MH Passarround - Nakiri 173x63mm

[daddy yo yo]

 

[daddy yo yo]

 

[xsmx13]

Damn, how did I overlook this.

 

[daddy yo yo]

 

[daddy yo yo]

So, finally here's my impression of the knife which is already in the hands of the next participant of this PA. Please take everything I say with a grain of salt as I rarely use nakiris.

The aesthetics are smth you can see in the pics (I LOVED especially the left side of the blade), one likes the materials used or doesn't. I think the knife was overall well balanced although my personal preference would move the balance point a little bit more forward. The handle size was good (a little bit on the bigger side), the knife was sharp ootb. In fact, it was sharper than my Watanabe (--> I need to buy a new nakiri, sharpening is not an option ). Food release was comparable to my Watanabe, not much difference there (if any). The profile of this nakiri is a bit flatter than the Watanabe's, also the front end is shaped a little differently. I probably prefer the rear section of the Watanabe but clearly the front of the MH. I really enjoyed this nakiri mady by Martin Huber! This is already the second rectangle made by Martin which I seriously enjoyed!

If you look very closely at my pics, one could maybe see that the blade is a little bit twisted to the right towards the tip when looking at the spine. One can see that but I could definitely NOT feel that any time during the testing phase. I pointed that out to Martin when I got the knife. He fixed it a little bit (as much as possible) and still wanted to continue with this PA. Again, one can see it upon close inspection but I couldn't feel it at all when cutting. I just wanted to mention it here because during this PA someone will mention it anyway, so I happily volunteer to be that very special person.

@martinhuber , thank you so much for making this PA happen and giving me the chance to try another blade out of your work shop. I have enjoyed every single one of them! And it's always a pleasure chatting with you!

 

[martinhuber]

So, finally here's my impression of the knife which is already in the hands of the next participant of this PA. Please take everything I say with a grain of salt as I rarely use nakiris.

The aesthetics are smth you can see in the pics (I LOVED especially the left side of the blade), one likes the materials used or doesn't. I think the knife was overall well balanced although my personal preference would move the balance point a little bit more forward. The handle size was good (a little bit on the bigger side), the knife was sharp ootb. In fact, it was sharper than my Watanabe (--> I need to buy a new nakiri, sharpening is not an option ). Food release was comparable to my Watanabe, not much difference there (if any). The profile of this nakiri is a bit flatter than the Watanabe's, also the front end is shaped a little differently. I probably prefer the rear section of the Watanabe but clearly the front of the MH. I really enjoyed this nakiri mady by Martin Huber! This is already the second rectangle made by Martin which I seriously enjoyed!

If you look very closely at my pics, one could maybe see that the blade is a little bit twisted to the right towards the tip when looking at the spine. One can see that but I could definitely NOT feel that any time during the testing phase. I pointed that out to Martin when I got the knife. He fixed it a little bit (as much as possible) and still wanted to continue with this PA. Again, one can see it upon close inspection but I couldn't feel it at all when cutting. I just wanted to mention it here because during this PA someone will mention it anyway, so I happily volunteer to be that very special person.

@martinhuber , thank you so much for making this PA happen and giving me the chance to try another blade out of your work shop. I have enjoyed every single one of them! And it's always a pleasure chatting with you!

Thank you for the review!

As the little twist mentioned: @daddy yo yo and i talked about it, i am fully aware that it is there and something like this wouldnt usually leave my shop. but i still decided to keep continuing the PA, because...well it is how it is, so please dear other PA participants, keep that in mind

 

[JayS20]

Adding to it, the edge is completely straight.
You can definitely see it and it looks stronger than it is thanks to the grind.

 

[daddy yo yo]

Adding to it, the edge is completely straight.
You can definitely see it and it looks stronger than it is thanks to the grind.

Thanks for the clarification!

 

[jsandvad]

@JayS20 do you still have it? Any impressions?

 

[martinhuber]

@JayS20 do you still have it? Any impressions?

as far as i know @miggus recived it 2 days ago, Jay was sick for a few days.

 

[miggus]

Sadly, I was very busy this week and didn't have much time to cook. Still, I could use it a few times and like the blade a lot.

As usual, aesthetics are amazing at a Martin Huber blade, but functionality is also top notch.

I will send it @Neutris way early next week.

Thanks a lot @martinhuber for the chance of trying out yet another great knife of yours.

 

[mockit]

This thing looks like a blast. Very excited to give it a whirl ! Thanks for the review @daddy yo yo. Was really interested to see how it would stack up against the Wat. I’ve been tempted to snag one of those but I think MH is just going to have to make me a Wat killer .

 

[miggus]

I was a bit late, but tomorrow the MH knife is starting it's journey towards @Neutritown, promised!

 

[Neutri]

Hello everyone,
I just received the knife today. Took a couple more days because of a small mishap (isn't that right @miggus It really made me laugh a lot)
Thank you @martinhuber for letting me try a knife of yours. My first impression is that it looks incredible. The blade but also I was stunned by the handle. At 260g it's also the heaviest knife I have. Looks like a dense vegetable killer. Can't wait to test it tonight! Came with some reading and an awesome leather sheath.
Here are some current pictures. Sorry they don't come close to the amazing pictures @daddy yo yo took but here goes :

I'll leave my impressions at the end of the week and send the knife to @jsandvad monday next week

Thank you @martinhuber again for letting me participate.
Have a good day everyone

 

[miggus]

Jup, I diligently brought the knife to DHL and... sent it to myself. So it took an extra round until it got to Joel, sorry about that!

 

[martinhuber]

Hello everyone,
I just received the knife today. Took a couple more days because of a small mishap (isn't that right @miggus It really made me laugh a lot)
Thank you @martinhuber for letting me try a knife of yours. My first impression is that it looks incredible. The blade but also I was stunned by the handle. At 260g it's also the heaviest knife I have. Looks like a dense vegetable killer. Can't wait to test it tonight! Came with some reading and an awesome leather sheath.
Here are some current pictures. Sorry they don't come close to the amazing pictures @daddy yo yo took but here goes :

View attachment 244992 View attachment 244993 View attachment 244994 View attachment 244997
View attachment 244998
View attachment 244999
View attachment 244996 View attachment 244995

I'll leave my impressions at the end of the week and send the knife to @jsandvad monday next week

Thank you @martinhuber again for letting me participate.
Have a good day everyone

Cool pictures Happy that you review it!


@miggus just be honest, you wanted to keep it ;-)

 

[Neutri]

Hello everyone,
So I've been using the knife for about a week and the package is now on its way to @jsandvad.

I loved the knife. It was a blast to use. I was afraid of the weight as I'm used to lasers but it actually really made the short time I had to use very fun. Things just cut themselves. I really liked the flat profile and the balance in hand. And obvisouly it looked awesome. It's a really bad thing as now my wallet is going to become even thinner because apparently I like rectangles too x) If I had to find one thing that deviates from what I like would be a less smooth handle. It was comfortable and not slippery but I think I prefer them a tiny bit less polished but really it'd be nearly nothing, maybe a slightly lower grit by 10%. But otherwise the knife was really fun to use.

Thank you @martinhuber for organizing the passaround and giving me the opportunity to try the knife!!
Have a good day

 

[Delat]

Jup, I diligently brought the knife to DHL and... sent it to myself. So it took an extra round until it got to Joel, sorry about that!

I did that once - attached the new label but forgot to remove the old label. The UPS delivery guy was kind enough to knock on my door and ask what to do since it had two labels.

 

[jsandvad]

I'm sorry to say that it appears the Danish postal service has lost the package. @Neutri sent it last week, and it arrived already Friday, much quicker than I expected - unfortunately no one was at home when the package arrived, so I expected I could pick it up after the week-end, but never got info on where to pick it up. They claimed to try redelivering Tuesday, but they never showed up. I contacted them yesterday, and got the message it was "on the way to a post office, will arrive tomorrow". Today I found out that that was a lie, they have no idea where the packet is, they will try to look for it and update me in a couple of days. I hope for the best but fear the worst: I've had packets going missing with postal service before, they never showed up. I'm really sorry about this.

 

[miggus]

Oh wow... that is really stressful. I would not give up hope if I were you. Most of the packages show up eventually.

 

[jsandvad]

Very happy to say that the package showed up, safe and sound.
Very embarassed to say that it was exactly where @Neutri told me it was - his tracking app said it was located at a local store, but mine said it was being delivered at my address. I don't know why I didn't check out the store instead of wasting my time with PostNord "Customer service" - sorry @Neutri.

 

[Neutri]

No apology necessary As long as the knife is found, it's all that matters.I feel relieved now aha
Enjoy the knife!

 

[jsandvad]

So, home from work and have unpacked the knife - all is good. Took a few pictures, but obviously you all know what it looks like by now Took a couple of stickers and a business card from the stash as well.

Knife out of the Saya. Looks unharmed and still plenty sharp, so I won't sharpen it

 

[jsandvad]

Some pictures of the "competition" - the knives I will be comparing it with. Note that it is far heavier than any comparable knives in my collection, so it's really apples and oranges - but still, this is my frame of reference, so I guess still relevant.

From bottom to top:

• Huber - I measure it at 260g
• Yoshikin Bunmei, CroMoVa18 I guess, 105g. May look out of place here, but don't diss my Bunmei, I've used it and loved it for more than 20 years (so long that I've forgotten when and where I got it). Even after I've started buying more "fancy" knives, this has never been taken out of rotation.
• Morihei Munetsugu, blue #2, 154g. My replacement for the Bunmei, a bit more heft, easier to sharpen and holds the edge well, but a bit prone to chipping.
• Birgersson 246 mm gyuto, 201g. This is probably my heaviest knife, so brought it in here for comparison. I don't really use it, but know that most KKF people cream their pants over big gyutos, so thought I'd try it out in direct comparison with the Huber.

 

[jsandvad]

 

[martinhuber]

I'm sorry to say that it appears the Danish postal service has lost the package. @Neutri sent it last week, and it arrived already Friday, much quicker than I expected - unfortunately no one was at home when the package arrived, so I expected I could pick it up after the week-end, but never got info on where to pick it up. They claimed to try redelivering Tuesday, but they never showed up. I contacted them yesterday, and got the message it was "on the way to a post office, will arrive tomorrow". Today I found out that that was a lie, they have no idea where the packet is, they will try to look for it and update me in a couple of days. I hope for the best but fear the worst: I've had packets going missing with postal service before, they never showed up. I'm really sorry about this.

Oh Sh*t that just gave me an heard attack.


But happy it was found again

 

[jsandvad]

Oh Sh*t that just gave me an heard attack.

Yeah, that was bad, but I was pretty bummed out myself. I've now sent a long, angry letter to the postal service, which I'm pretty sure no one will ever read

 

[jsandvad]

A few first impressions after using the knife for one dinner (Porchetta with oven potatoes, corn cobs, haricot verts and tomato salad):

Looks
I love how this knife looks. I do prefer the rougher look over more polished looks, and this one pulls off the aesthetics perfectly. It looks like a tool that is made to be used. Handle is beautiful as well.

Balance in hand
It is a much more heavy knife than I am used to, but with a pinch grip it feels perfectly balanced, and the heft inspires confidence in that it would cut through hard veggies with full control and minimal effort.

Shape
I've never tried a knive with this shape before, and I'm not sure what to think of it. It is not a rectangle, but looks like a gigantic WH gyuto with the tip broken off. I guess it could make for a good first nakiri for the people who use their WH gyuto for everything, but for me it took a little getting used to, especially when swapping between my nakiris and this one.

Cutting feel
These are only very first impressions, based on a few tomatoes, onions, potatoes and carrots:
It's good. It cuts everything I throw at it very well. Admittedly I haven't tried a lot of different things yet, but I don't feel I've really tested it's potential yet, and found where it really shines.
Tomatoes and potatoes it handled fine, but was a bit big for the task, I would probably have used a petty instead.
Onions it did very well, I often use my nakiris to chop onion even though you could argue that a gyuto would be better. Here I struggled a bit with the different shape.
A couple of carrots, just for checking for wedging effects. There we absolutely none, it cuts just as well as my laser nakiris, though worse than my Birgersson short gyuto.
Corn cob: I think it would do great here, and really wanted to try, but chickened out and used a western chef knife instead. I don't want to give @martinhuber another heart attack

Preliminary conclusion
Would I buy this knife? Yes, absolutely. Just check how good it looks on my magnet:

But another question is: When would I reach for this over my other knives? I'm not really sure, will need to use it a bit more. Stay tuned.
@martinhuber I will return it Wednesday to the address on your business cards. I guess I'll be using DHL rather than Danish Post

 

[martinhuber]

A few first impressions after using the knife for one dinner (Porchetta with oven potatoes, corn cobs, haricot verts and tomato salad):

Looks
I love how this knife looks. I do prefer the rougher look over more polished looks, and this one pulls off the aesthetics perfectly. It looks like a tool that is made to be used. Handle is beautiful as well.

Balance in hand
It is a much more heavy knife than I am used to, but with a pinch grip it feels perfectly balanced, and the heft inspires confidence in that it would cut through hard veggies with full control and minimal effort.

Shape
I've never tried a knive with this shape before, and I'm not sure what to think of it. It is not a rectangle, but looks like a gigantic WH gyuto with the tip broken off. I guess it could make for a good first nakiri for the people who use their WH gyuto for everything, but for me it took a little getting used to, especially when swapping between my nakiris and this one.

Cutting feel
These are only very first impressions, based on a few tomatoes, onions, potatoes and carrots:
It's good. It cuts everything I throw at it very well. Admittedly I haven't tried a lot of different things yet, but I don't feel I've really tested it's potential yet, and found where it really shines.
Tomatoes and potatoes it handled fine, but was a bit big for the task, I would probably have used a petty instead.
Onions it did very well, I often use my nakiris to chop onion even though you could argue that a gyuto would be better. Here I struggled a bit with the different shape.
A couple of carrots, just for checking for wedging effects. There we absolutely none, it cuts just as well as my laser nakiris, though worse than my Birgersson short gyuto.
Corn cob: I think it would do great here, and really wanted to try, but chickened out and used a western chef knife instead. I don't want to give @martinhuber another heart attack

Preliminary conclusion
Would I buy this knife? Yes, absolutely. Just check how good it looks on my magnet:
View attachment 247882

But another question is: When would I reach for this over my other knives? I'm not really sure, will need to use it a bit more. Stay tuned.
@martinhuber I will return it Wednesday to the address on your business cards. I guess I'll be using DHL rather than Danish Post

Thanks for your review Appreciate it.
And yes it looks damn good on your magnet

 

[jsandvad]

Just a quick note: Made a noodle salad yesterday with julienne'd carrots, daikon, snack peppers, and cucumbers, as well as chopping some other greens. I would normally use a nakiri for this, and I think this is really where the Huber shines. I expected it would feel a bit big for doing precision cutting, but not at all, it just felt natural and effortless, no downside at all compared to my lighter nakiris in the cutting feel. So, I guess this answers my question in the previous post: I could easily see this as my go-to nakiri, maybe even replacing my old friend Bunmei
Minor thing: Food release seems slightly worse than my Morihei Nakiri, especially cucumber and daikon stuck to the blade.