Your go-to stainless knife

[QCDawg]

I have a ton of carbons. But I love my stainless/ clad/ semi kit:

Hattori paring
Tsunehisa petty
intimomonn 150 petty
Kaeru 240 beater gyuto
Susin Inox Honyaki 240 gyuto
Wat pro 180 nakiri
Aritsugu gokinko garasuki
Heiji 210 sujiPetty
Wakui 270 suji
MAC bread

They have their own knife bag. Take them on the road, or when I mess around helping prep at client’s restaurants.

 

[big_adventure]

WARNING - Some may want to sit down.

All of mine are stainless/semi stainless.



I guess I've been reaching for my Suncraft Senzo a lot lately.

Thank you for the warning. Could have been dangerous without it.

 

[9fingeredknife]

I often use Glestain stainless knives while at work. I have a 240 gyuto and the honesuki, I really like the heft with the added "shell fish cracker" thats an option for the handles. They look pretty cool with the dimpling, and function quite well for stainless.

 

[Renzwerkz]

My Zwilling Twin Pollux custom hybrid....
Any believers...??

 

[riba]

Got a wa r2 tanaka. Impressed every time I use it.
Love my heiji ss too.

Still mostly using carbon

 

[dafox]

Takamura r2 red handled 180 and 210 gyutos. Use em a lot. Akifusa srs15 210 gyuto. Gengetsu ss 210 gyuto.

 

[Iggy]

For parers etc. I frequently use stainless knives... but for main knives basically only 3 lasted:

1. Dalman Damasteel 210 Gyuto
2. CJA AEBL XH Ko-Gyuto
3. Suisin Inox Honyaki 240 Wa-Gyuto (back in the day one of my very first good knives... still the best laser around if you ask me... )

But using 90% carbon to be honest... even for fruits like ananas etc. - IMHO no problem with a good developed patina...

 

[Mikeadunne]

Kono hd2

 

[F-Flash]

At home it is itinimonn ss petty 150mm
At work it is heavily modified victorinox 250mm gyuto, basically indestructible and cheap to replace if something was to happen to it.
I use carbons too at work, but only when I know I have time to clean and put them away.

 

[spaceconvoy]

Do I have to pick just one? CCK stainless slicer, Sukenari 270mm ginsan, Shun classic asian cooks knife.

 

[DitmasPork]

Wustof Classic and Mercer chef's knives; Yoshikane SKD petty; Mac petty. All I need in the stainless department.

TBH, pretty much all my knives are carbon, the few stainless knives (4) are used as beaters. Essential in my kitchen for when guests wants to help prepping.

 

[GorillaGrunt]

Oh yeah and Martell CPM154 gyuto, haven’t pulled that out in a while but my favorite true stainless gyuto for work

 

[mack]

That's an easy one for me:

225x55 Gyuto made of 14C28N by Uwe Mattern (suntravel).

Mack.

 

[LostHighway]

That's an easy one for me:

225x55 Gyuto made of 14C28N by Uwe Mattern (suntravel).

Mack.

Very nice! He he alright? He hasn't posted here in over a year and a knife inquiry I sent him many months ago went unanswered. I miss his posts.

 

[DavidPF]

suntravel seems to have posted on Kochmalscharf today and is a moderator there, so I think he at least still exists.

 

[mack]

@LostHighway

Yeah he is fine, a little busy, I guess. He is only active in the KMS-forum at the moment but still making knives. I ordered a petty and a parer a year ago (or even longer), will get them the next days hopefully. The are already finished, I have seen pictures of them.

To me his knives are unmatched.

Mack.

 

[mack]

suntravel seems to have posted on Kochmalscharf today and is a moderator there, so I think he at least still exists.

Both correct. Here you can see the 2 knives I am waiting for: Oops, there was an error! | Kochmalscharf (just scroll down a little bit)

Mack.

 

[MowgFace]

In no particular order:

• Itinomonn StainLESS 240
• Takada Suiboku Ginsanko 240
• En Ginsanko 240
• Gengetsu SS 210
• Heiji SS 210
• Tojiro Zen 210 petty
• Tanaka Ginsanko 150 Petty

Right now the Takada has my attention.

 

[dafox]

In no particular order:

• Itinomonn StainLESS 240
• Takada Suiboku Ginsanko 240
• En Ginsanko 240
• Gengetsu SS 210
• Heiji SS 210
• Tojiro Zen 210 petty
• Tanaka Ginsanko 150 Petty

Right now the Takada has my attention.

What do you think of the En?

 

[MowgFace]

What do you think of the En?

I like it a lot! It’s actually what I wish all lasers were more modeled after.

Slightly heftier spine with nice distal taper for a thin knife. Ground pretty damn thin.

 

[Chuckles]

Easily this Mr. Itou small gyuto with stag handle. Picked it up in a trade and it has won over the whole family. It is is constant use and is the Swiss Army knife of the home kitchen. Driven hard, never babied and it keeps up great with spirited use. One of the most surprising knives I’ve had come through. Prices probably change the calculus these days tho.

 

[kevpenbanc]

This is the one that I most regret letting go, selling it onto a chef mate at cost (when they were still reasonable in price)

In mitigation, I was increasingly moving towards Wa Handled blades and carbons at the time, plus I already had one other R2 Yo-handled stainless to act as reserve, And that other stainless gyuto seemed a better counterpart to the aforementioned Kono Swedish, feeling far more substantial in the hand than the ‘tweener‘ Tanaka.

So reluctantly I sold on the Tanaka and kept the other blade. Which - facepalm alert ahead - is a Mr Itou gyuto. Probably not my smartest or coolest move in hindsight, albeit I still have the Itou (a comparatively rare, soberly handled one) and keep underestimating it)

I feel for you, the Tanaka is not going anywhere.
I've not really warmed to my Mr Itou, maybe I should give it another go.

 

[WiriWiri]

I feel for you, the Tanaka is not going anywhere.
I've not really warmed to my Mr Itou, maybe I should give it another go.

Rationally I regret it - it would have been far better to keep both - but realistically it wouldn’t have been used much and the Itou has some sentimental value (purchased to commemorate someone). I was in full carbon exploration mode back then and it seemed greedy, particularly when a friend seemed so keen, It remains the only knife that I’ve actually sold on (rather than gifted), sentimental sod that I am,

The Itou got overlooked for much the same reasons in recent years - I’d come to regard it as something of a transitional Japanese Yo blade that my visitors could be trusted on to enjoy, plus my marginal sharpening skills struggled a bit with the steel. But something clicked when covid inspired new knife arrivals and some concerted sharpening practice, the Itou getting to a level that I’d not thought it (or I) capable of, largely outperforming the impressive OTB edge of a Mazaki and gliding through produce. Probably a lightning strike, but the same reasons I kept it way back then are also seen more charitably now - there isn‘t a huge amount of distal taper admittedly and nor can I claim it’s a true stainless workhorse with an entirely straight face, but it‘s comparatively rare example of a thicker, high heeled western handled R2 blade that feels entirely robust

 

[preizzo]

I wish I could have a mazaki gyuto ginsanko ,that would be my only Stainless knife .

 

[Evan Estern]

Misono UX10 270mm Gyuto
Gesshin Stainless 210mm Wa-Gyuto
Gesshin Ginga 150mm stainless petty

The UX10 is a great performer and a pleasure to use.

The Gesshin Stainless: super light weight, sharpens quickly and very tough. On the negative side, it loses it's working edge pretty fast.

The Gesshin Ginga: fantastic slicer, almost never need to sharpen it--just a quick touch up on the strop. Very thin delicate blade, but I've had no issues in almost 2 years of regular use.

 

[gcsquared]

Dalman AEB-L and Damasteel.

But lately I’ve been trying to hunt down a western handle stainless / semi stainless. The combination of western handle + stainless just seem to make sense to me.

 

[JaVa]

I'm a bit surprised at the wide variety.
I expected a much more concentrated focus on certain knives.

Like:
Tanaka ginsan
Gengetsu
Youshikane SKD
Tamakura R2
Kaeru

Maybe few:
Geshinn Ginga
Tanaka R2
Shibata Kotetsu
Shiro Kamo R2

To name a few.
But it's been all over the place. It's been fun to see such a huge amount of different choices.

 

[Chicagohawkie]

 

[IsoJ]

What is this "just one" nonsense?
Shibata Kashima 220 gyuto - stainless clad SG2/R2 It is a laser with the accompanying pro and cons, excellent edge retention. It is very light to the point of feeling a bit insubstantial and fragile, but has not proved fragile in use. Slightly numb board feel.
HSC/// 186 gyuto - Z-Wear mono Even better edge retention than the Shibata but also slower to sharpen (with Shaptons). Better tactile feedback than the Shibata. A very nice knife.
Kippington 207 work pony gyuto - Nitro-V mono Easier to sharpen than either of the above knives but less edge retention although still markedly better than Shirogami. I have nothing but praise for my Kippingtons.
Yoshikane 212 k-tip gyuto - stainless clad SKD12/A2 This is the least stainless, although still more than adequate, of this group of knives. It has slightly poorer edge retention than the Nitro-V Kippington but still noticeably better than Shirogami knives. The fastest and most pleasant to sharpen of the above knives. Great value

The rules have changed, you can take only one stainless to hell/heaven(not talking about carbon ). Agreed on Kippingtons work, nothing but top of the line. Yoshikane SKD-12 is a joy to sharpen, very smooth. I tried Z-wear in passaround and for my skills a little slower to sharpen but still decided to get one from Harbeer.

 

[IsoJ]

I've been really liking my Hunter Valley Blades m390 gyuto. She's a lazer that loves acidic food and doesn't need to be coddled.

I like Merts Hunter Valley Blades, good cutters that don't need babying.