Please help picking gyuto for work

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farinata

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Nov 11, 2013
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-LOCATION
-What country are you in?

U.S.

-KNIFE TYPE
-What type of knife are you interested in (e.g., chef’s knife, slicer, boning knife, utility knife, bread knife, paring knife, cleaver)?

240mm Gyuto

-Are you right or left handed?

Right

-Are you interested in a Western handle (e.g., classic Wusthof handle) or Japanese handle?

Western

-What length of knife (blade) are you interested in (in inches or millimeters)?

240

-Do you require a stainless knife? (Yes or no)

Yes

-What is your absolute maximum budget for your knife?

$200

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

Professional

-What are the main tasks you primarily intend to use the knife for (e.g., slicing vegetables, chopping vegetables, mincing vegetables, slicing meats, cutting down poultry, breaking poultry bones, filleting fish, trimming meats, etc.)? (Please identify as many tasks as you would like.)

I do serious amounts of mostly prepwork in a professional kitchen and also cater. I will use this professionally for mostly vegetable and herbs. Tons of veg. Tons. But also slicing and pretty much anything you would use a gyuto for.

-What knife, if any, are you replacing?

Currently using a very old Victorinox Rosewood handle chef knife which I would like to retire to my home kitchen. I have a Mercer from culinary school which I will probably bring back to use as a beater.

-Do you have a particular grip that you primarily use? (Please click on this LINK for the common types of grips.)

Pinch grip.

-What cutting motions do you primarily use? (Please click on this LINK for types of cutting motions and identify the two or three most common cutting motions, in order of most used to least used.)

I honestly use all of them depending on what I’m doing. Less rocking and more drawing these days. But still.. every single one of those. Less “chopping” though since I don’t have a good thin japanese knife currently. I don’t want something with no belly whatsoever. That’s for sure.


-What improvements do you want from your current knife? If you are not replacing a knife, please identify as many characteristics identified below in parentheses that you would like this knife to have.)

-Better aesthetics (e.g., a certain type of finish; layered/Damascus or other pattern of steel; different handle color/pattern/shape/wood; better scratch resistance; better stain resistance)?

Fit and finish is important, as is edge retention. General performace is going to be the most important thing. And something that can hold up to some heavy use (no I don’t mean cutting through bone or anything)

-Comfort (e.g., lighter/heavier knife; better handle material; better handle shape; rounded spine/choil of the knife; improved balance)?

Nothing extreme in either direction. Definitely not a super light knife though.

-Ease of Use (e.g., ability to use the knife right out of the box; smoother rock chopping, push cutting, or slicing motion; less wedging; better food release; less reactivity with food; easier to sharpen)?

All of these things?

-Edge Retention (i.e., length of time you want the edge to last without sharpening)?

Again this is pretty important, but I don’t know how to put a time frame on it.

-KNIFE MAINTENANCE
Do you use a bamboo, wood, rubber, or synthetic cutting board? (Yes or no.)

Yes? I mostly use plastic but also wood.

-Do you sharpen your own knives? (Yes or no.)

Yes. I use the Edge Pro system but I’m not great with it. One thing I'm concerned with is asymmetrical sharpening. I can learn, but something like a 90/10 kind of scares me.

-If not, are you interested in learning how to sharpen your knives? (Yes or no.)

-Are you interested in purchasing sharpening products for your knives? (Yes or no.)
No



-SPECIAL REQUESTS/COMMENTS

I really like my Mac Pro paring knife. Considering a Mac Pro gyuto but that's kind of a safe option. Some other considerations have been Hattori FH, Fugiwara FKM, Akifusa, Hirmoto G3, and the Richmond Artifex. Open to anything though.

Thank you!!
 
Welcome.

I think your listed choices are good.
I like the Hiro G3, and the Mac Mighty is a terrific knife. Also, the Suisin inox is a decent stainless gyuto.
 
I have a hiro g3 suji; very good knife. The other choices are good minus the artifex. The artifex is rather axe-like behind the edge and will feel similar to a meat cleaver out of the box.
 
since you're not going to be doing freehand sharpening, i would go with mac pro, i still keep mine around. would recommend the mac black ceramic honing rod to go with it.
 
Kesshin Kagero? Slightly over the target budget though,,
 
that honing rod is legit.
since you're not going to be doing freehand sharpening, i would go with mac pro, i still keep mine around. would recommend the mac black ceramic honing rod to go with it.
 
I vote the Hattori FH. I've used a few of these over time, and theyre good overall workhorses. They're like a Nenox without the hefty price tag. I think the 240 might be a little out of your price range though. (Currently $255 at JCK)
 
Thanks for the early responses! I'll probably make an introduction thread in the other section because so far the forums seems very cool.

Not into the HHH idea. It's a little too flashy for me right now (although beautiful).

I do already have a ceramic rod - an idahone. I think this is comparable to the Mac one no?

I do like what I see from the Gesshin Kagero. Not a lazer, good edge retention, and the handle doesnt seem so beefy (something I forgot to mention but does bother me on some knives). However Jon, the developer, mentioned somewhere on the other forum I think, that he doesn't recommend any rocking with this knife :/

Glad the Artifex idea is out. I read some things about it afterwards that bugged me anyways.

Still keen on the Hiromoto, the Mac, and the Gesshin if someone can maybe explain the differences between the 3 I would appreciate it dearly.
 
handle on the production HHH will be far more tame (rosewood 1 piece scales with stainless pins) I'm not much into flashy (or westerns or 240's) but I do really like this knife.
 
handle on the production HHH will be far more tame (rosewood 1 piece scales with stainless pins) I'm not much into flashy (or westerns or 240's) but I do really like this knife.

What is the price of the HHH?
 
I think a 270 is too much knife for me at the moment. I could see why it might benefit me with my work, but I'm going to say no. At my other job, the wooden counter we work on is too narrow, and the chef I work with there uses some strange small Tojiro. This would just be excessive for the days I'm there. It wouldn't quite fit the tasks I do there either. I need more versatility in the 240.

Sticking with the 240's, what are going to be the major differences between the HHH, G3, Gesshin, and Mac Pro? Like maybe could someone rank them specifically in terms of thickness and edge retention? Do any of them have a much beefier handle than the others? Do any of them have very little belly?

I'm still confused as to why Jon had said the Gesshin shouldn't be rocked.
 
The MAC Might Chef is grounded symmetrically so it's the easiest to hone with a rod, and will be the easiest to sharpen with an EdgePro system. The Gesshin is somewhat asymmetrical. I've read that the Hiromoto is very asymmetrical, but I'm not 100% certain about it.
 
For all asymmetry questions in relation to the EdgePRO:

http://www.kitchenknifeforums.com/showthread.php/5656-Asymmetry-–-The-REAL-DEAL

That said, the Hiromotos have nowadays a fairly symmetric edge OOTB, except for an asymmetric microbevel on both sides you'll quickly get rid off if you want to. You shouldn't IMHO.
But the major difference with previous batches is that both sides are convexed, with still the left face being much flatter than the more convexed right one, as usual with all good blades.
 
sakai yusuke SS, gessshin ginga ,konosuke HH, grand chef 240
 
You've tried all these? Which do you prefer and why?

Sorry, I only tried the wa handle, not werstern handle, they are pretty similar knives, I prefer sakai yusuke, because it's a little bit cheaper :biggrin:
 
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