Knife Recommendations Requested: Nakiri & Sujihiki

Hi Guys/Gals,
New to the board and tapping into your vast knowledge of Japanese knives for a recommendation for a new Nakiri and Sujihiki. Done a lot of reading up and checking out different blacksmiths, knife designs, types, etc, though would like to hear your feedback.


Some basic information:

LOCATION
- Europe (wondering how relevant is this?)

KNIFE TYPE

• Looking for a Vegetable knife and protein slicer
• Right handed
• Japanese handle preferred
• Slicer ~270mm; Vegetable ~ 170mm
• Stainless steel not required, perfer harder steel
• Max budget, around $500 per knife

KNIFE USE
• Amateur kitchen environment
o Veggies: slicing, dicing, mincing etc
o Protein: cutting/slicing/breakdown

• Replacements:
o Veggy: A Chinese stainless steel Nakiri
o Protein: do not have a designated knife

• Grip: Pinch grip
• Cutting Motions: Rock, Slice, Chop
• Improvement to current set: replacing current knife, Japanese handles, better edge retention, harder steel.(function over decoration!)

KNIFE MAINTENANCE
• Cutting board: bamboo & synthetic
• Sharpen own knives (Yes, Naniwa Stones)

Nakiri
http://www.japanesenaturalstones.com/itinomonn-kasumi-180mm-wa-nakiri/
http://www.japanesenaturalstones.com/toyama-noborikoi-kasumi-nakiri-210mm/

Slicer/Suji
http://www.japanesenaturalstones.com/itinomonn-kasumi-300mm-wa-sujihiki/
http://www.japanesenaturalstones.com/toyama-noborikoi-kasumi-sujihiki-270mm/

Butcher
http://www.japanesenaturalstones.com/itinomonn-kurouchi-170mm-wa-butcher/

JNS is in EU and a trustworthy seller of quality knives. These are just knives currently in stock. There are other options of course but this is a decent starting point.

Cheers :thumbsup:

Welcome to the forum Zweber.

Location is relevent in that it can help ease the purchasing process. Since you're in Europe I would not recommend a knife from a US retailer. Between shipping, duties, VAT you would have to pay at least 2x the retail cost of the knife. USPS does not do international well.

I would recommend without hesitation products from JNS. We've recently had a couple of AU based retailers join the forum and while I'm not familiar with their offerings I would certainly look there as well. If you had very specific requirements I would suggest an off-forum retailer if our sponsoring retailers did not meet that requirement.

Good luck in your search.

Second the vote for JNS, but I will also mention Watanabe. I ordered a 180mm nikiri which I should have any day. An upgrade from my 165mm.