Gyuto and petty

[MattC]

Hey, I'm deciding to invest in some new knives and stones, just want some recommendations and guidance. My budget isn't massive because I'm still a student. Thank you!

1)Pro or home cook?

Home cook

2)What kind of knife do you want? (Gyuto, Santuko, Petty, Paring, Sujihiki, etc.)

Gyuto and a petty knife

3) What size knife do you want?

210mm for gyuto, unsure for petty knife

4)How much do you want to spend?

250 USD

5) Do you prefer all stainless, stainless clad over reactive carbon, or all reactive carbon construction?

Prefer carbon

6)Do you prefer Western or Japanese handle?

Japanese handle for the gyuto and western for a petty

7)What are your main knife/knives now?

Cheap ivo knives

8)Are your knife skills excellent, good, fair?

Fairly good

9)What cutting techniques do you prefer? Are you a rocker, chopper or push/pull cutter?

Rocker and chopper

10)Do you know how to sharpen?

Learning, but I only have one inexpensive stone currently

[Ourorboros]

Well I'd really recommend putting some of that budget into a good combo stone or 1K stone. You're going to get better results with a good knife & stone rather than a great knife and questionable stone. The Cerax 1K/3K combo stone is in stock and $55.
That said, if I were maxing out that $250 on two knives it would be the 210mm Yahiko Nashiji & the Mac Chef's series 5.5" Petty Knife.
I believe in putting the bulk of the money into where performance shows the most & is used the most. The Yahiko is a great chopper/push cutter. White #2 steel takes a great edge. You can rock chop with it, but not tall stuff. The Kaneshige Blue 2 is another to consider. From a great line. It has a harder edge, so don't abuse it.
A petty knife for me replaces a paring knife and boning knife while being great for a lot of veg prep & other utility work. The MAC has a good tough steel - it has survived my mom. This gives you enough length to easily portion a chicken.

The Cerax combo stone is good to start on. It is a quality stone. The 3K side gives you an edge good for meats & vegetable. Use it for touch ups. The 1K side is for when the knife gets duller or touching up isn't enough. Don't let your knife get dull & it should be sufficient. In the future you will need something for flattening the stones, but that is later.
If this is part of the $250 budget, then I'd get a Fujiwara 150mm petty knife. I think your best bet with the remaining money is the Kanehide P60 gyuto, but it isn't a carbon steel knife. Very good rep though. For carbon options, the Kohetsu Nashiji Blue 2 or Harukaze AS look like good bets.

[jbart65]

What would use a petty for? I have a few 3.25-inch Wusthofs for my wife but I never use them. I do have a 150 petty that I use sometimes for small tasks. They can double as a boning knife for chicken or big slabs of meat.

Since you are a student I'd just get an $7 Victorinox at Amazon. Cheap and sharp. Put the rest of your money toward a stone and 210 gyuto. Buy a better petty after you graduate or if you find yourself wishing for a better or longer one.



Go bigger if you can, especially if you are big yourself or have the cooking space. Japanese 240s can be quite light and surprisingly easy to handle compared to regular knives.

The Goko and Harukaze AS are also both good options. Goko is super easy to sharpen. Indeed, white steel is best for newcomers to J knives. Even when I was a novice sharpener I could get white steel blazing sharp.

The Gihei B#2 is a great knife, but it is on the heavier side so I seldom recommend it to J knife beginners.

If you want fully stainless, the Kanehide PS60 is a very good knife for the money, but the Tanaka VG10 is closer to a pure J knife experience. Mediocre handle but it sure can cut.

[MattC]

Thank you for the responses, I currently do have a victorinox 3.25 inch knife. I decided maybe I should just invest my money in a good gyuto and stone. How are king stones? They seem to be pretty affordable.

[AlbuquerqueDan]

Good call on sticking with the victorinox paring knife. I dove deep into Japanese knives earlier this year and now have about 8 jknives with more to come. They're a game changer. HOWEVER: I still use my victorinox paring knife a lot, especially for in-hand work (e.g., peeling/coring apples). Nothing I own is as nimble as that little guy, and it's super easy to sharpen and hone.

In addition to a 210 or 240 guyto and some water stones, I would also recommend a leather strop and some green honing compound. I think the more advanced sharpeners may disagree, but in my experience, the leather strop is very forgiving and easily allows you to get your knife into "scary sharp" territory. Mine is a 3x10 inch strip of horse leather glued to a 2x4. It really does take the edge to a whole different level when you're first starting out. I think it's $15 very well spent.

Good luck and have fun! Let us know what you choose.

[ChefKnivesToGo]

Here’s a cheap paring knife that I picked up and it’s actually pretty good. Japanese steel, comes with a sheath and it’s $10
https://www.chefknivestogo.com/kuripakn.html

[cwillett]

There are a couple of options to consider that don't really fall under what you asked about, but that you might want to consider. As others have pointed out, you'll want to learn to sharpen: A crappy knife that is uber sharp will be a lot nicer to use than the most awesome-est Japanese knife that is dull. From a purely cooking perspective, I'd look for a smaller, rather than a larger, primary knife that can do as much as possible. This means, to me, a short gyuto or a longer santoku. As an undergraduate I never had a place to cook other than my dorm room. As a graduate student I tended to have a "galley" kitchen to cook in. My current kitchen isn't much larger. A smaller knife tends to be easier to manipulate. If I was in your shoes, I'd pick up:

https://www.chefknivestogo.com/kapsgy19.html

You didn't want a western handled gyuto, and you wanted carbon, and this is neither, but for $120 I think I'd go this route. I haven't used this particular knife, but people like it, it has a geometry that I like, looks good, and is short enough to be nimble in cramped environments, but long enough to tackle bigger chores like cabbage.

Next, I'd add a combination stone such as

https://www.chefknivestogo.com/ceraxcombo1k3k.html

I haven't used this, but I sharpen on a Cerax 1k and a Rika 5k and like both. You're at $175 right now. You'll need to maintain the stones, so you'll want a flattening plate. People like this one:

https://www.chefknivestogo.com/140grdistflp.html

This gets you to $205. Stick with you current paring knife. I've been sharpening for about 10 months now and have found that a strop really, really helps. For $45 you can ;ick up

https://www.chefknivestogo.com/3x8stropset4pc.html

This puts you right at $250. If you look at the numbers you'll be spending more on sharpening stuff than the knife itself. This is a good long term strategy.When you have more money you can add functionality as you need it.