The 4-knife, $600 budget challenge!

[Drewski]

I'm cheating...

Kanehiro AS Petty 150mm
https://www.chefknivestogo.com/kawa15.html

Konosuke Fujiyama Blue #2 Gyuto 240mm Laurel
https://www.chefknivestogo.com/kofubl2gy21e.html

$595

Ha! I thought about something similar

[Bluenoser87]

Fun.

For most things
Konosuke HD2 Gyuto 240mm Khii Laurel
https://www.chefknivestogo.com/kohd2gy24khl.html
$339

Something cheap for abusive things
Tsubazo Stainless Steel Cleaver 175mm
https://www.chefknivestogo.com/tsststclinsa.html
$34.95

For small things
Anryu Blue #2 Hammered Petty 150mm
https://www.chefknivestogo.com/kaanaspe13.html
$135

For bread things
MAC Superior Bread Knife 10.5 Inch
https://www.chefknivestogo.com/macsubrkn.html
$89.95

$598.90

Could even go a little cheaper on the HD2 handle

[Mike9]

I'll play -

Kanehide PS60 240mm Wa Gyuto -
https://www.chefknivestogo.com/kapswahagy24.html

Tojiro ITK 150mm Petty -
https://www.chefknivestogo.com/toshitk15pe.html

Kohesu Aogami 270mm Suji -
https://www.chefknivestogo.com/koaosu27su.html

Tojiro ITK 270mm Bread knife -
https://www.chefknivestogo.com/toitkbrkn.html

$454 - Money left over for a Green Brick of Joy and a serious night on the town.

[Cutuu]

How can all these knife nuts leave all this money unspent. Imagine these were the only knifes you could use.

[Robstreperous]

Fun challenge.... So I approached this as if I needed to have a full working set of knives to do just about everything


Shibata Kotetsu AS 240 gyuto . $270:
https://www.chefknivestogo.com/koasgy24.html

Takamura Migaki R2 130 petty $120
https://www.chefknivestogo.com/tamir2pe13.html

Anryu Hammered B2 150 Honesuki $145
https://www.chefknivestogo.com/tamir2pe13.html

Tojiro ITK Bread Knife $60
https://www.chefknivestogo.com/toitkbrkn.html

The Shibata and Tojiro will cover any of my slicing/carving tasks so no need for a sujihiki. Plus Shibata-san's knives just speak to me the way they fall through food. The Takamura R2 should hold a great edge and will handle any in hand stuff I need to do and the Honesuki takes care of any close to the bone stuff I need to do.

I might be a little exposed here if I needed to work with a lot of tall root vegetales but what the heck. I think I'd be pretty happy with this lineup.

[Robstreperous]

Or... Maybe this for a slightly stouter gyuto ....

Yoshimi SG2 240 gyuto $299
https://www.chefknivestogo.com/yosg2gy24.html

Takamura Chromax 130 Petty $95
https://www.chefknivestogo.com/tachpe13.html

Anryu Hammered B2 150 Honesuki $145
https://www.chefknivestogo.com/tamir2pe13.html

Tojiro ITK Bread Knife $60
https://www.chefknivestogo.com/toitkbrkn.html

After giving this way too much thought I think this might be the way I'd go vs my post above. The Yoshimi (while it's no slouch) sacrifices a little performance vs the Shibata but since the Yoshimi's stouter I'd get a bit more utility. The Shibata's also a better slicer but I still feel I could get by with the Yoshimi.

Pettys I like R2 but the Chromax should do just fine as a petty so to save $30 I'll drop down to the Chromax.

$599 nailed it. Any props for spending all but $1 of the challenge's money?

[Igalor]

Ok.

Tanaka nashiji 240 gyuto. 210

https://www.chefknivestogo.com/tabl2nagy24.html

Takeda sasanoha nas 210 gyuto. 330

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

Fujiwara fkm 150 petty. 44


https://www.chefknivestogo.com/fufkmpe15.html

Oyster knife. 16

https://www.chefknivestogo.com/oykn10.html

Grand total 600.

The oyster knife was just to use all the budget, but they do come in handy.

[snipes]

I'll play -

Kanehide PS60 240mm Wa Gyuto -
https://www.chefknivestogo.com/kapswahagy24.html

Tojiro ITK 150mm Petty -
https://www.chefknivestogo.com/toshitk15pe.html

Kohesu Aogami 270mm Suji -
https://www.chefknivestogo.com/koaosu27su.html

Tojiro ITK 270mm Bread knife -
https://www.chefknivestogo.com/toitkbrkn.html

$454 - Money left over for a Green Brick of Joy and a serious night on the town.

Mike, this is such a solid combo right here one could almost offer it as a starter package. I could do everything I ever needed with this setup right here.

[jbart65]

Someone say 5-knife challenge?

Fun exercise. I don't want to settle, though.

total: $593


Tanaka Sekiso 240 $220
https://www.chefknivestogo.com/tanakagyuto1.html

Masakage Yuki Nakiri $173
https://www.chefknivestogo.com/mayuna16.html

Kohetsu VG-5 Tsuchime Petty 150 $75
https://www.chefknivestogo.com/kovg5tspe15.html

Kanehide Bessaku Honesuki 150mm $65
https://www.chefknivestogo.com/kanehide.html

Tojiro ITK Bread Knife $60
https://www.chefknivestogo.com/toitkbrkn.html

I could do everything I need with these five knives. Two of them are at the top of their class

My Sekiso is the best knife I’ve used. Great all-rounder that rocks well for Euro-style prep.

I’d need stainless clad in the arsenal since the Sekiso is fully reactive. The Yuki is a great chopper and the best 165 nakiri I have owned or tried. I cook a lot of Asian and stir-fries. This would be my go-to.

The Kohetsu line of knives is a great value. The 150 petty has a thin and fine tip and it’s stainless, too. My wife would use this a lot. I’d use it to fillet fish, trim meat and pare small fruit.

I own the Bessaku. Now that I have a honesuki I don’t want to be without one to break down chicks.

I bake and eat a fair amount of fresh bread and need a good knife for hard crusts.

Give me $3 more and I’d get a Rikon graphite parer.

[Cutuu]

Someone say 5-knife challenge?

Fun exercise. I don't want to settle, though.

total: $593


Tanaka Sekiso 240 $220
https://www.chefknivestogo.com/tanakagyuto1.html

Masakage Yuki Nakiri $173
https://www.chefknivestogo.com/mayuna16.html

Kohetsu VG-5 Tsuchime Petty 150 $75
https://www.chefknivestogo.com/kovg5tspe15.html

Kanehide Bessaku Honesuki 150mm $65
https://www.chefknivestogo.com/kanehide.html

Tojiro ITK Bread Knife $60
https://www.chefknivestogo.com/toitkbrkn.html

I could do everything I need with these five knives. Two of them are at the top of their class

My Sekiso is the best knife I’ve used. Great all-rounder that rocks well for Euro-style prep.

I’d need stainless clad in the arsenal since the Sekiso is fully reactive. The Yuki is a great chopper and the best 165 nakiri I have owned or tried. I cook a lot of Asian and stir-fries. This would be my go-to.

The Kohetsu line of knives is a great value. The 150 petty has a thin and fine tip and it’s stainless, too. My wife would use this a lot. I’d use it to fillet fish, trim meat and pare small fruit.

I own the Bessaku. Now that I have a honesuki I don’t want to be without one to break down chicks.

I bake and eat a fair amount of fresh bread and need a good knife for hard crusts.

Give me $3 more and I’d get a Rikon graphite parer.

Jbart glad you had the guts to break through! Five knives more appropriate, especially if it's all you will have. I have been thinking the same thing. Of course I'm not surprised you went sekisko route.

Alright, I've been mulling this over.

Makoto white stainless clad "hg" $180
https://www.chefknivestogo.com/mawh2gy24.html

Mazaki 270 Jns suji $289
http://www.japanesenaturalstones.com/ma ... iki-270mm/

CCK Small carbon cleaver $80
https://www.chefknivestogo.com/cckcleaver2.html

Tojiro bread knife $20
https://www.chefknivestogo.com/tobrkn.html

Kuhn pairing knife $10
https://www.chefknivestogo.com/kuripakn.html

Total $580

I struggled to n the gyuto. I was trying to work it around a takauyuki ginsan at first, but it didn't give me enough budget left. I then moved to work it around the kanehiro ginsan or AS, but decided to opt for the makato since it's kind of similar, and I could definitely rock it day in and day out. The cck carbon was always a must.

The alternative route is sub the kanehiro AS for makato gyuto and the mazaki for a kajiwara Damascus suji. I think I like this route better actually. So that is my final answer.

Kanehiro AS 240
https://www.chefknivestogo.com/ka24wa.html

Kajiwara Damascus 270 suji
https://www.chefknivestogo.com/tskasu27.html

CCK cleaver, tojiro bread knife, Kuhn parer total $575

[nakneker]

This has been a fun read.

Anyru B2 240 Gyuto - 240.00
https://www.chefknivestogo.com/kaanasgy24.html

Gihei B2 tally petty - 120.00
https://www.chefknivestogo.com/gibl2tape17.html

Tojiro ITK bread knife - 60.00
https://www.chefknivestogo.com/toitkbrkn.html

Kohetsu Aogami Suji - 200.00
https://www.chefknivestogo.com/koaosu27su.html

Total - 620.00, I’ll have to pretend one was on sale.

Change to five knives and I would change a few choices and add a Honesuki. When their thread runs it’s course it would be fun to tally a choice count and see what knives finish at the top.

[Bluenoser87]

Looks like Anryu B2 240 is a popular one

[Robstreperous]

Looks like Anryu B2 240 is a popular one

It's a really good value knife. Middle of the road profile, it'll rock, slice, chop pretty much nothing it doesn't do well and it's the best thing I've ever tried on root veggies. I hear good things about his Mizu as well.

[Cutuu]

Looks like Anryu B2 240 is a popular one

That was definitely one I I thought of building off of. I could easily be happy with it.

[Kit Craft]

How can all these knife nuts leave all this money unspent. Imagine these were the only knifes you could use.

Easy, I'd rather spend money on natural stones. Stones first, cookware second and knives third.

[Bmoze]

My collection isn’t large, but the four knives I reach for most often are:

Makoto AS 210 Gyoto - $195
https://www.chefknivestogo.com/maasgy21.html

Gihei 165 Tall Petty - $120
https://www.chefknivestogo.com/gibl2tape17.html

Yoshimitsu Fugen Bunka - $75
https://www.chefknivestogo.com/fuwh1bu16.html

Dauvua 120 Tall Petty - $40
https://www.chefknivestogo.com/dalesptape.html

If were going for five: Takamura 150 VG10 petty - $115
https://www.chefknivestogo.com/tavgnape15.html

$430 for top four, $545 for all five.

[jbart65]

Jbart glad you had the guts to break through! Five knives more appropriate, especially if it's all you will have. I have been thinking the same thing. Of course I'm not surprised you went sekisko route.

Challenging exercise. Only thing I'd be missing is a carver, but the Sekiso or bread knife could handle it.

From my view, the most important thing is to spend an appropriate amount for one's main knife. The Sekiso, Makoto and Anryu Hammered are all great options, but I might go in the end with the Tanaka Nashiji.

It doesn't have the great convex grind of the Sekiso, but it's got a thinner tip and is stainless. B#2 takes a great edge, holds it and is tougher than white steel. I think the Tanaka Nashiji and Anryu are the two best all-purpose knives on CKTG that cost less than $250.

[KOs88]

I d go with:

as main slicer
https://www.chefknivestogo.com/sasanoha.html
380

for veg
https://www.chefknivestogo.com/ccksmstcl.html
79.95

as petty
https://www.chefknivestogo.com/tovghape90.html
55

honesuki is needed
https://www.chefknivestogo.com/okbl2ho15.html
85

599.95 gone and one very happy
That was fun and thx all for inspiration!!!

[cjdilts]

Ok. I have given this one a lot of thought. In my kitchen these are my go to knives.

Moritaka as 240 - great workhorse knife, does everthing, solid ku and edge retention - $220
https://www.chefknivestogo.com/moritaka8.html

Cck small cleaver - because everyone should have one, no nakiri required $80
https://www.chefknivestogo.com/cckcleaver2.html

Anryu 150 Damascus honesuki - utility knife a poultry work $110
https://www.chefknivestogo.com/ankudaho15.html

This one -Something flexible for fish or poultry and can take a beating $35 (please guys don't yell at me)
Victorinox Forschner 8" Straight Knife - ...
Amazon.com › Victorinox-Forschner-8-...

Those guys would be my 4 and if my math isn't drinking puts me at $450. I could do everything with that.

The last 150 I would buy the cck large rhino to strike fear into the hearts of my foes.