Best Nakiri at food release?

[marlinspike]

Now that I finally have one of these handmade Japanese knives, I believe the hype. That said, while my Hinoura Tamashii Nakiri is everything I could have imagined it would be, there is one measure that I could still want to be even better: food release. So, which nakiri(s) has(have) the best food release, and is it a significant difference?

[cwillett]

My Matsubara Blue 2 nakiri does NOT do well at food release. Cukes, zucchini, onions, potatoes, they all climb up the side.

[Jeff B]

A Butch Harner, best Nakiri on the planet.

[Cutuu]

A Butch Harner, best Nakiri on the planet.

Really, i haven't heard details on his nakiri, would love to hear some. I wouldnt have guessed them to have amazing food release.

[Hari Itami]

If food release is defined as so easy cutting, slicing, dicing, mincing, etc., then I’m happy to have food quickly accumulate on my knife’s blade face to remove at intervals, keeping the immediate food prep area in front of me tidy.

[MisoSatisfried]

Out of the 30 knives I own... nothing touches my Takeda in the food release department. Half of the time, the food sits in its original shape on the board as if it hadn't even been touched, ha.

[gladius]

I have a Hinoura gyuto and food release is not really an issue as food slides up the smooth blade road and does not take much effort to slide it off, many knives are like this. If you want a little better release then you can break up the surface tension by lightly sanding the blade road.

Takeda blades have both an S-grind and a mottled KU finish that work together for good food separation and release.

Takedas S-grind:



Another good blade that has good food release due to the KU finish is the Moritaka Ishime Mega Nakiri 165mm.

Note the KU finish on the Moritaka:




Shibata knives also break-up the surface with a texture on the blade face that seems to work well.

[marlinspike]

I have a Hinoura gyuto and food release is not really an issue as food slides up the smooth blade road and does not take much effort to slide it off, many knives are like this. If you want a little better release then you can break up the surface tension by lightly sanding the blade road.

I should be clear: I wouldn't say the Hinoura has a problem with food release, in fact it was one of the things that I was impressed by, it's just the one category that I can imagine it might be possible to be even better at.

[J david]

This is what i have come to expect from my Toyama 210. It comes at the expense of cracking large carrots and such, but it is heaven for 90% of produce I regularly deal with.

[AlbuquerqueDan]

This is what i have come to expect from my Toyama 210. It comes at the expense of cracking large carrots and such, but it is heaven for 90% of produce I regularly deal with.

Oh, man! That's a knife I'd love to try out! I bet it just slays cabbage and the like.

[J david]

This is what i have come to expect from my Toyama 210. It comes at the expense of cracking large carrots and such, but it is heaven for 90% of produce I regularly deal with.

Oh, man! That's a knife I'd love to try out! I bet it just slays cabbage and the like.

Oh, yes indeed!

[Robstreperous]

I'll throw in a vote for the Takeda. I don't actually have one of his nakiris but I have his bunka (similar) and 4 of his other profiles. I've yet to find their equal at food release.

[Chefspence]

I agree that Takeda is unmatched by anything I e tried and echo others' comments on its performance. I also, though, will throw out the Yoshimitsu tall Nakiri. Has great KU texture and the heel has an s grind look from the choil view. I thought release was quite good on this knife. Only thing that stuck at all was diced cucumbers and julienned rutabaga. Check out the thread for it in the passarounds area.

[AlbuquerqueDan]

This is what i have come to expect from my Toyama 210. It comes at the expense of cracking large carrots and such, but it is heaven for 90% of produce I regularly deal with.

Oh, man! That's a knife I'd love to try out! I bet it just slays cabbage and the like.

Oh, yes indeed!

You know what else slays cabbage? Toyama 270. (Sorry for the hijack, but I just had to do it!)

[Cutuu]

Im going to be selling a takeda nakiri if your interested. 170 AS. Ive been having some problems with imgur and being lazy about overcoming it.

[J david]

Oh, man! That's a knife I'd love to try out! I bet it just slays cabbage and the like.

Oh, yes indeed!

You know what else slays cabbage? Toyama 270. (Sorry for the hijack, but I just had to do it!)

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I have one of those, too. All the Toyamas are top notch.

[AlbuquerqueDan]

[/quote]

I have one of those, too. All the Toyamas are top notch.
[/quote]

I want to be your friend, just so I could use all your knives.

I had to get the gyuto after falling in love with a Toyama suji last week. As it was put somewhere else: "you can always earn more money, but you won't always be able to buy a Toyama."

[marlinspike]

Hrm, I like the blade profile of my Hinoura much more than that of the Takeda. Maybe I'll just try roughing up its finish a bit.

[kmtyb]

I have a Masomoto KK Kurouchi Nakiri and it does very good job at food release.