Newbie question for Japanese knives

Hello All, hoping for a little help/direction here. I currently have/use a couple of Wusthof knives in my kitchen and use a couple of King waterstones....I am thinking of getting some Japanese single bevel knives for the kitchen. I am an amateur cook, so these are for home use only, I am fine with sharpening and maintenance, and I really like the rustic look (Ho wood handles, etc),. I have seen some online, but I have no frame of reference for whats any good....does anyone have any recommendations on some Japanese style, single beveled, ho wood handled knives...say at or below $200 per knife? If it can't be done, then I fully understand...wasn't sure if that pricing was too low for home quality knives.

Brian

Opps, just saw this part, so adding to avoid getting the dirty looks

LOCATION
USA



KNIFE TYPE
What type of knife are you interested in CHEF, SLICER BONING, PARING, VEGETBALE

Are you right or left handed? RIGHT

Are you interested in a Western handle (e.g., classic Wusthof handle) or Japanese handle? JAPANESE HANDLE

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

Do you require a stainless knife? (Yes or no) NO

What is your absolute maximum budget for your knife? $200



KNIFE USE
Do you primarily intend to use this knife at home or a professional environment? 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.) MEAT PREP< DEBONING< VEGETABLES< FISH

What knife, if any, are you replacing?

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



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)? HO WOOD HANDLES< CARBON STEEL, HAMMERED OK<

Comfort (e.g., lighter/heavier knife; better handle material; better handle shape; rounded spine/choil of the knife; improved balance) DEPENDS ON STYLE OF KNIFE

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)? A WEEK OR TWO



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

Do you sharpen your own knives? (Yes or no.) YES

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.)



SPECIAL REQUESTS/COMMENTS LOOKING FOR A BRAND THAT I CAN BUY A CHEFS, VEGETABLE DEBONING< AND MAYBE SASHIMI KNIFE FROM< PREFER ALL FROM ONE BRAND

Brian, if you fill out the "which knife should I buy questionnaire" you'll likely get answers tailored to your needs. I personally don't know enough about single bevel knives to give you a good answer to your question but wish you luck finding something you like.

Never used the Gesshin Uraku series, so take it with a grain of salt. However, based on other members' opinions and your budget, i would get something from the Gesshin Uraku series at JKI. For instance https://www.japaneseknifeimports.co...products/gesshin-uraku-240mm-white-2-yanagiba

Marcelo Amaral said:

Never used the Gesshin Uraku series, so take it with a grain of salt. However, based on other members' opinions and your budget, i would get something from the Gesshin Uraku series at JKI. For instance https://www.japaneseknifeimports.co...products/gesshin-uraku-240mm-white-2-yanagiba

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Thanks for the advise, I will search the forum for others opinions on this brand as they look to have what I am looking for. If others can add to this brand I would love to hear it...I am a fan for the "buy once, cry once" for quality, but do have a smaller budget so any other suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks so much for the quick responses so far, and sorry for not attaching the questionnaire at my first pass.

I would also recommend the gesshin uraku yanagiba if you are looking at getting a yanagi. Or perhaps give Jon a call at JKI and chat with him about it.

Might want to stay away from single bevels just starting out in Japanese knives. They are pretty purpose specific and have a larger learning curve. Plenty of thin rustic double bevel Japanese knives out there that will be quite different from your Wusthofs. Based on most of your criteria take a look at these Murata knives at Epicurean Edge for some smaller knives or this gyuto from JKI. Jon at JKI is an active participant on the forum and has lots of great advice for people just getting into Japanese knives. :thumbsup:

Castalia said:

Might want to stay away from single bevels just starting out in Japanese knives. They are pretty purpose specific and have a larger learning curve. Plenty of thin rustic double bevel Japanese knives out there that will be quite different from your Wusthofs. Based on most of your criteria take a look at these Murata knives at Epicurean Edge for some smaller knives or this gyuto from JKI. Jon at JKI is an active participant on the forum and has lots of great advice for people just getting into Japanese knives. :thumbsup:

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I'm with Castalia. I don't see anything on your list that a single bevel would be an improvement for you. Single bevels are really designed for those that specialize Japanese cuisine over other types of cooking.

The most inexpensive single bevels that are still authentic in build would probably be Tojiro shirogami (blade road finish looks kind of nontraditional though) series, or Nakagoshi. Messing with these myself, they are as people predicted here between the lines: OK but not perfect, but perfect to learn the limitations.

Brian, Finally one who spells it right.

A quick dump here. It is said better in other places, among them on ZKnives, an encyclopedic description of different Japanese knives http://zknives.com/knives/kitchen/misc/usetype/all/index.shtml and a shorter version on the JKI website discussing Japanese Knives https://www.japaneseknifeimports.com/pages/about-japanese-knives. There are probably others as well. Mine is the reader's digest version.

The Japanese chef knife is called Gyuto. For all practical purposes it is a double bevel knife that is quite versatile in the kitchen. 210 - 240 are the most common lengths for home cooks. They come in various stainless formulations, stainless clad stainless, stainless clad carbon, and carbon.

"Vegetable" knives come in either single bevel, the Usaba, or double bevel, the Nakiri. The Usaba is all about technique, peeling, precision slicing. It is used by professionals working in Japanese cuisine and played with by knife geeks who have more money than sense. The Nakiri is much more versatile for day to day vegetable work and is much better suited for home use.

Slicers also come in two flavors, the single bevel Yanagiba (so called "Sushi" knife) and the double bevel Sujihiki. Again the single bevel is more specialized, primarily used for slicing fish but it does have some application for the home user. The double bevel Suji will meet the needs of most home cooks for a slicer and can be readily used to portion chicken, pork, beef or fish. You may have one of these packaged away with a carving fork that comes out at Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Suggest you consider dropping some coin on a Gyuto first. Approx 300 bucks is a sweet spot for me but good ones can be found in the 200 range. The recommended Uraku is a very good value and would be a good choice.

For the veg knife suggest the Nakiri vice the Usaba. I thnk the Uraku line has one, another good one is Intinomonn, my favorite and well liked across this forum is the Watanabe Professional, stainless clad blue (?) carbon.

For the slicer the best answer is both a single bevel Yani AND a double bevel Suji. If that's not in the cards right now think about the amount of fish you prepare compared to other proteins. And there is no reason you have to buy all of these at once, in fact I would encourage you not to.

I'll throw another vote to forgetting single bevels and starting with a gyuto (i.e. chef's knife). Japaneseknifeimports.com has a good selection of low cost knives like the Uraku, though I *personally* would probably consider the Gonbei line myself as Jon has mentioned it is slightly thinner behind the edge. Another low cost but higher performer would be a Tanaka from metalmaster in VG10, either the wide bevel or damascus version. If you chop I would go with the wide bevel for the greater weight, if you only slice go with the damascus for the thinness. Last, but probably my favorite in this price range, the Itinomonn from japanesenaturalstones.com. All of the ones I've owned have been great, their 90mm parer is the best I've used.

EDIT: almost forgot - the Ikazuchi at JKI is very nice item also

Thanks everyone, you have been very helpful and given some great resources....will review and try to make a decision Good to note on the single vs double bevel....I may have to re-assess my previous criteria. I have to say, that I like to use forums like this to try and get the opinions of real users, and I am impressed with how quickly people responded and how helpful everyone was...thanks again!

Brian (the correct spelling )

This. http://www.kitchenknifeforums.com/showthread.php?t=28367

A bit of a budget stretch but you'll have the nicest knife in your zip code.

brianb said:

Good to note on the single vs double bevel....I may have to re-assess my previous criteria.

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You might also want to consider that not all double bevel Japanese knives are the same. Some are 50/50 but many are 60/40, 70/30, 80/20, 90/10. It depends on the manufacturer. Western knives are usually a symmetric 50/50. An asymmetrical knife is a bit more complicated to sharpen but there are online tutorials. The reason for a single bevel yanagiba is to make clean aesthetically pretty slices. For an all purpose chef's knife, a gyuto, if you want an unusual bevel, you're looking at asymmetry instead.