Need a good Chef's knife/Gyuto. Please Advise!

Kitchen Knife Forums

Help Support Kitchen Knife Forums:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

ElCapitan77

Member
Joined
Jul 26, 2013
Messages
5
Reaction score
0
Hello everyone. I am new to the forum and looking for some advice on my upcoming knife purchase. Besides the below information, some details:
I love long slender Japanese knives, the look, the feel, and I am a sucker for Damascus steel. This is not to say I would be unhappy with a western style knife, but all other things equal, I would rather be pulling a katana out of my knife block than a longsword.
A chef friend of mine recommended Vanadium for the blade. It was in passing though so he did not specify why. Opinions?
I don't know if my stone is good enough for the calibre of knife I want to get. Picked it up at the local store for $20 so I wouldn't be cutting with complete scheiBe. It is a Norton "India Oil Stone". It has no grit numbers, but says IB8 (I don't know what that means, if anything).

LOCATION
US



KNIFE TYPE
Chef's knife or similar Japanese style like Gyuto or Deba

Are you right or left handed?
Right

Are you interested in a Western handle or Japanese handle?
Slight preference to Japanese, but either would work fine

What length of knife are you interested in ?
200 to 240

Do you require a stainless knife?
No

What is your absolute maximum budget for your knife?
$250



KNIFE USE
Do you primarily intend to use this knife at home or a professional environment?
Home

What are the main tasks you primarily intend to use the knife for?
This is going to be my main knife. I will use it for everything except bread and cheese.

What knife, if any, are you replacing?
My ex-girlfriend got the midrange Henkel in the breakup

Do you have a particular grip that you primarily use?
Exclusively pinch grip

What cutting motions do you primarily use?
Push cut, rock, and slice.

What improvements do you want from your current knife?

Better aesthetics?
Would be cool, but not a requirement.

Comfort?
Second to quality of blade.

Ease of Use?
I don't mind working on a knife to keep it like new, but I don't want to need to baby it or do anything esoteric or unusual to maintain it. This will be used in every meal I cook until I replace it. (10 years?)

Edge Retention?
About a month between sharpenings.


KNIFE MAINTENANCE
Do you use a bamboo, wood, rubber, or synthetic cutting board?
Wood and synthetic

Do you sharpen your own knives?
Yes, but I am not overly practiced or learned on the subject.

If not, are you interested in learning how to sharpen your knives?
Yes.

Are you interested in purchasing sharpening products for your knives?
If that is what it takes to keep it nice and sharp. I already have a stone, but I don't know if it is good enough for the kind of knife I am going to buy.
 
Greetings and welcome to the forum! Sounds like you may be in line for a Tanaka damascus, you could get the blue steel version and have enough leftover for a water-stone (will be much more efficient at sharpening harder steel).
 
I'd go with something stainless if you want to only sharpen once month. The fujiwara nishiji I just tried as a passarounds might be up your alley. Check it out!
 
Gesshin Uraku 210 or 240 wa gyuto.

It's a Japanese handled knife, well within your price range, durable, good edge retention, comes with a saya, and will allow you to purchase a stone within your budget.
 
Gesshin Uraku 210 or 240 wa gyuto.

It's a Japanese handled knife, well within your price range, durable, good edge retention, comes with a saya, and will allow you to purchase a stone within your budget.

For home use I too like the Gesshin Uraku for all these reasons Mhlee mentioned + Quality octagon buff. horn wa handle.real kanji instead of stamped & ease of sharpening,not hard to raise a burr.It is not a fancy knife,but honest wt. good geometry,workhorse blade.
 
Gesshin Uraku 210 or 240 wa gyuto.

It's a Japanese handled knife, well within your price range, durable, good edge retention, comes with a saya, and will allow you to purchase a stone within your budget.

I have to agree with this. I have tried the gesshin uraku knives and i think they are an amazing deal. The fit and finish on them is amazing and they come with a saya so the total package feels like a lot more than at should at their price point. I would recommend these to anyone.
 
"Get a konasuke (sic)"

Care to elaborate?

Uraku is nice, as mentioned. A 210mm Yoshikane SKD (closer to 220 handle-to-tip) would come within budget, excellent geometry, tough steel, good edge retention, easy to sharpen.
 
I'd go with something stainless if you want to only sharpen once month. The fujiwara nishiji I just tried as a passarounds might be up your alley. Check it out!

This doesn't make any sense. This knife is stainless clad and has nothing to do with sharpening frequency. The steel is probably white 1 which is a fine steel but not stain resistant. That said, I agree with the Uraku recommendations. I like mine a lot. Hiro AS is not a great knife without considerable TLC right out of the box, IMO.
 
If you can put an edge on a knife check out a 240 carbonext gyuto. It's a fantastic blade at a at a great price. They are over at Japanese chef knives.

Or you can grab a 240 gesshin kagero gyuto from Japanese Knife Imports. Such a strong knife for the money with great edge retention. Jon, the owner, will happily put a and put a killer out-of-the-box-edge on it too, if you ask him :)

GL with the purchase.
 
Hey, Thanks for all the great advice and sorry for falling off the face of the earth after asking my question. I unfortunately am going to have to put off the knife purchase for a bit, as money has tightened up. In the mean time, I will be reading and learning.
 
Back
Top