moderncooking
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Birch & Bevel 230mm Carbon Gyuto
- Thread starter Gshep91
- Start date
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So with you on the Gen1. I'm fortunate to have most gyuto in the Spåre MCX line, but the first batches remain some of my favorite all around knives.Thank you for the generous review and continued support. It's very nice to read that you have been following the evolution of this knife from its MCX beginnings. The Gen1 MCX is still one of my favourites at home also and Fredrik's super Damascus is some of the best around for sure.
It is on its way to @yummycrackers. Many thanks to @Gshep91 I will post notes soon, but this was a terrific general purpose knife and I appreciated the opportunity to try this!
yummycrackers
Well-Known Member
yummycrackers
Well-Known Member
Comments part 1:
My initial impressions of this upon unboxing is:
1. This feels familiar
2. This is a 230mm?
3. Looks nice.
The familiar feel of it is relative to one of my 210 gyutos. As the weight and choil to tip distance are nearly the same. My 210 is long at about 218mm, and this one is 222mm choil to tip (232mm edge length). The notch and swept back heel really shortens the apparent length in a pinch grip. It is light and nimble at 173.3g with a good balance right about the pinch grip.
I really liked the profile and taper for general use. The spine was 4.1mm at bolster, 3.4mm at heel, 1.9mm at midpoint, and thin at the tip. The profile and shorter apparent length made it good for tip use for something of this edge length. The taper left it feeling thin at the front half and solid in the back third. I thought the 52.5mm height felt right. Overall the profile, taper, spine thickness, weight, balance, height all felt excellent for this length.
I liked the handle, it was 127mm (5”) which is my preferred length. I don’t like long handles. It was comfortable and I liked the bog oak. I haven’t tried bog oak but I think its nice for a black handle. I preferred it to ebony as it has better grip and is lighter.
The choil notch was too small for my finger but the rounded spine and choil edge felt good. I don’t normally notice the choil much in typical light use unless I try to think about it. Trying it against others, I prefer broader rounded choil without the swept back heel.
It had less patina than I expected which is presumably due to the Cr in the steel. Thats a plus for me. The steel sharpened up nicely and it cut well.
My initial impressions of this upon unboxing is:
1. This feels familiar
2. This is a 230mm?
3. Looks nice.
The familiar feel of it is relative to one of my 210 gyutos. As the weight and choil to tip distance are nearly the same. My 210 is long at about 218mm, and this one is 222mm choil to tip (232mm edge length). The notch and swept back heel really shortens the apparent length in a pinch grip. It is light and nimble at 173.3g with a good balance right about the pinch grip.
I really liked the profile and taper for general use. The spine was 4.1mm at bolster, 3.4mm at heel, 1.9mm at midpoint, and thin at the tip. The profile and shorter apparent length made it good for tip use for something of this edge length. The taper left it feeling thin at the front half and solid in the back third. I thought the 52.5mm height felt right. Overall the profile, taper, spine thickness, weight, balance, height all felt excellent for this length.
I liked the handle, it was 127mm (5”) which is my preferred length. I don’t like long handles. It was comfortable and I liked the bog oak. I haven’t tried bog oak but I think its nice for a black handle. I preferred it to ebony as it has better grip and is lighter.
The choil notch was too small for my finger but the rounded spine and choil edge felt good. I don’t normally notice the choil much in typical light use unless I try to think about it. Trying it against others, I prefer broader rounded choil without the swept back heel.
It had less patina than I expected which is presumably due to the Cr in the steel. Thats a plus for me. The steel sharpened up nicely and it cut well.
yummycrackers
Well-Known Member
Some first impressions:
Noticed a bit of stone rash on either side of the heel in direct sunlight (pics below). Other than that, a very nice, nimble knife. I was impressed both with the food release in the rear 2/3rds (at least on larger potato chunks) and with the thinness of the tip. I particularly like the way the tip isn't too tall (similar to a KS/Kamon/etc.), which lets it go through product with less friction. Still feels nice and stiff. Overall, thus far, a very balanced blade with a fantastic handle to boot—one that could easily work as a one-knife-quiver. As many others have said, it does feel on the shorter side for a 230. Not sure I'd want to upgrade to a 250, but further use might influence that.
Noticed a bit of stone rash on either side of the heel in direct sunlight (pics below). Other than that, a very nice, nimble knife. I was impressed both with the food release in the rear 2/3rds (at least on larger potato chunks) and with the thinness of the tip. I particularly like the way the tip isn't too tall (similar to a KS/Kamon/etc.), which lets it go through product with less friction. Still feels nice and stiff. Overall, thus far, a very balanced blade with a fantastic handle to boot—one that could easily work as a one-knife-quiver. As many others have said, it does feel on the shorter side for a 230. Not sure I'd want to upgrade to a 250, but further use might influence that.
moderncooking
KKF Sponsor
Thanks for your thoughts @Justinv I am glad you like it. Regarding the choil, I can say that newer versions of the knife have a deeper for pronounce finger notch.
Overall, it seem like we nailed the knife for your taste. Thanks for taking the time and giving so much detail. Its appreciated.
I’ll hopefully get part 2 of comments out soon. I agree it fit my preferences well for this size, but I rarely reach for anything over 200mm, which is the problem with current offerings!
A 210 B&B that feels like a 190-200mm could be fun
moderncooking
KKF Sponsor
It's been something that we have been considering for a while. I can say that we have a couple of new releases coming soon. Including some stainless offerings. New sizes are likely going to come, but I can't say when at this point.
Passaround is officially over and the knife has been sold to one of the participants!
Hope you all enjoyed this one as much as I did, and hopefully some of you picked up a B&B along the way. @moderncooking and @martinhuber thank you both for all your input, feedback, and openness to ideas during all of this and thank you for the discount for participants.
I’ll very likely be buying a new 250mm for myself soon, depending on what new stuff drops in the coming months.
Catch you all on the next pass around!
Hope you all enjoyed this one as much as I did, and hopefully some of you picked up a B&B along the way. @moderncooking and @martinhuber thank you both for all your input, feedback, and openness to ideas during all of this and thank you for the discount for participants.
I’ll very likely be buying a new 250mm for myself soon, depending on what new stuff drops in the coming months.
Catch you all on the next pass around!
moderncooking
KKF Sponsor
Thank you @Gshep91. I appreciate the opportunity to try this, particularly since it’s something I would not have considered purchasing due to it being longer than I look for and I prefer stainless clad. I liked this considerably more than I expected and would consider one of these in the future. The passaround was perfect for letting me evaluate something different. Preferences evolve.
moderncooking
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