Makoto Sakura SG2 Gyuto

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jbart65
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Re: Makoto Sakura SG2 Gyuto

Post by jbart65 »

Just catching onto this exchange now. I am not sure how I define a laser. As Supreme Court Justice Potter Stevens once said in a case about pornography, I know it when I see it.

Very thin from spine to tip and generally lighter, with the ability to ghost through any food. Only the HD and its white steel variant as well as the Shibata AS meet my definition. The 210 version of the Kurosaki R2, but not the 240, would fit my definition too.

By the way, the best R2 knives I have used are the Kuro 210 and Kamo 240. The Kuro didn’t feel so much like powdered steel and the Kamo combined finesse with power in a great profile that is hard to top as a complete package.
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Re: Makoto Sakura SG2 Gyuto

Post by mlb1988 »

What about the toughness upon crushing garlic? Hope this question didnt offend anyone. I just don't want to deal with the same issue as I did with Shibata :< they bent easily...
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Re: Makoto Sakura SG2 Gyuto

Post by Bensbites »

mlb1988 wrote: Sat Jun 23, 2018 4:29 pm What about the toughness upon crushing garlic? Hope this question didnt offend anyone. I just don't want to deal with the same issue as I did with Shibata :< they bent easily...
I have not tried crushing garlic with the SG2 when it was in my hands, but the blade felt stiff enough. Then again I have trouble imagining any knife failing that test. Can you post pics? Did you apply force over the garlic or try to get leverage?
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Re: Makoto Sakura SG2 Gyuto

Post by cwillett »

I wouldn't consider this a dainty knife. So far I haven't had to change my cutting style fit the knife and it seems that this isn't a specialized knife as much as it is a thin, basic one. I haven't whacked garlic with it, but I'd have a hard time imagining that it wouldn't be fine.
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Re: Makoto Sakura SG2 Gyuto

Post by enjay »

mlb1988 wrote: Sat Jun 23, 2018 4:29 pm What about the toughness upon crushing garlic? Hope this question didnt offend anyone. I just don't want to deal with the same issue as I did with Shibata :< they bent easily...
What technique did you use to crush the garlic with your Shibata?
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Re: Makoto Sakura SG2 Gyuto

Post by Kit Craft »

mlb1988 wrote: Sat Jun 23, 2018 4:29 pm What about the toughness upon crushing garlic? Hope this question didnt offend anyone. I just don't want to deal with the same issue as I did with Shibata :< they bent easily...
Smash it with the butt of the handle.
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Re: Makoto Sakura SG2 Gyuto

Post by Lepus »

Image

The only time I dont use one is when paired with a cleaver.
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Re: Makoto Sakura SG2 Gyuto

Post by Altadan »

Lepus wrote: Sun Jun 24, 2018 11:32 am Image

The only time I dont use one is when paired with a cleaver.
Back when I worked for a spell as a prep and pizza-line man in an Italian restaurant, these did everything from scraping the station clean, portioning the dough, and lifting the tomatoes, oh all those diced tomatoes... into that tall pot of (they called it coolie, but I'm not sure this translate well into English).

Useful piece of metal, that one :)
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Re: Makoto Sakura SG2 Gyuto

Post by Lepus »

Coulis is actually 100% correct. Plenty of people would just call it marinara or a tomato sauce, but there are some minute differences. I have bought maybe a dozen bench knives, to the point people have joked I buy one every time I go on a vacation, and they are right because I love them and would,not be without one. I have used mine for many tomatoes. They are as you suggest useful for so, so much. One of the reasons I have enjoyed using a cleaver so much for the past month is that they are built in bench knives.
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Re: Makoto Sakura SG2 Gyuto

Post by mlb1988 »

Kit Craft wrote: Sun Jun 24, 2018 10:53 am
mlb1988 wrote: Sat Jun 23, 2018 4:29 pm What about the toughness upon crushing garlic? Hope this question didnt offend anyone. I just don't want to deal with the same issue as I did with Shibata :< they bent easily...
Smash it with the butt of the handle.
Which I did, but close enough. I think shibata is really thin. I was wondering about makoto. I dont have shibata anymore unfortunately.
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Re: Makoto Sakura SG2 Gyuto

Post by Kit Craft »

Lepus wrote: Sun Jun 24, 2018 11:32 am Image

The only time I dont use one is when paired with a cleaver.
I keep on tucked under the right side of my board at all times. :)
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Re: Makoto Sakura SG2 Gyuto

Post by salemj »

Lepus wrote: Sun Jun 24, 2018 11:32 am Image

The only time I dont use one is when paired with a cleaver.
Gosh. I literally have one of these on or near my board at all times for so many tasks, and I don't think I ever thought to use it to smash garlic (I mostly stopped smashing garlic, period)...

Actually one surprising use: my current stove is a glass/ceramic-top electric range (blerg). I actually use a scraper to clean it. Brilliant for quickly removing any charred bits clean off the surface.
~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: Makoto Sakura SG2 Gyuto

Post by Jeff B »

Lepus wrote: Sun Jun 24, 2018 11:32 am Image

The only time I dont use one is when paired with a cleaver.
Use this nearly as much as my knives!
If God wanted me to be a vegetarian he wouldn't have made animals taste so good.
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Re: Makoto Sakura SG2 Gyuto

Post by jbart65 »

Gosh, I keep two of those scrapers next to me when I cook. Good for so many things. Drop something on the floor? Scoop to trash. Got some sticky stuff on the counter? Scrape it away. Stray bits of food on the cutting board? Off it goes. Need to core an apple or cut out little rounds of thingies? Use the rounded part.

Gotta get me a new one. I've used mine so much the ruler figures disappeared eons ago. Always find myself looking for a ruler ...
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Re: Makoto Sakura SG2 Gyuto

Post by mlb1988 »

jbart65 wrote: Tue Jul 10, 2018 11:22 am Gosh, I keep two of those scrapers next to me when I cook. Good for so many things. Drop something on the floor? Scoop to trash. Got some sticky stuff on the counter? Scrape it away. Stray bits of food on the cutting board? Off it goes. Need to core an apple or cut out little rounds of thingies? Use the rounded part.

Gotta get me a new one. I've used mine so much the ruler figures disappeared eons ago. Always find myself looking for a ruler ...
:lol: :lol:
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Re: Makoto Sakura SG2 Gyuto

Post by mlb1988 »

I was hoping people would say more about this knife as I kept coming back to check this forum lol. I really would love to buy it but how good is it compared to Takamura, I know they're both think, and Takamura probably excel at R2, then again, Makoto was trained from one of the good black smith... I just don't wanna deal with the tragedy as I did with Shibata >.< definitely not a garlic crusher.
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Re: Makoto Sakura SG2 Gyuto

Post by salemj »

mlb1988 wrote: Fri Jul 13, 2018 10:02 pm I was hoping people would say more about this knife as I kept coming back to check this forum lol. I really would love to buy it but how good is it compared to Takamura, I know they're both think, and Takamura probably excel at R2, then again, Makoto was trained from one of the good black smith... I just don't wanna deal with the tragedy as I did with Shibata >.< definitely not a garlic crusher.
I'd guess the Takamura is going to be/feel at least as fragile, if not more so. The Takamura felt to me like a thin, clad, almost stamped knife, which means it felt quite flexible and quite bendable when you apply lateral forces. It was fine for cutting, of course: like a Takeda, as long as it's sharp, it doesn't flex in the cut at all.
~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: Makoto Sakura SG2 Gyuto

Post by mlb1988 »

salemj wrote: Fri Jul 13, 2018 10:05 pm
mlb1988 wrote: Fri Jul 13, 2018 10:02 pm I was hoping people would say more about this knife as I kept coming back to check this forum lol. I really would love to buy it but how good is it compared to Takamura, I know they're both think, and Takamura probably excel at R2, then again, Makoto was trained from one of the good black smith... I just don't wanna deal with the tragedy as I did with Shibata >.< definitely not a garlic crusher.
I'd guess the Takamura is going to be/feel at least as fragile, if not more so. The Takamura felt to me like a thin, clad, almost stamped knife, which means it felt quite flexible and quite bendable when you apply lateral forces. It was fine for cutting, of course: like a Takeda, as long as it's sharp, it doesn't flex in the cut at all.
I am thinking of buying Makoto's SG2 Bunka lol, but that 1.9mm spine is scary. . .
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Re: Makoto Sakura SG2 Gyuto

Post by Bensbites »

mlb1988 wrote: Sun Jul 15, 2018 4:53 pm
salemj wrote: Fri Jul 13, 2018 10:05 pm
mlb1988 wrote: Fri Jul 13, 2018 10:02 pm I was hoping people would say more about this knife as I kept coming back to check this forum lol. I really would love to buy it but how good is it compared to Takamura, I know they're both think, and Takamura probably excel at R2, then again, Makoto was trained from one of the good black smith... I just don't wanna deal with the tragedy as I did with Shibata >.< definitely not a garlic crusher.
I'd guess the Takamura is going to be/feel at least as fragile, if not more so. The Takamura felt to me like a thin, clad, almost stamped knife, which means it felt quite flexible and quite bendable when you apply lateral forces. It was fine for cutting, of course: like a Takeda, as long as it's sharp, it doesn't flex in the cut at all.
I am thinking of buying Makoto's SG2 Bunka lol, but that 1.9mm spine is scary. . .
I have a feeling it would move in the classifieds if you didn’t like it.
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Re: Makoto Sakura SG2 Gyuto

Post by Cutuu »

mlb1988 wrote: Fri Jul 13, 2018 10:02 pm I was hoping people would say more about this knife as I kept coming back to check this forum lol. I really would love to buy it but how good is it compared to Takamura, I know they're both think, and Takamura probably excel at R2, then again, Makoto was trained from one of the good black smith... I just don't wanna deal with the tragedy as I did with Shibata >.< definitely not a garlic crusher.
I'll be honest. If I was you, I would run from the makato sg2. I would not suggest you get it at all. Rock your shibata. I have not used the sg2, but it's clad and super thin. The specs and pics screams straight up laser. Instead, I would get the stainless clad w2 original makato that mark offered. That knife will give you some substance and the confidence, while still being able to enjoy the Smith that your interested in. You will be able to smash the s*** out of some garlic with it.
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