Help me choose a good gyuto

[Cedriel]

I'm looking for a good, general-purpose knife for the kitchen now that I'm doing more cooking. I don't have experience sharpening or caring for a delicate knife, and while I want to get there eventually (I love what I'm seeing in the Makage Koishi Gyuto), right now I'm looking for a knife that I can learn with and will be forgiving if my drying / oiling / sharpening is noobish.

I mostly work with meat, fish and vegetables, and little to no rough work like cutting frozen materials or through bone. Aesthetically I prefer Japanese-style knives, which is why I specified a gyuto and not a chef knife.


LOCATION
What country are you in?
-Chile


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's knife

Are you right or left handed?
-Right

Are you interested in a Western handle (e.g., classic Wusthof handle) or Japanese handle?
-Don't have enough experience to tell

What length of knife (blade) are you interested in (in inches or millimeters)?
-240mm or so

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

What is your absolute maximum budget for your knife?
-$300 USD


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.)
-Slicing meats, chopping and slicing vegetables

What knife, if any, are you replacing?
-Basic cuisinart chef knife

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

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, draw

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.)

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)?
-I prefer something simple and elegant. I love kurouchi finishing.

Comfort (e.g., lighter/heavier knife; better handle material; better handle shape; rounded spine/choil of the knife; improved balance)?
-I'd prefer a light knife that cuts through meat and vegetables easily.

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)?
-Don't care too much about food release, I prefer a thinner knife with a keen edge. I'd prefer something that can keep an edge for a while, but then I plan on doing careful sharpening on it myself.

Edge Retention (i.e., length of time you want the edge to last without sharpening)?
-I'd prefer it to keep a keen edge for at least 2 weeks of casual use for a small household.


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

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

If not, are you interested in learning how to sharpen your knives? (Yes or no.)
-Yes.

Are you interested in purchasing sharpening products for your knives? (Yes or no.)
-Yes.


SPECIAL REQUESTS/COMMENTS

 

[bkultra]

Welcome to the forums

 

[Cedriel]

Thanks!

 

[Grunt173]

While I don't have the Masakage Koishi that you are looking at,I do have the Masakage Mizu 240 Gyuto and while I have a selection of other Japanese knives to go to if I want,I find myself grabbing the Mizu more often.It has become my so called " project knife" It arrived with not so great a grind and I had to thin it quite a bit.That posed no problem at all and now the knife is fine for my kitchen tasks.It's my go to knife when I want to try my different water stones out on to see how they sharpen and how they give me feed back.Yes,I am one of those guys that actually enjoy sharpening more then cutting.I really like the design of the Masakage line because it allows for a very comfortable pinch grip.My Masakage Yuki's are very thin behind the edge,although,there are reports that this can vary with other users.The White#2 steel that come with the Yuki's will be easier to sharpen and do hold a pretty good edge.

 

[Matus]

Welcome!

The knives that come to my mind are mostly stainless clad with carbon cutting core. If that would be an option, than there is Kochi, Hinoura AS (my friend got is and it is a lovely knife, but apparently not available directly), Yoshihiro (no personal experience) and the already mentioned Koishi.

If you drop the kurouchi (there really are not that many stainless clad knives with kurouchi finish), then there are many more options - Itinomonn StainLess, Gesshin Ginga, Ikazuchi, Gesshin Kagero,

 

[Krakorak]

Hi, welcome on the forum! If you like kurouchi knives, this one (https://www.japan-messer-shop.de/Me...i-V2-Kurouchi-Gyuto-21-cm-nicht-rostfrei.html) might certainly be a good option for you, a great value for the money (Wakui knives are generally one of the top in this respect), light, great cutter (I would expect it to be slighly easier to use than the Masakage Koishi, which, however, will have better edge retention due to the Aogami Super steel), in my opinion a very good option for a first Japanese knife. Its a carbon, so not stainless, but don't worry much about rusting, if you will learn to wipe your knives regularly, its no problem as they will build a patina soon whcih protects the blade then...But as for stainless, for instance this (http://www.epicedge.com/shopexd.asp?id=85673) would also be a great option, the SKD steel doesn't rust (although it builds some patina as well), has a very good edge retention, sharpens quite easily, fully comparably to carbon knives and you will be able to get an edge which will be nicely toothy (i.e. practical for the kitchen) even with high grits...And as for the learning how to sharpen - if you have a budget of about 300 USD, you might buy another, cheaper carbon knife together with the gyuto (for instance a Zakuri funayuki, something like this: http://www.nipponshop.cz/118/japonsky-nuz-tadayoshi-funayuki-kurouchi-165mm.html) on which you could practice your sharpening without worrying about ruining something expensive; and they are very good allround knives, I have mine, with a bit modified geometry (http://rhamphorhynchus.rajce.idnes....sa_Tadayoshi_thinning_and_refinishing_process) which is probably my most frequently used knife, although I have several much more expensive knives...

 

[Krakorak]

Just to add - those Zakuri/Tadayoshi knives are of course available at several other e-shops, the price is about 80 USD or so, I just included the link to our Czech web where I got mine...and which is owned by a good friend of mine..And as for the options Matus included - they are also generally very good, I would just not recommend Gesshin Kagero for the beginning, it has a great edge retention, but its a kind of steel which might be quite tricky to sharpen even for experienced sharpeners...

 

[inzite]

takamura pro

 

[StonedEdge]

takamura pro

Is that the red handled line with a lazer-ish grind?

 

[toddnmd]

Is that the red handled line with a lazer-ish grind?

Takamura pro has black western handle. Migaki has the red handle, which I've only seen going up to 210 length.

 

[mantrarxidia]

You should take a look at wusthof classic ikon. They are not gyutos but they are very forgiving, very good knives, I find them good looking, come sharp out of the box, have great quality control,(cheap) around $100 so you can buy stones as well.

I know it feels better to buy a knife than a stone, but as time goes on you will understand the importance of having decent stones. EVERY knife will dull, so unless you want to send your knives out to a pro every time, learn to sharpen.

I find wusthofs sharpen rather easily, they are not carbon, but they are not too bad. If you are just starting to sharpen you should stay away from harder stainless steels, carbons are nice to learn on.

It's also much easier to learn proper technique on a german knife than a gyuto.

 

[inferno]

I nominate the mac mth-80. its cryoed aus-8 steel. this is really good steel imo. and it looks cool.
I wouldn't exactly be crying myself to sleep if this was my only good knife. but yeay its no 240...

 

[supersayan3]

Since you are a home cook, get a Takamura pro, or a Ryusen Blazen or a Tojiro HSPS with less money, and you may never have to sharpen.
The Mac suggested is also a very good knife

 

[Jville]

It sounds like you want a one knife to do it all with and still plan on roughing it up sone with chicken bones and you mentioned not cutting much frozen foods. The kioshi is very hard AS steel and doesnt seem imo to be a good choice for you at the moment.

I actually like the wustof rec, but also it seems something like a masmoto vg would fit you or even Fujiwara fkm. You want something softer and more forgiving. You shouldnt ever be banging a knive like the kioshi anywhere near frozen foods or chicken bones. You might find yourself with a really nice expensive knive with a huge chip in the blade.
There are other softer blades to like the mac mentioned. Whatever you get, i would suggest dont cut any frozen foods at all. And try to stay away from banging on bones. Joints will be fine. A german knife tends to hold up better for breaking bones, but perhaps something like tge masamoto vg could give you the best of both worlds. I still wouldn't bang on bones, but i have heard they r quite tough for japanese knives.