Looking For Something New

First let me give you a little history. I go way back to the days of FoodieForums circa 2004/05 (which I'm not sure what happened to, anyone have any info on that?) and have owned a mind boggling collection of knives ranging from Blazen to Nenohi Honyaki Yanagibas to Hattori KDs and everything in between. Now for the last 3-4 years I haven't really kept up with things in the J knife world but I see the market has exploded into something we would have only dreamed of back in 2004.

So with that being said, I'm again in the market for something "new".

My current user knives consist of a 240MM Ikeda Gyuto and a Ichimonji 240MM Gyuto (which is pretty much the same deal as the Ikeda but has different kanji). I also use a Blazen 150mm Petty and a 210 Kikuichi TKC (the poor man's KD...as it was once known) and for some reason lately I keep grabbing my wife's Shun Santoku.


What I am looking for is a 180mm (give or take) STAINLESS Santoku style knife, preferably over 2 inches tall, but 2 inches at the very least. The knife must have NO FLEX in the blade (obviously all knives have some flex if you try hard enough but I mean the Hattori "forum knives" for instance have too much flex for my liking, and the Blazen have little to no flex which for me is a good thing...so we are talking relative here).

Now I could go out and buy an Ikeda or Blazen Santoku and know exactly what I'm getting, but I am wondering if there is something a little more unique in that price range ($250-$300) with the features I mentioned. The main things being STAINLESS and NO FLEX and the 2 inch height being secondary (ideally I would like to have all three though).

Thanks for any recommendation that you think might fit the bill here. I'd try and go through all the different stuff out there myself but it seems a bit overwhelming right now... :beatinghead:

You'd have to ask Koki about height and stiffness, but I'm thinking Itou or Saji at JCK. If semistainless is acceptable, Heiji might fit the bill. There don't seem to be that many interesting santoku out there.

I have to say, I lusted over your collection back in the day. So wishing I had the cash for one of the sakimaru you're selling.

dmccurtis said:

You'd have to ask Koki about height and stiffness, but I'm thinking Itou or Saji at JCK. If semistainless is acceptable, Heiji might fit the bill. There don't seem to be that many interesting santoku out there.

I have to say, I lusted over your collection back in the day. So wishing I had the cash for one of the sakimaru you're selling.

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Yeah the Itou would probably be a fit but a little on the expensive side.. probably over $400 now for one of those. I'll check out the Saji, and maybe drop Koki a line.

Heiji, I use a 210mm at home and I love it! You might ask Jon to order you one, or if you don't mind Kuro Uchi finish Japan tool has a couple of 180mm semi stainless santokus in stock at the moment

If you are looking for a fairly new brand, might want to check out Zanmai knives. Got into the kitchen knife making business a littler over 3 or 4 years ago, but mainly produced scissors (Silky) and pocket knives (MCusta). Looking at the santokus they have about 2inces in height at the heel on the knife only, so towards the middle it goes to about 1.7 inches. Id recommend the Hybrid VG10 series or the Supreme Hammered Series as the hammered series are a bit more thicker so quite solid with no flex. Plus they have some of the best handles in my opinion

http://www.zanmai-japan.com/
http://www.zanmai-japan.com/products/zanmai_hammeredripple.html

Second for Heiji 210 SS Santoku. "So" has both normal and thin versions available right now. Both are in KU though.
Mine is 50mm tall, and so should these.

http://www.japan-tool.com/zc/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=30_34&products_id=265
http://www.japan-tool.com/zc/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=30_34&products_id=266

Don't know of purely SS knives, but if you can live for carbon in SS clad then I could name two decent options: Itinomonn and Watanabe. Price is around 200$, height is around 2 inches. I haven't noticed any flex on Watanabe and have a feeling that Itinomonn doesn't has any flex either, but you'd better check it with Maxim or other Itinomonn owners.

Core of Watanabe's knives is less reactive then V2 used by Itinomonn. I have two Watanabe knives in our home kitchen and they are our favorites.

Yet another option is Takamura. Those are crazy thin and pretty much SS. I have a 180mm gyuto and there's just a VERY minor flex in it. So you might also want to check them.

I think the newest stainLess Itinomonn gyuto would be my recommendation. And its under 200 dollar. I would also recommend the sanmai v2 with wesrern handle if you like the santuko shape. It is a gyuto but the shape is santuko like and its an extremely good knife. The v2 core patina easily and havn't caused me any problems with smell,food discoloration or rust. I really like Itionomonn knives.

Nice to see you back again, Bruce. It's been too long.
Korin's got the Glestain at around $135, if you don't mind a bit softer steel.

Von blewitt said:

Heiji, I use a 210mm at home and I love it! You might ask Jon to order you one, or if you don't mind Kuro Uchi finish Japan tool has a couple of 180mm semi stainless santokus in stock at the moment

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I'll have look... thanks

osakajoe said:

If you are looking for a fairly new brand, might want to check out Zanmai knives. Got into the kitchen knife making business a littler over 3 or 4 years ago, but mainly produced scissors (Silky) and pocket knives (MCusta). Looking at the santokus they have about 2inces in height at the heel on the knife only, so towards the middle it goes to about 1.7 inches. Id recommend the Hybrid VG10 series or the Supreme Hammered Series as the hammered series are a bit more thicker so quite solid with no flex. Plus they have some of the best handles in my opinion

http://www.zanmai-japan.com/
http://www.zanmai-japan.com/products/zanmai_hammeredripple.html

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very interesting, never saw them before... very cool handles

icanhaschzbrgr said:

Yet another option is Takamura. Those are crazy thin and pretty much SS. I have a 180mm gyuto and there's just a VERY minor flex in it. So you might also want to check them.

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I was seriously considering one of these.... thanks for the input

ecchef said:

Nice to see you back again, Bruce. It's been too long.
Korin's got the Glestain at around $135, if you don't mind a bit softer steel.

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Thanks, it has been too long. Those Glestians at that price are hard to beat.

KimBronnum said:

I think the newest stainLess Itinomonn gyuto would be my recommendation. And its under 200 dollar. I would also recommend the sanmai v2 with wesrern handle if you like the santuko shape. It is a gyuto but the shape is santuko like and its an extremely good knife. The v2 core patina easily and havn't caused me any problems with smell,food discoloration or rust. I really like Itionomonn knives.

Click to expand...

+1

I consider Itinomonn equivalent to a Shigefusa, at around 1/2--1/3 the price. Beautifully ground, impeccable fit and finish---with stainless cladding to boot.