Hiromoto AS Thickness question

[Sambal]

I recently got the Hiro AS santoku, and I like it quite a bit, even with the ootb edge. It cuts quite easily, and even compares favorably (by just a bit) with my Konosuke HD gyuto. The metal on the handle was a bit high when I got it.

Thanks Todd. This nudges me closer to getting one.

 

[toddnmd]

I know a lot of serious knife knuts don't think much of the santoku. But there are some times when that blade size (and/or a smaller board) just feels right. I agree that you give up a little versatility with the santoku, but if I have to dice one onion, it's just fine. (I'm a home cook.)

 

[echerub]

I have a fair bit of choice when it comes to knives and I still like using santoku sometimes. It's not the knife you'd want to use for serious volume, but as home cooks I think it can be a perfectly good choice.

 

[Yoni Lang]

From early in my discovery of Japanese blades I was very happy with the Hiromoto AS line. It comes down to what you want and like using. I've played with the lasers quite a fe times and they just don't hold much for me, I seem happier with a heavier blade. Over the past 8 years I have bounced around and I keep falling back onto the H AS knives I kept, several in the above pic have moved to new homes. I wrote many reports on these over the years and I really would love to read them again all these years later and see what may have changed LOL.

As for the heft behind the edge I can't say as to what is better, these are medium weight knives and it's what I expect from a mid weight blade. Thinning it brings it down to a lighter weight blade but maybe not into the light weight catigory... and at what cost? Granted the work that Dave has been doing with the AS line looks fantastic and really brings out a posable art to the blade, not a bad endevour if thats what your after. However I would worry about the heft and stiffness loss due to the thinning, something I come to expect in my H AS blades. While I no longer have a shorter H AS knife at this time, only have the long blades, my 2 mid sized blades are the Hiromoto HC 240 and Koshi 210.

At work on the line I really liked the SS cladding over the AS edge. Not liking stainless steel edges I have to say having stainless cladding gave me the best of both worlds till i discovered cleavers for line work

One of my pipe dreams has been to get several different makers of SS clad with carbon core knives, Carter has been high on the list but not being well off never something I would be able to get LOL.

All in all you have to find your own sweet spot for the knife your looking for and it's intended use. I have 4 knives in the 210/240 range but they all have very different profiles that I use in different ways at home. At work I have fallen to the cleaver and do most of my work with that blade. Now days I'm pretty settled in the knives I use for how I cook and only really get excited about handmade blades in a few styles, nothing I can deal with nowdays Use is the most important thing to me and I now need to find a vintage butchery cleaver, my CCK 1202 is a bit light for some work.

Thats about all I have in mind so far

good post that brings it down to earth.. buy a knife for what you need it for.. sharpen it for how you'll use it.. keeps things simple. i've been considering a 240mm for a while and think it's time to bite the bullet. i'll be using it to break down fish after the deba does the dirty work. was thinking thickness might be an issue, but since i'll be going through bone a lot with these fishies (ribs mostly), the extra weight might be advantageous. as long as its thinned regularly I'm guessing there isn't really any hinderances?