Shibata Kotetsu R2 240

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Chefspence
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Shibata Kotetsu R2 240

Post by Chefspence »

Oh gosh, let me warn you. If you're a fan of this knife you won't like me. Not that I hate this knife, nor do I want to dislike it...but I do :? Now remember, take this with a grain of salt as I only used it a couple of times, only on veggies and bacon. So don't read if you don't want. I borrowed this knife from Gopher and I want to thank him and also say, I mean no offense, nor am I ungrateful for the chance to use this knife. Let me first say, this knife has always intrigued me. I think it looks badass and for the reviews it gets, I was ready to buy one myself, though it's a bit more than I'm usually willing to spend. I will also say that I expected great things from this knife! I truly did. When I first picked it up, I was stunned. Better looking in person, as most are. It felt great. I dig curved choils and well finished knives, and let me say, the F&f is top notch. Not a flaw from handle to tip. For as thin as it is I was pleasantly surprised at the slightly hefty feel. Just a tad more than a Kono laser, but enough to inspire confidence. Nice looking kanji. Not super deep of course, but still there, and not just stamped or embossed. I do like the little bit of texture given to the blade faces as well. I did like the profile. This particular knife was flatter than the video suggested. When I heard the shibata was flat, then watched the ql vid I thought, "that ain't flat!" But this example was definitely more flat. Don't know if there is a variance, or maybe the video is deceiving. Anyways I liked that. I also thought the tip was pretty cool. It certainly does well with push/pull cuts and decently chops, but don't even try rocking! When looking purely at performance, I was disappointed. It did well with cabbage, onions, and reg potatoes, but left me disheartened with sweet potatoes. For a "laser", it sure had a hard time with these. It got stuck almost immediately, not only cutting into whole sweet pots, but even just trying to cut batonnets. I tried using a little more of a rocking motion, but lifting the heel over even 3/4" high sweet potato slices yielded the tip digging into the board. Which frustrated and actually scared me. Nothing happened to the tip thankfully, but it left little knicks in the board. The other thing I tried was carrots. To me this is the fabled ingredient to try since it's abilities are touted in a picture on the item page for the shibata. I will admit that making round slices of whole carrot up to a 1/4" thick yielded great results. I wouldn't call it laser like performance especially since I compared it to the HD, but it cut beautifully. It actually cut in a way that I don't think I've felt before. Can't quite describe it but it really has a true path when you cut with it and feels great. Moving to bigger sections of carrot,2-3" long, it disappointed. It cracked carrots like I was not expecting. I also tried horizontal cuts on carrots and it got stuck every time and I couldn't finish the cut. Not lasery at all. I compared all of these cuts and techniques with the HD and the HD all out destroyed the shibata. Even the kuro laser performed better. It seems like it does well with softer ingredients but can't hold up to tougher ones. I actually got out my Gihei b2 and cut sweet pots and the Gihei was FAR better at this than the shibata. Hate me or not, this was my experience. Not sure about k-tip knives anymore, though still like the look, just maybe have to get one with more belly to raise the tip for my styles at least. I'm not writing off shibata at all. In fact I still want to try the bunka and the shibata AS gyuto. I haven't heard one bad thing about the kotetsu, but here it is from my own mouth. Also, the food release was decent. Please don't send me hatemail :D
caerolle
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Re: Shibata Kotetsu R2 240

Post by caerolle »

You are too funny, Spence, lol. Your experience is your experience, however it aligns with other people's experience or expectations. :)

I have read this a few times trying to wrap my head around it, though. I just got a 210 on Friday, and cut a pile of veggies yesterday. The Shibata slid right through everything for me, including some thick carrots. No cracking, either. But then, the other knives I was using for comparison did not crack the carrots, either, which surprised me, so perhaps I got some extra-pliable carrots, lol.

I also cut a sweet potato and turnip, and it slid through those, too, with a lot less force than I expected. Again, so did the other two knives, which surprised me. They are my best-cutting knives, though, so perhaps understandable, but it seems to usually take more force. Perhaps I was extra strong yesterday, lol. ;)

I feel pretty sure you checked the sharpness, but you didn't mention it...could that have been a factor? Mine was pretty sharp.

One thing that appeals to me about the Shibatas is the flat profile, I love love love a flat profile! I am almost totally a push-cutter, and only rock (cross-chop, really, I guess) when mincing herbs or soft product (very, very gently, with almost NO pressure on the tip!!!!). I did not do any mincing yesterday, but will be making some gazpacho this week and will try the Shibata for that. I don't go very high when mincing, but you do have me a bit worried about whether the Shibata with do well with rocking. I mostly use up-and-down cutting even when mincing, so may not be an issue. And even if it is, I still have my other awesome knives that kill at serious preps jobs, lol. I mostly got the Shibata for quick-and-dirty, weeknight stuff.

Your post and couple of others I have read make me really want to try a Kono Laser again, though, lol. I tried a 240 HD years ago when I first got into the Japanese knives (thanks, Jeff!), and it wasn't my thing at that time. Since then I have owned a Kono 240 White Laser, which I liked really well in a lot of ways, but was really put off by the tarnishing of the whole blade. I think I am the only person on the site who agrees with the Japanese that patina looks dirty and nasty, lol. So, I got rid of it. But I am thinking I should get a Kono 240 Swedish Laser and give that a try. My main concern is whether it would be flat enough for me.

Thanks for the review!

Carol :)
MisoSatisfried
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Re: Shibata Kotetsu R2 240

Post by MisoSatisfried »

I typically make a sweet potato hash on Sundays and your review made me grab my 240 Shibata to test your results as I had a completely different experience with carrots in the past. Oddly, my experience was more like Carol's as well, ha. It may be the smoothest thing I've used on a sweet potato! I typically would grab the Anryu here and while it goes through them wonderfully, you feel it and it needs a little effort. The Shibata was like a hot knife through butter against them. No noise and it even left nice little stacks with the potatoes that were large and taller than the knife. Unreal performance. Crazy, one man's trash... another's treasure! Shows how much preference and one's style comes into play. Glad you had a chance to test one and learn it wasn't your cup of tea before buying it! I completely agree with you about one thing though and that is it's rocking abilities. Mine is half dead flat as well almost with a very low tip. If you enjoy rocking, run, this isn't your laser!
I'm Dave. I don't take myself too seriously and you probably shouldn't either.
slobound
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Re: Shibata Kotetsu R2 240

Post by slobound »

Bwahahaha, I totally love how you started the thread with a disclaimer!

I'm on the other side of the fence on this one. I really love the 240 Kotetsu and in my experience, it flew through carrots, potatoes, bell peppers, and onions. I felt like it excelled with pull cuts through the tip. I used it as a slicer yesterday for a brisket and I wish it had a touch more heft to the blade but it's still did pretty decent.

Where I did have issues was chopping up some cooked bacon (I got some microchipping going on & I sharpened those right out) and I'm completely scared to rock chop with it for mincing garlic (I felt like the tip was going to catch and I would break the tip right off).

I still really love the knife but I guess that's what I have different knives for different purposes.
-- Garrick
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