guess if he really wants "small detail" work..shorter is better.

Lizzy :
I have different brand knives. The carbon steel work best for me BUT
I use a Chef's knife made in Japan , most of the time.

When in Lowes, I saw a board display of Knives.
I bought a Paring Knife, which I use often.
I even got a Veterans Discount.

They had some nice looking knives.

If a knife sharpens easily , I get rid of it.
A good knife don't Sharpen easily.
I use a Steel and a Ceramic knife sharpener, to touch up.

Lou

BusyLizzy, a few years ago I got Christy this set of Henckels paring knives. I comes in it's own little block. We both love the whole set and actually keep the block on the table. The birds beak in this set is the smallest and the blade is only 2 inches. Then the two other paring knives. And last but not least is a nice serrated knife with a blade that's 5 inches long. I thought it would be too small for much but I find myself using it for most of my bread cutting as well as tomatoes and such. I really can't say enough about this little set. The link shows the whole block but this other link here shows the three smaller knives.

http://www.amazon.com/Henckels-International-3-Piece-Paring-Multicolored/dp/B00068P9J8/ref=pd_sim_k_2

Btw, the pic of the block set is very light. The handles are darker, more like the other pics you see of the knives.

Here is a link that might be useful: Henckels Block Paring Knife Set

Busylizzy - you mentioned also a bread knife. I absolutely adore my Forschner serrated bread knife #40040. I learned about it from Cook's Illustrated magazine - here's an exerpt:

In contrast to a chefâÂÂs knife, which works best when its straight edge is pushed through food, a serrated knife relies on a slicing motion in which the blade is dragged across the foodâÂÂs surface as it moves down through it. To excel in our testing, the serrations had to exert just the right amount of grip on the foodâÂÂs surface. In the past, weâÂÂve found that scalloped edges (also known as reverse serrations) provide too little grip, skidding before biting in; the one model of this type we included in our lineup lived down to this expectation. Pointed serrations, on the other hand, needed to be just the right size--too long and they had too much grip, snagging and tearing at the soft interiors of the bread, cake, and sandwich; too small and they were ineffectual on the tougher tasks.

But itâÂÂs not just point size that matters in a serrated knife; blade size is equally important. Blades shorter than 10 inches just couldnâÂÂt cut across larger foods like 9-inch cake rounds or big loaves of bread without getting lost inside. We were excited about a 14-inch knife, but while its serrations did every task exceptionally well, it was just too much knife--we kept bumping into objects at the back of the counter as we worked on the cutting board.

We found that for a knife to be a great all-purpose tool that excelled at cutting bread and soft, ripe tomatoes as well as cake layers and gooey sticky- bun dough, it needed three main traits: a slightly flexible blade between 10 and 12 inches long, with serrations that are both uniformly spaced and moderate in length.

What I love about the Forschner knife is its versatility. I can slice pot roast perfectly, which otherwise tends to have crumbly texture and fall apart with a straight-edged knife, or cut tomatoes easily, and of course bread. The country-style bread that has a hard crust and soft insides would be hard to slice without dragging and pulling on the fluffy insides, but this Forschner knife slices it beautifully. It's the right price too. The idea that you have to spend $$$ on a knife isn't really accurate.

It also has a rosewood handle. It is 10-1/4" long, and will look really great and substantial as a gift.

Here is a link that might be useful: Forschner 40040 Knife at Amazon

Although normally I'm in favor of the gift itself rather than a certificate, you might consider that for a knife, or a shopping trip together. A knife can be pretty personal. For example, hands are so different a knife which is comfortable for one won't be comfortable for another.

While I normally would prefer something other than a polypropylene handle, I have found for some tasks it's wonderful because of its non-slip properties. For a fish filleting knife, I wouldn't want anything else.

Carol

I have the forged Wustof bird's beak & it's wonderful for certain small tasks but my go-to small knife is their regular shaped paring knife, about 3" I think.

A knife that has surprised me in its usefulness is a 12", granton-type, round tip slicer from a restaurant supply store that cost about $20. I bought it for cutting tea sandwiches and don't recall using it for crusty loaves, but it's wonderful for anything that requires a neat slice.