Nice, we wanna see that 300mm Takeda
The 'Best' Gyuto Edge Length—225mm of course!
- Thread starter DitmasPork
- Start date
Help Support Kitchen Knife Forums:
What about 6 feet tall and a lot of volume?
Asking for a friend.
DitmasPork
Senior Member
Hmmm, I’ve never tried a gyuto with around 254mm. Why is it an optimum length for you?
I don’t have any gyutos with edges between 248–275. Might need to track one down, since I have 225s sorted.
Mainly just what I'm used to. My first knife in culinary school was a 10" Victorinox. All of the knives I used at my first couple jobs were restaurant supply 10". 240 is fine but feels a little short. 270 is fine but feels a little long (although the way I treat my knives I tend to buy 270s and after a few years they shrink into my preferred size of 255). And I still like vintage 10" French, German, and American knives obviously.
DitmasPork
Senior Member
Seems like I’m seeing more tall heel heights lately, like 55–58mm for 220–240s? I’m generally more comfy with 50–53.
Thanks. But I can ask for myself
For me it's task dependent. At work, 240ish, I've had two made to 250 that were bout perfect. 270 if the pile is high and I have prep space. At home I can use a 210 or 240 but the 225 (Devin ITK) is my favorite. Looking at a 225 Marko Workhorse with lust in my eyes....
Best edge length is 215mm.
Left to right: Maz W#2 (216/50) (blade and handle refinished); Sukenari AS (216/48), Wakui A#2 (215/48), Mabs (214/51) (blade refinished)
One could say I ordered them (left to right) in function of length, or one could say I ordered them in function of narrowest to nosiest tip.
Then I love 190mm...
And only then 225mm when I need it...
Just to stir things up.
Left to right: Maz W#2 (216/50) (blade and handle refinished); Sukenari AS (216/48), Wakui A#2 (215/48), Mabs (214/51) (blade refinished)
One could say I ordered them (left to right) in function of length, or one could say I ordered them in function of narrowest to nosiest tip.
Then I love 190mm...
And only then 225mm when I need it...
Just to stir things up.
For prep I prefer my 240 mm knives and then for portioning or as a line knife it’s mostly 210 mm. Very rarely do I even use a 270 anymore. Cheers.
It’s funny, when I fist started with Jknives I thought a 220 was big, after my first 265 a 240 feels like a 210. I really like the blade heavy feeling of my 270’s(255-265)but I’m not swinging them all day.
- Joined
- Mar 3, 2020
- Messages
- 874
- Reaction score
- 1,032
I'd say 255-265 is about perfect for a general use chef's knife. There's just something about the balance and leverage that I prefer. I am a home cook, but I'm often cooking for more than four people at a time. With bigger prep jobs, I tend to reach for a 270. If it's just me, or two or three people, I'll grab a 230-240 Gyuto, or a 210 Petty, Santoku, Bunka, whatever. I also think height measurements are more important than most people here seem to. Small differences in height make a big difference in how maneuverable a knife feels. A 240 KS feels like a long petty knife to me.
I had no problem with my 270 Misono Dragon in a small Prospect Lefferts kitchen -- but it does depend on layout almost as much as size.
I had no problem with my 270 Misono Dragon in a small Prospect Lefferts kitchen -- but it does depend on layout almost as much as size.
240-250 mm gyuto / kiritsuke for me, with this size I can have nice pull-slice and enough to cut through watermelon or any big/hard fruit/vegetable, but it's not too long to be uncontrollable in the tip work
Unfortunately Soshui stopped taking direct orders since august… you have to go through dealers now, and they are out of stock most of the time.
DitmasPork
Senior Member
My smallest and longest gyutos—180 Takamura, and 270 Watanabe, iron clad (…more like 275).
Almost never use the Takamura, too short, can’t seem to feel comfy with it, useless for my needs; the Wat occasionally comes out for coleslaw, big greens, and cutting Apple Tarte at supper parties.
Almost never use the Takamura, too short, can’t seem to feel comfy with it, useless for my needs; the Wat occasionally comes out for coleslaw, big greens, and cutting Apple Tarte at supper parties.
Last edited:
- Joined
- Mar 3, 2020
- Messages
- 874
- Reaction score
- 1,032
Do you use a bunka or a nakiri? For me, that Takamura would be like a petty with a little extra heel height for work on the board. I have a 180 Yoshi that fills that role, and I like it.
DitmasPork
Senior Member
I have a nakiri, never wanted a bunka.
I won that 180 Takamura at an MTC raffle, think I'm gonna give it to my wife. My typical setup is a petty/gyuto tandem, the 180 gyuto size is just too in between what I like. Sometimes I'll use a 180 Maz petty.
I think I might have a quirk. Any maker I know that makes a thin spine I won't go over 210. Only exception was a Kato G3. If it's 2.5mm at least I'll go up to 240. I'm 5'6" and my board is 11x17in.
- Joined
- Mar 3, 2020
- Messages
- 874
- Reaction score
- 1,032
I've never really been able to find a use for a 150mm petty. They're too big for in-hand work, and not big enough for the board. I use 210 suji/petties all the time and find a nakiri or bunka handy for the odd job. The pointy tip of a bunka gets in the way of pull cuts, but it's handy to have around for odd jobs.
DitmasPork
Senior Member
I hear ya. Thankfully they make a good range of pettys to fit personal preference. I had a 135 Wakui petty, didn’t jive with the length, so gave it away (too lazy to sell it). Lot of it is familiarity, been using 150 pettys for about two decades—it’s my comfort zone. There’s my Sab parer if needing something smaller—I rarely have a need for in-hand work.
- Joined
- Mar 3, 2020
- Messages
- 874
- Reaction score
- 1,032
Totally. For in-hand, I have a Mac-pro paring knife that I use all the time.
- Joined
- Oct 18, 2012
- Messages
- 384
- Reaction score
- 166
I have a Fukushima-san 180mm gyuto that I tend to use more like a large paring knife for doing things like trimming cauliflower. Other than that I move to a 240mm. I may have to try a 225 in the future as my 210s don't see much use.
Jovidah
I'll make you a sponsor offer you can't refuse...
After using them side by side for a while in different iterations I've finally come down on having a slight preference for 240 over 210. Tried shorter than 210 and they definitly start feeling too short for me. Don't think 270 would add much for the quantities I'm cutting (but who knows; maybe I'll try it someday). Never had a 'true' 225 but I don't mind a short Sakai 240.
What I pull out often depends on what I'm doing. If I'm doing 'proper cooking' it's usually a 240, but if all I'm doing is cutting a bunch of garlic cloves it feels a bit silly so if it's only small stuff I often pull out something small.
What I pull out often depends on what I'm doing. If I'm doing 'proper cooking' it's usually a 240, but if all I'm doing is cutting a bunch of garlic cloves it feels a bit silly so if it's only small stuff I often pull out something small.
sumis
Senior Member
232.
.
.
Whatever the length, I really think the "beefiness" should scale with length. A really thin knife focused on easy cutting seems best around 210, but if you size that up to 240/270 without changing the grind, it starts to feel a bit fragile.
210 for for delicate work, 250 for hard work, 225 when you can't make up your mind.
210 for for delicate work, 250 for hard work, 225 when you can't make up your mind.
BillHanna
Gotta get ready for ARM
Thanks for this food for thought.
I actually love my 270 hd2 for when I need to do large amounts of uniformed small dice veg. The thin grind is the best for the delicate work and the 260mm edge is necessary for 20qts of small small dice not taking all day.
That's very fair. I blame most of my comment on my own clumsiness.
