what do you find to be the best value in a gyuto?

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chinacats

chinacats

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Curious what people have found to be the best value in a gyuto, simple as that. It doesn't matter if it is a $500 Shig, $75 Tanaka, $1k+ Bill Burke custom or a $35 Forschner, but whatever it is it should be the best for the money in your kit. ~how much did it cost and what makes it special? :confusedsign:

Cheers
 
Masamoto KS $300, the best balance of thinness, toughness (ok not so much), weight, great profile and ease of sharpening. Its a classic, there is a reason why its been copied by a number of makers.
 
Gengetsu SS - $390; great handle, very nice distal taper, thin behind the edge, great food release, excellent edge retention...really, just a great knife all around
 
Masamoto and Gengetsu are understandable choices -- but I suppose the question, in this [value] context, is something like whether you really think they are roughly 10 times "better" than, say, a $35 Forschner. I guess you could in fact believe that (assuming you've wielded a Forschner). (Or 4-5 times as good as a bottom of the line Tanaka.)
 
Misono Swedish steel Gyuto from Rakuten $115 for a 240 good F&F ground thin enough. A quick sharpen and some sand paper to smooth out the rough edges and its good to go
 
Yamawaku offers pretty good value for the money. When I searched for cheap shorter guyto a year ago, I ended up with 210 Yamawaku (99$ on Ebay). By this day I haven't seen a knife in this price range that could beat it. What makes Yamawaku awesome is how it cuts. Very nice geometry. Fit and finish are good enough that you won't need sandpaper OOTB. Maker seems to know how to cook properly V2 that it doesn't chip. The only downside I can think of is reactivity.

I gifted that 210 gyuto and get myself a santoku which I reground to something funayuki-looking — it's one of my best cutters. And santoku cost me around 65$ if I'm not mistaken.

EDIT: just found out that 210 guyto is available for 77$ on ebay.
 
JNS Yoshikane SKD-12 Migaki ($245 (2011) iirc)

Nice handle, good fit and finish, sleek profile. Perfect distal taper, stellar grind. A superb cutter with good food release. Tough steel, stays usefully sharp for a very long time.
 
larrybard said:
Masamoto and Gengetsu are understandable choices -- but I suppose the question, in this [value] context, is something like whether you really think they are roughly 10 times "better" than, say, a $35 Forschner. I guess you could in fact believe that (assuming you've wielded a Forschner). (Or 4-5 times as good as a bottom of the line Tanaka.)
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Going by this this logic, Kiwi carbon steel Thai Chefs - £5 ($8) in the Chinese grocery store opposite my apartment. Extremely thin and light, edge holding is reasonable and sharpening is a piece of piss.
 
The Buho line by Murata is superb value, $119 gets you a great 210mm #1 blue steel Kurouchi blade and an hexagonal tinted ho wood handle.
 
Hiromoto AS and G3 series. Some may require a few minutes of work to redress some minor F&F issues. Exceptional steels, not at their highest hardness. Will retain their edge under difficult circumstances. Won't be produced anymore.
 
larrybard said:
Masamoto and Gengetsu are understandable choices -- but I suppose the question, in this [value] context, is something like whether you really think they are roughly 10 times "better" than, say, a $35 Forschner. I guess you could in fact believe that (assuming you've wielded a Forschner). (Or 4-5 times as good as a bottom of the line Tanaka.)
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Different people will find their point of diminishing returns in different places. Most "earth people" think it's nuts to spend $200 on a kitchen knife, I think of that as almost a minimum.

That said my best bang for buck is a 180 Marko petty, best Gyuto value is Yoshikane SKD from Maksim, followed closely by Randy's production 240. Gengetsus (plural) are up there as well.

A knife that is not pleasant to use, for whatever reason, is not a good value regardless of price point.
 
daveb said:
Different people will find their point of diminishing returns in different places. Most "earth people" think it's nuts to spend $200 on a kitchen knife, I think of that as almost a minimum.

A knife that is not pleasant to use, for whatever reason, is not a good value regardless of price point.
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Exactly This.

I was trying to think about this myself and I've come up with two knives and couldn't narrow it any further so thought I'd see what others had to say. Most knives people have listed are ones that I've tried and I certainly understood why they have been picked. Any others?

My 2 in no particular order:
Kochi--lowest price high end cutter I've used to date (240mm was ~$265)
Singatirin--very low price mizu-honyaki blade (I bought one on sale for a few years back...very good quality and on sale now for $345 for 240mm)

I'm not a big fan of one steel type over another, but just noticed these both happen to be in V2.
 
I agree on the Kochi, I have the 210 kurouchi. I got it recently and it got me thinking about what constitutes an almost perfect knife - not in an absolute sense but of its type. It seems to me that more expensive knives could be different with more extensive hand work, nicer handles, more expensive steel, but are they really better. It cuts wonderfully, has great geometry, beautiful kurouchi, sharpens easily to a great edge and I love the way it feels in my hand. I want some fabulous customs and high end Japanese knives, but there's nothing I'd change about the Kochi. At $250 it's a great bargain.
 
Ok if we are talking about pure value I have to change my answer to the $30 cck 1303, garlic/herb/pepper crusher , board scraper and meat tenderizer. And it's pretty comfortable to use on top of it.

Does every thing a forschner does only faster ! as well replaces 10 other kitchen tools.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
icanhaschzbrgr said:
Yamawaku offers pretty good value for the money. When I searched for cheap shorter guyto a year ago, I ended up with 210 Yamawaku (99$ on Ebay). By this day I haven't seen a knife in this price range that could beat it. What makes Yamawaku awesome is how it cuts. Very nice geometry. Fit and finish are good enough that you won't need sandpaper OOTB. Maker seems to know how to cook properly V2 that it doesn't chip. The only downside I can think of is reactivity.

I gifted that 210 gyuto and get myself a santoku which I reground to something funayuki-looking — it's one of my best cutters. And santoku cost me around 65$ if I'm not mistaken.

EDIT: just found out that 210 guyto is available for 77$ on ebay.
Click to expand...

Agreed.

I hate to say it here but the Richmond line is a good bang for the buck.
 
To me it is the 270mm Takeda Gyuto i bought used from a member of KKF. Superb edge retention, price was very good, high heel, sharp. What makes me enjoy it more than other blades though is a balance between sharpness and sturdiness. Although it gives me the carbon sharp feeling, which is very good, its bevel doesn't feel as frail as other carbon knives.
 
With my current preferences it would be something along the lines of Kochi or Itinomonn. But I also agree that those JNS SKD knives were awesome - I have 80mm petty and it just perfect. I wish Maksim still have these available (I understand though why he doesn't).
 
tojiro dp 240mm unbeatable price/quality and stays sharp for a decent amount of time
 
Timthebeaver said:
Going by this this logic, Kiwi carbon steel Thai Chefs - £5 ($8) in the Chinese grocery store opposite my apartment. Extremely thin and light, edge holding is reasonable and sharpening is a piece of piss.
Click to expand...

Some of the best $5 I've ever spent. Kiwis are badass cutters.

If I had to say what I think the "best bang...ahem...pieces" are, off the top of my head, I'd go with:

Yamawaku, Misono Swede, Tanaka, Kochi, Zwilling Kramer.
 
Tanaka ginsan, tosca from JWW, Dojo
 
To me one of the happiest buys I have done is a Gesshin Kagero 240 mm gyuto that I got from Jon. I love its weight, profile, feel in my hand, tapered and polished handle, cutting performance and edge retention. I absolutely love it.
 
I'm on the Tanaka team I guess. The 240 blue damascus was my first Japanese knife and I still reach for it first. I have several others that cost MUCH more, but for the price, the Tanaka is an excellent cutter
 
Overall best gyuto is my masamoto HC 24, but best value is my vintage KN 17 cm in 12c27 for 2$. Gets mad at it for being so good when compering it to more expensiv knifes.
 
I think it's a 4 month wait at the moment. Not too bad
 
All my gyuto are kind of expensive and not extremely awesome values. I've got some awesome value santoku and nakiri and cleavers, but I've not managed to snag a super-bargain gyuto yet.
 
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