Initial comments on my experience with it:
- The reported twist in the blade was a non issue.
- I noticed the recurve in the blade but it wasn’t generally an issue. I did have a minor issue with scallions.
- I reach for <200mm knives for most home use unless I have a larger prep session. So this is larger than I typically use at about 213x52.5mm. I have other knives of similar size but they are infrequently used.
- Knives I compared this too were more expensive. My gyutos are much pricier. I also tried a watanabe nakiri and a santoku that are closer to the price range of this but smaller knives.
My initial impression followed delat and tostadas. I tried it first then read the prior comments in this thread.
Pros:
- Lightweight. I like light and nimble and the approx 153g weight was great for a knife of this size.
- Nice handle materials. The figured walnut and blackwood are great. I like nice wood in my handles and this was very well done for the price.
- Good profile. I liked the profile other than the recurve. I don’t know the origin of the recurve but it wasn’t a big influence on my opinion. I considered fixing it but wanted to leave the profile intact for others to evaluate.
- Easy to sharpen. Very easy on the stones and easily took a great edge that worked well on tomatoes and peppers.
- Tall height. This was appreciated on larger radishes and similar ingredients. The knife was at its best in my use prepping salads (other than cucumber and avocado).
Cons:
- Stiction. The blade had serious issues with food release to the point where I would not recommend using it. If it were on my rack it would see little use for this reason despite other good attributes. Its tall for this length which makes this problem egregious. It has convexed sides so I was expecting much better.
- I really did not like the handle shape. I have medium size hands and the circumference was too large for me. It was 20x25mm at the front of the handle but a square profile. A favorite handle of mine is 19x24mm at the front but octagon with the diagonal facet width matching the top and bottom (sides are larger). I much preferred the traditional octagonal shape over Hanson’s square profile. The two handles are shown in pictures below.
- Edge retention. The edge went from excellent to dull in under an hour use on a Hasagawa PE cutting board. The board probably has a lot to do with this but I don’t see this completing a shift in a pro kitchen on a poly board. It was fine in initial light use on other boards (Tenryo black, Hasagawa rubber). My Hasagawa PE is my largest board and used for larger prep work. It was used for about 10lbs of veg. An hour and 10lbs of veg is far too quick to dull an edge. I do blame the board but I doubt this will hold up in a pro kitchen. I suspect the steel heat treat was run soft for easy sharpening and durability. When I received it, the back was sharp but the front was dull from presumably board contact. This doesn’t hold up to a week of home use. I did find it easy on the stones, comparable to my blue 2 knives at HRC 61-62. I had to sharpen it twice in my week with it. I did a quick initial sharpening and a few days later did a proper sharpening followed by destroying a bunch of peppers which it did well.
Stiction: An avocado picture is below. Stiction made this knife unusable to me. Similar results with cucumber and zucchini. I used another gyuto on the other half of the same avocado and it passed the naughty schoolboy test - no stiction at all. A tall knife with poor food release is not good.
Avocado:
Cucumber:
Handle vs japanese wa handle, the extra width at the bottom and top of Hanson’s knife made it uncomfortable to me.
Here is a photo of the end which was unintentionally captured as a short video instead of a photo:
@Justinv NY (Current Tester)
