$250 Chef knife

As a follow on to my other post about the Global Chinese cleaver, I'm wondering - if I do get to return, and get a full refund on my cleaver, rather than a credit note, I'll have about £200 to spend on a knife.
As I'm in the UK, and if I'd need something imported, so there could be import duty to pay, that brings down the amount I have available to circa £160 ($230 approx).

What should I be looking at, if I were to go down the route of a 25" Chef knife, and where would I buy it?
Bear in mind - chances are I wouldn't be able to test it out as shops selling high end chef knives are pretty scare where I live - the extent of what I have locally are Globals, IO Shen, Yaxell, Kai Shun, Dick, and maybe some others eg Zwilling, Henckels, Whustoff - that kind of thing - nothing that exotic anyway.

Keeping it sharp is another question, for another post (and I dare say has probably been covered elsewhere on here anyway).

Re: how it will be used.

Primarily for cutting vegetables - though likely for preparing the odd bit of meat here and there too, though currently, I don't do any real butcher-type prep of large pieces of meat - I just prepare cuts from the supermarket, so nothing too specialised.
Veg prep is really about 99% of what I'd use it for. (Hence my interest in a cleaver...)

Any guidance on this would really be appreciated - so thanks in advance if any of you give me your time to advise me on some options.

Cheers!

I don't think you need a 25 inch chef's knife. I would stick to something around 240mm.

As you are in the UK, I would recommend taking a look at JNS. Shipping is free if you buy for more than 1000DKK and there is no import duty as it's within EU.

Itinomonn is a great knife to get you down the rabbit hole.

DamageInc said:

I don't think you need a 25 inch chef's knife. I would stick to something around 240mm.

As you are in the UK, I would recommend taking a look at JNS. Shipping is free if you buy for more than 1000DKK and there is no import duty as it's within EU.

Itinomonn is a great knife to get you down the rabbit hole.

Click to expand...

ROFL - sorry I meant 10" chef knife - I think my current, but cheapo chef knife is 25cm...

Do you get hit with VAT charges if you buy from EU?

Not upon import, but at purchase. If you take a look at the prices listed on the page I linked, you will pay the price that's with VAT as you are within EU. But that's it. No shipping charges, no import duty. What you see is what you pay.

Ideal - that knife you listed looks interesting - nothing too flashy - but it does have a japanese style handle, which I'm not familiar with.
I couldn't tell from the website what steel construction is used in the Itinomons.
Any ideas?

It's a san mai blade. The core is V2 steel as I recall and it's laminated in stain-less steel, which means stain resistant, not fully stainless.

Don't worry about a Japanese handle, you get used to it immediately and it's loads better than slippery Global handles.

So - it turns out I can get a full refund on my Chinese Cleaver.
So, my search for a knife really starts in earnest.

Any other suggestions?

LOCATION
What country are you in? UK



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)? CHEF KNIFE

Are you right or left handed? RIGHT

Are you interested in a Western handle (e.g., classic Wusthof handle) or Japanese handle? NOT SURE - have mainly used western style handles - most exotic being Global.

What length of knife (blade) are you interested in (in inches or millimeters)? 10"

Do you require a stainless knife? (Yes or no) NOT SURE though likely stainless, or clad.

What is your absolute maximum budget for your knife? £210



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

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.) 95% time for slicing/chopping veg - and occasional meat prep - but no real butchery - just prepping from supermarket bought portions of meat.

What knife, if any, are you replacing? Cheapo 25cm Chef knife and Global 20cm Chef

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

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.)
PUSH CUT, SLICE, CHOP, DRAW, WALK

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.)
Sharper, better edge retention, less food sticking. Better comfort - ie no/less blisters.

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)?

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

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)?

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



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

Do you sharpen your own knives? (Yes or no.) YES - though still a beginner.

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.) MAYBE - need a 1000 grade waterstone - already have a 6000 Ice Bear.



SPECIAL REQUESTS/COMMENTS

If you want to use high end Japanese knives, you may want to lay off of the board walking. My rec is still Itinomonn.

So - a few others I've seen that look as though they may give DamageInc's Itinomonn a run for their money...
I'm starting a list to try and figure out what to get.

Itinomonn Wa Gyuto StainLess Kasumi (£199)
Anryu Blue #2 Hammered Gyuto 240mm (£183)
Munetoshi Kurouchi Gyuto 240mm (White Steel) (£185)
Yu Kurosaki Blue Super Cladd Kurouchi 240mm (£185)

Any thoughts on the above?
Any others I should be adding on the list here at a similar price point?

(ps a couple of the above are sold at japana.uk - anyone on here used them before?)

Never used the Anryu, Munetoshi or Kurosaki, but the Itinomonn sounds like a great knife to start. You also said you needed a 1k sharpening stone. The one i like most i also sold by JNS the 1k Matukusuyama http://www.japanesenaturalstones.com/jns-1000-matukusuyama/

You can get a custom heiji gyuto for around $230, but the wait time is about 4 months

Heiji Gyuto? That's a new one for me - do you mean a Gesshin Heiji Gyuto?

Ludwig said:

Heiji Gyuto? That's a new one for me - do you mean a Gesshin Heiji Gyuto?

Click to expand...

You can order direct from the knife maker, in which case it is simply a Heiji Gyuto. A Gesshin Heiji Gyuto essentially is a higher standards Heiji made to meet the specs of California knife-guru Jon Broida at Japanese Knife Imports. Heiji's (including Gesshin Heiji's) are hefty knives, although thin behind the edge. This means they can wedge in certain foods -- e.g., carrots -- but they also have the weight and food release geometry to drop though other foods.

I am loving my Gesshin Heiji 240mm Wa-Gyuto.

I see - yeah I found Heiji's site.
There really seems to be an abundance of apparently, real quality knives at this price point.
Incredibly tough to pin down what to get...

For the similar price you can also get a Watanabe Pro directly from him. Google Watanabe knives and you will find his site.

I think Watanabe are much better cutters than Heiji and usually he has them in stock so no need to wait 4 months. They are also hefty knives but very thin behind the edge.

Another name to add to my list - Watanabe - cheers for the suggestion krx927...

Since you are in the EU, Toyama might be a consideration over Watanabe, as you won't have to pay for shipping or import on the Toyama and the knives are rather similar both looks and performance-wise.

The Itinomonn (semi)-stainless is an underated beast. Slightly more difficult to sharpen than the carbon core knives listed, but gets plenty sharp and is tough to boot. You can take it to a low angle/thin behind the edge and not have to baby it (rock chopping with it is a non issue).

I personally like the profile, lends itself well to slicing and push cutting.

DamageInc said:

Since you are in the EU, Toyama might be a consideration over Watanabe, as you won't have to pay for shipping or import on the Toyama and the knives are rather similar both looks and performance-wise.

Click to expand...

Indeed they are pretty similar. But you can also get Watanabe from Japan directly for almost same price...

Even with shipping and import duties to the UK? If so, cool.

So - another vote for the Itinomonn.
Thanks for the input Tim...

DamageInc said:

Even with shipping and import duties to the UK? If so, cool.

Click to expand...

indeed!

Which Watanabe are we talking about here? The Pro 240mm?
From his site, it looks like this Gyuto is circa £217 (current conversion from XE).
His shipping is £16.60.
How much would customs be for that? Any ideas?
And for that sort of money, what can I expect for a Watanabe?
Lol is there a general hierarchy of quality in these japanese knives?
Eg Shigefusa>Watanabe>Anryu>Initomonn etc?
Or is this really just a subjective thing?

+ 20% VAT
+ 8.5% customs duty
+ delivery service holding fee

If you're unlucky.

There is no hierarchy of "quality" per se. Shigefusa are very sought after. Watanabe is a forum stalwart.

Another one I've put on my list...

Konosuke Fujiyama White #2 Gyuto 240mm

How does this stack up with the rest of them?
I might end up trying to do a poll on these, see what people think, assuming polls can be done on here...

Here's my full list so far.

Itinomonn Wa Gyuto Stainless Kasumi
Anryu Blue #2 Hammered Gyuto 240mm
Munetoshi Kurouchi Gyuto 240mm
Yu Kurosaki Blue Super Cladd Kurouchi 240mm
Kajiwara Damascus Gyuto 240mm
Yoshimitsu White #1 Gyuto
Watanabe Gyuto
Konosuke Fujiyama White #2 Gyuto 240mm