Gihei Nashiji Aogami #2 240mm gyuto

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Lepus
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Gihei Nashiji Aogami #2 240mm gyuto

Post by Lepus »

I picked up the aogami Gihei recently. They have been available in the US for a while, so I'm well behind the curve, but I finally broke down and snagged one that was lovingly used.

Gihei is an interesting shop. They have a little history and at least some experience in traditional techniques, but like Sukenari they have jumped head first into the modern age. While I get the impression many blacksmiths use shirogami largely because it's the closest they can get to tamahagane, Gihei makes knives out of SLD, HAP40, ZDP-189, and I am sure any other exotic steel they can find. I never saw much press about the initial run of PM steel knives that first hit American shores, but I have seen plenty about the aogami knives that followed.

Out of the box the Gihei's handle and aesthetics are pretty middle of the road and a bit lifeless. The knife has a nice shallow nashiji finish, an artificial aesthetic blade road, and some stamped kanji. The horse stamp is particularly nice. I love this sort of maker's mark because I can understand the maker's signature without it feeling artificial like Roman characters. The blade road does largely follow the grind, which I like, and someone polishing with stones or pads could get this thing looking pretty sharp. The handle is oak and horn and it still has some deeper sanding scratches that have largely been smoothed over by finer abrasives, but it is comfortable, secure, and highly functional. All in all the fit and finish are fine but haven't been lavished with the sort of attention that is becoming more common.

The weight and balance on the Gihei don't feel middle of the road at all. The knife feels excellent, solid and composed, in hand. The spine starts thick out of the ferrule and has some nice taper for about a third of the knife. It holds the remaining thickness for a while but does taper off a bit more right before the grind at the tip. The large handle pulls my pinch grip back further than normal and the blade balances far forward on top of that, so the knife is quite blade heavy. The Gihei's height and length roughly mirror an Echizen knife, but it wears some 40 extra grams and a lot of that is foward of the pinch. This thing is an absolute bruiser.

I picked up the knife in time to use it on the 23rd at work. It came sharp and with a gorgeous patina. I didn't have much cutting to do that night but found the knife capable enough. I figured I would use the knife for Christmas with my family instead. Cooking those two days I did get a good feel for the grind, which is capable. The knife moves through food fine for its size, which when aided by the weight makes the knife a good cutter, and food separation and release are both as expected quite good. Unfortunately that didn't translate to an enjoyable kitchen experience at all. The knife is heavy and sharp enough it was catching and shifting my parent's cutting board during push cuts, even though the board had a damp towel underneath. Chopping was right out because I only needed to chop half an onion at a time. The knife really was too much for those meals. That was a little disappointing, but not a surprise. I didn't expect the Gihei to shine there.

Yesterday I went back to work and I was able to open things up. Gihei made this knife for volume. The flat spot at the heel is large and forgiving, perfect for shotgunning julienned onions, carrot rondelles, and dicing entire bushels of celery at once. The generous flat flows into a fairly round belly, which is interesting. That belly carries some of the weight that leaves the knife balancing so far forward and it is a little too round to promote glide cuts, but the tip and heel are so flat that even with that belly the knife still isn't a good rocker. I might even prefer the knife with a lower tip, Takeda style, because if I'm not going to rock and I'm not going to glide I might as well not have the belly at all, but that isn't a huge problem in use because the knife is such a capable push cutter already. The tip section that follows is just thin enough to do well in onions and to be used for draw slices but still flat and robust enough to tap chop garlic or shallots ad nauseum, big positives for me. I will judge retention and edge taking during the rest of this week. The knife came to me with an excellent edge and hasn't needed attention yet.

All in all this is a knife that should I think be a little divisive. The weight, tip, and heel leave it feeling a lot like a 270mm knife. Gihei only got this knife down to length by smashing 60mm worth of belly into 30mm. For a prep cook, this could be ideal, and I think the knife is an absolute gem for someone cutting a lot of food. I would steer most home cooks to the 210mm version, which I suspect would still feel sizable.

Personally, I like this knife a lot, but through no fault of its own I don't think it will have a home in my stable in the end. This style doesn't fit my cutting style horribly well and I would like to pick up a similar but more costly knife with a more refined finish and handle that match the knife's feel in hand. I would like it more if the knife was 10mm longer or so and the belly more relaxed. It has left me hungry for other Gihei knives, too. I want the tall petty in this line, which I have tried to buy before, more now than ever. I also want to try Gihei's more exotic stuff. If this is what Gihei can do when working with an old-school steel they don't really favor, I can't wait to see what they can do when making the knives they want to make.
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Re: Gihei Nashiji Aogami #2 240mm gyuto

Post by Chefspence »

Darn! I was hoping you'd like it as much as I do. You make very valid points and a great write up. I too have longed for some of the other Gihei offerings in b2 and some of the others. The blue seems to be the only line he gives a large flat to, as well as the heft. His others seem more in line with other makers. I can tell you the 210 is a smaller version of the 240 to a tee. Yes it has the heft, thick out of the handle, tapers to a nice point, belly with a flat tip, and of course the large flat at the heel. I absolutely love it. It's like a santoku, Nakiri, and a gyuto...or maybe just a flat gyuto with a flat tip ;) The 210 handle is also just octagonal ho/horn and not as chunky. I do t rock very much so I do t mi d the profile at all. After using as many knives as I finally have I understand that the large flat isn't completely necessary. All in all it's a fine blade. Thanks for the read!
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Re: Gihei Nashiji Aogami #2 240mm gyuto

Post by jbart65 »

The Gihei I owned seemed to have more finesse and wasn’t half bad as a rocker. Big all right, but still nimble. But yeah, not for everyone. Just a little too heavy for me. Which is weird since I owned Wusthofs for years.
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Re: Gihei Nashiji Aogami #2 240mm gyuto

Post by scopi »

Been eyeballing the 165 mm tall petty. ( Really a small gyuto ) Last one disappeared the day i dialled up to pull the trigger.
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Re: Gihei Nashiji Aogami #2 240mm gyuto

Post by salemj »

Wonderful review. Just fantastic. The descriptions make it clear that you are sensitive to feedback in the hand to a degree that is rare, turning what may be intuitions or nuances to others into concrete traits that seem obvious immediately rather than taking months to sort out. Thank you!
~Joe

Comments: I'm short, a home cook, prefer lighter, thinner blades, and own mostly Konosukes but have used over a dozen brands.
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Re: Gihei Nashiji Aogami #2 240mm gyuto

Post by Lepus »

You are too kind, Joe. Thank you.

To be fair, Spence, I like the knife enough it has sold me on two or three other knives. I'm still considering keeping it, but I know it would better serve a newer cook new to good knives who would use this knife daily. The Gihei is better than second fiddle. I used it tonight beside my Anryu and it kept up head to head. The two did some things differently, but I would not call either an empirically better performer. Particularly for root vegetables the tip on the Gihei is a godsend, as good as the middle section as the Anryu, and that is about as much praise as I can give a knife that will cut turnips. I have a Watanabe on the way, too, and I can't wait to test it against the Gihei. The knife will be in my bag for at least another week.
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Re: Gihei Nashiji Aogami #2 240mm gyuto

Post by Chefspence »

Awesome. That will be a good read too. Maybe you should get a Toyama too and do a little knife roundup :D I'd love to read that. I was also super impressed by the Gihei performance on root veg. Try slicing some cooked steak with it, the extra weight allows the knife to do most of the work for you. People have recommended that I try a watanabe and a Toyama since I like the Gihei so much and I'd be happy to hear your thoughts on the waranabe comparison. I just don't fancy all reactive knives much
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Re: Gihei Nashiji Aogami #2 240mm gyuto

Post by Bob Z »

scopi wrote»
Been eyeballing the 165 mm tall petty. ( Really a small gyuto ) Last one disappeared the day i dialled up to pull the trigger.
I got one of those and really like it, even my wife got enough courage to use it. I especially like the small flat spot by the tip.
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Re: Gihei Nashiji Aogami #2 240mm gyuto

Post by Lepus »

I've had the Watanabe for a little while now and while I do think it's the better knife, the Gihei holds its own impressively at half the cost. The Gihei is a tremendous value.
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Re: Gihei Nashiji Aogami #2 240mm gyuto

Post by willic »

I recently gave this knife a new home... she is such an amazing line knife! She slices cooked and raw proteins very well and with a slower stroke, is capable of handling very delicate protein surface crusts which most knives butcher. Last night out sauce prep person forgot tons of items, so I had to dice shallots, onions, different peppers, etc to a fine brunoise; this knife tore through VOLUMES of this fine work, then was ready for the hot line. she might be the best all purpose knife I've ever used at any price. For the present time, she's capable of more than I can do myself! I hate to touch a blade to a ceramic steel, but on the line, it happens. This Gihei rarely needs any touching up, even after 8-10 hours or hard use (not on plastic cutting boards)! This knife is a huge bang for the buck!!!!!!!!!

-Will
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Re: Gihei Nashiji Aogami #2 240mm gyuto

Post by Chefspence »

willic wrote: Sat Jul 14, 2018 7:50 pm I recently gave this knife a new home... she is such an amazing line knife! She slices cooked and raw proteins very well and with a slower stroke, is capable of handling very delicate protein surface crusts which most knives butcher. Last night out sauce prep person forgot tons of items, so I had to dice shallots, onions, different peppers, etc to a fine brunoise; this knife tore through VOLUMES of this fine work, then was ready for the hot line. she might be the best all purpose knife I've ever used at any price. For the present time, she's capable of more than I can do myself! I hate to touch a blade to a ceramic steel, but on the line, it happens. This Gihei rarely needs any touching up, even after 8-10 hours or hard use (not on plastic cutting boards)! This knife is a huge bang for the buck!!!!!!!!!

-Will
I had this very knife for a while and frickin love it! I kept the 210 version, and probably will never sell. I’m pretty sure I’ll get the 240 again sometime. One sweet, sweet knife! Have fun, oh and make sure to cut some sweet pots with it...pure joy
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Re: Gihei Nashiji Aogami #2 240mm gyuto

Post by willic »

She seems so thick mid height in the blade height, like it's such a low grind, but it works! I did lots of potatoes and onions, but not sweet pots... I have some blue chinese sweets that will be cut this coming week! :)
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Re: Gihei Nashiji Aogami #2 240mm gyuto

Post by Jeff B »

Have the 165mm petty and love it! Had the 240 but the Toyoma slid into its place and sent the Gihei packing, I want to pick up the 210 in this line now. I love the steel in this line!
If God wanted me to be a vegetarian he wouldn't have made animals taste so good.
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Re: Gihei Nashiji Aogami #2 240mm gyuto

Post by Chefspence »

willic wrote: Sun Jul 15, 2018 12:30 am She seems so thick mid height in the blade height, like it's such a low grind, but it works! I did lots of potatoes and onions, but not sweet pots... I have some blue chinese sweets that will be cut this coming week! :)
Dude, it’s an incredible knife. For as thick as it gets, it cuts amazingly!!! I put it to task on some thicke crusty NY steaks against a Kono laser and it slid through much easier. The weight is it’s upside. Let the knife do the work for you and it will reward you. Guaranteed.

I want it back now damnit :lol:
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Re: Gihei Nashiji Aogami #2 240mm gyuto

Post by Lepus »

I’m glad this review had legs and I’m glad willic likes the knife. I still think the Gihei is an incredible knife and if my situation were different I would certainly not have sold it. Rereading this thread also makes me desperately want a 270mm version, which if it had that flatter tip I imagine would match or beat a Sabatier as the best heavy duty knife ever made.

I still want to try the other Gihei lines, and would have bought the HAP40 gyuto a week or so ago had it been in stock. The tall petty I picked up is in my bag right now and I do not at this point know why I would ever remove it. Like the Masamoto KS gyuto that petty is an ideal knife, perfectly suited for its myriad intended purposes. I can’t offer much higher praise. Gihei is a very good name in my book.
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