Gyuto vs Sujihiki

Hey there KKF,

A question has been on my mind as of late, and I figured it is about time I asked.

Is there much of a performance difference from a good sujihiki and good gyuto?

I'm aware of the obvious height difference, but the geometries must be similar, correct? I'd imagine it must be more pronounced on a (thicker) sujihiki, but other than reduced stiction (from less height), is their any other reason to choose a suji over a gyuto for slicing chores? (other than to have more knives )

I've been trying to wrap my brains around this one :scratchhead: ,
Andrew23

depends on the task. I don't care to skin fillets of fish or portion most raw protein with a chefs knife if I can avoid it. I do not care at all for cleaning protein with chefs knives (silver skin/fat, cosmetic rounding of edges etc). I guess come to think of it the suji is really my go to knife for breaking down raw proteins, along with a boning knife or a western deba depending if it is pork or beef or fish. oh and can't forget bonesaws for our cloven hoofed friends... fun! but I digress.


I am pretty well firmly of the belief that anyone dicing onions with a suji is just trying to show off. Show off what? I'm not exactly sure.

another thought; I don't like 270 gyutos, they feel weird. My suji occupies that nice 270mm spot though where you can slice through stuff in one clean motion yadda yadda. But I only ever pull it out if I want a little slice of sashimi or am fabricating proteins. I don't think it's an appropriate knife at all for fruit/vegetables, except peeling big stuff - think pineapple. I could see that working pretty good.

So spoiledbroth, what's your preffered length fora gyuto then?

I suppose the shorter blade allwos you to get closer with the protiens...

Commonly at work we clean racks of lamb with gyutos on the line. It's still a little fumbly for me.

Are sujis as assymetrical as gyutos commonly or more like honesukis?

The height of blade should not be overlooked. Knuckle clearance is pretty important I think for general cutting. I do like sujis though, if you use the edge of the board to avoid knuckle hits its works a treat on many tasks perhaps not designed for, potatoes for example.

Only time I use a suji in place of a gyuto is when fabricating proteins or when I already have it out and need just a little bit of onion diced or something, really like the blade height on gyuto's so idk how people use a suji as their main knife.:scratchhead:

I like a 240 Suji during service or during light prep/testing out a dish. Don't like one with a lot of flex for said tasks.

I have both the 300mm Misono Swedish steel gyuto and Suji, so this may be an apples to apples comparison (disclaimer I use at home so ymmv).

The Suji is thinner and more flexible, also less blade height (obvious difference). It has just enough knuckle clearance that you (or at least I) don't smack them on the board. I don't think stiction is the correct term in this context, but since there is less blade surface area per unit of cutting edge length (also thinner blade so the laws of physics are further on your side) there is naturally less resistance when cutting thru something large.

They both have similar edge geometry as far as I can tell (ie not more asymmetric than the other). I'd almost say the Suji is like the gyuto but with about 20mm less height at the heel (40ish vs 60ish). In addition to the other differences already mentioned, the handle is a bit smaller too.

A gyutohiki (or perhaps sujiuto?) would perhaps be a good compromise. I have a 275 Murray Carter HG with about 48mm at the heel, I quite like it.

andrew23 said:

So spoiledbroth, what's your preffered length fora gyuto then?

I suppose the shorter blade allwos you to get closer with the protiens...

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240 for a gyuto. actually on the line I use a 180 just because I have one and it's the cheapest knife I own.

Here's a picture of the three knives I mentioned for a visual, the Suji looks flatter because I don't really have the spine as parallel as I should.

tjangula said:

I have a 275 Murray Carter HG with about 48mm at the heel, I quite like it.

Click to expand...

Livin' the dream. I am deeply moved by the way Carters look. I can see one in my future. Due to the prices it'll be a long way in my future sadly..

Yeah, the Carters sure look nice!
So I take it that sujis height are the major factor in the design that aids in slicing then. I see now.

Height (therefore blade contact area therefore friction) is probably one of the major factors. Perhaps blade thickness too to some extent (the blade pushes the product outwards perpendicular to the blade face, and therefore the product is producing an equal and opposite opposing force; may get interesting when making very thin slices at the edge of a product such as with a yanagi). I would like to see this demonstrated mathematically.

Nice Carter