Gyuoto or Kiritsuke?

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Recoil Rob
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Gyuoto or Kiritsuke?

Post by Recoil Rob »

I'm an experienced home chef, I fish and hunt and butcher my own fish and deer. I sharpen my own knives, I have traditional sharpening equipment and also 1000, 5000 & 10000 Chosera stones.

I've always had Western cutlery, I live near JA Henkels US HQ and have purchased many knives at their annual warehouse sales.

Last year I purchased a Henkels Deba (Morimoto branded) and have been using it to butcher my own fish, I find the single bevel very efficient to use.

My B'Day is coming up and my girlfriend would like to get me a good Japanese knife, wood handle and perhaps Damascus blade (she's fond of the "squiggly blades")

I have never been satisfied with my 8 & 10 " Henkel's chef knives, they work well enough but I have always been curious about what difference a good Japanese knife would make in my slicing and chopping. I see the closest thing to a western chef's knife is a Gyuoto but aren't they double bevel? What would be the single bevel equivalent of an 8-10" Western chef knife? A Kiritsuke?

I am more of a push/pull guy, not a rocker.


thanks,

Rob
Qapla'
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Re: Gyuoto or Kiritsuke?

Post by Qapla' »

Gyutos are almost exclusively double-beveled. They are the Japanese takeoff of the Western chef's knife, and it's hard to beat them for general-use versatility.

Single-bevel gyutos are extremely rare, though they do exist. And though there does exist a traditional Japanese single-bevel knife that mirrors the gyuto's height and vaguely resembles its profile, the mioroshi-deba (literally "flesh-descensor pointed-blade" or more naturally "fileting knife") is a specialized variant of deba and not a general-use knife.

There are two major kinds of knives sold as "kiritsuke" nowadays; single-beveled kiritsuke (a traditional Japanese multipurpose knife), and double-beveled knives with a kiritsuke-like profile (these are known as bunka-bocho if they're <210mm or kiritsuke-gyuto if they're >=210mm). The latter is quite compatible with international cuisine and technique; it's effectively a variant of a chef's knife for people who like a flatter profile. The former is very specialized for techniques of Japanese cuisine.
cedarhouse
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Re: Gyuoto or Kiritsuke?

Post by cedarhouse »

For most tasks, a single bevel knife would be pretty tough to use. As I understand it, most Japanese home cooks use double beveled knives (though I claim no expertise).
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lsboogy
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Re: Gyuoto or Kiritsuke?

Post by lsboogy »

I think it's just preference. The person who puts me up whenever I am in Tokyo uses all single bevel knives, and his wife uses mostly double. I like single bevels for fish and some veg, and double for most other stuff. Profile is what cha like (I learned on Sabatier knives of the 30's-50's, and spent so much time on the French profile I can't help but use knives with that profile) - but steel and grind are the other two parts. I am learning about grinds - my first thinned knife is teaching me something - near Sabatier profile, decent steel (AEBL) and thank to cjmeik has a grind that makes me grin. I did lamb for my brother's mother in law's 80th today, and used just one knife - did rib chops by the dozen and lots of shanks.

It seems we all go in thinking we will get one knife that is some sort of perfect thing and at least I found that all knives are different and some are better at some things than others.
t3chi3
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Re: Gyuoto or Kiritsuke?

Post by t3chi3 »

I have a long, narrow kiritsuke and I love it. The single bevel takes the guesswork out of sharpening, I have a double bevel gyuto that is giving me fits and I just can't get it nearly as sharp. I have been using the kiritsuke as my primary knife, I just wish it was a bit taller. It's the sharpest knife in my bag and I slice through things rather than chop.

https://www.chefknivestogo.com/ki27kibl2ro.html
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