Knife Recommendations

[corms99]

Hi folks,
I have been scoping out this site for a while and decided to jump in. I know little about Japanese knives and hoping you folks could offer recommendations. Here are my details:

1)Pro or home cook? Home cook (though I have taken some professional courses ...) I do have 200+ cookbooks though ... so am pretty serious about cooking ... (Folks gotta eat, right?)

2)What kind of knife do you want? (Gyuto, Santoku, Petty, Paring, Sujihiki, etc.)
Leaning towards Gyoto as I want an all-arounder knife

3) What size knife do you want?
Does the answer "somewhere in the middle" make sense?

4)How much do you want to spend?
Less than a Maserati would be nice ...

5) Do you prefer all stainless, stainless clad over reactive carbon, or all reactive carbon construction?
I have a few high end chef knives from Cut Brooklyn ... one in carbon and the other in stainless. I completely dig patina and it "growing with me" over time. Also not adverse to caring for the carbon blade.

6)Do you prefer Western or Japanese handle?
Japanese

7)What are your main knife/knives now?
My ride or die knife a a cheap Calphalon Kitana Santoku ... for a $70 knife I is just an extension of my hand. I also have a couple of Joel's Cut Brooklyn knives ... one in carbon, other in SS

8)Are your knife skills excellent, good, fair?
Good+ / Excellent-

9)What cutting techniques do you prefer? Are you a rocker, chopper or push/pull cutter?
It actually depends ... for speed stuff I tend to rock ... but other items I chop using knuckles as my guide

10)Do you know how to sharpen?
No ... I do have a few stones but am comfortable enough to say I am scared ...



Thank you in advance !!!! (I know there are a ton of these intro questions ... love any wisdom someone can throw along my way)
Mark

[aporigine]

if you like a thin agile blade, it’s hard to beat this. Shibata ootb edge is the stuff of legend.

https://www.chefknivestogo.com/shkar2gy211.html

(I have the 240, and it handles like a shorter blade while giving the full benefit of the 240 length. Imho the 240 is a good match to your santoku. And once you feel a Shibata ghost through onion or potato … yer ruined for life!)

A slightly stouter blade; great edge steel

https://www.chefknivestogo.com/makogy21.html

neither of these are rockers; Jknives generally are not.

(add) your Calphalon is a good knife on which to learn sharpening. If one of your stones is a waterstone 500 to 1000 grit, and you can get and keep it flat, you’re on your way!

[XexoX]

Welcome to the forum Sir Mark! A big thank you for starting out with the questionnaire. You get bonus points for that. Shows you have been reading and lurking here.

Best of luck with finding the right knife. Only thing I'll tell you is to ask Mr. Mark (one of the owners of CKTG) if the knife you are buying needs finish sharpening. It is a bit cheaper to have the knife sharpened before it is sent to you. Many, but not all, knives need this as the maker figures the buyer will be doing the final sharpening.

[Radar53]

+1 on aporigine's recs. I have the 240 Shibata and agree that it "feels" like a shorter blade. They created a real stir when they hit CKTG and this forum.

I also have a Masakage 240 and with an 800 year heritage, it's just one of those knives.

[Radar53]

Gladius has just pointed out to me that in my post above I said "Masakagi 240 " and queried if I meant "Moritaka 240" and he is quite correct. I had been cruising some Masakage knives on the site and had a "blond" moment in making the post above. Well spotted on his part and my appreciation in being able to correct it.

[gladius]

I like the Masakage Yuki Gyuto 210mm <<. It is a high performance "somewhere in the middle" all-around knife that is very easy to sharpen, many times less than a Maserati, with a carbon core that develops a nice patina with stainless-cladding making it easy to maintain.

Most all reviews are 5-star. As you can see by its profile, it can accommodate various cutting styles including rocking...



Make sure to add a whetstone to keep it sharp. I like the Imanishi Two Sided 1K/6K Stone <<. It leaves a great finish and is easy to use and very forgiving.

[Bob Z]

Ahh the good old days with Charlemagne videos! That particular one was my favorite. I got the Nakiri in this line and like it. But for a gyuto I got a Kato Ginsan 210 for a bit more and like it alot. The profile is almost identical but you have a better handle and full stainless blade.

https://www.chefknivestogo.com/kagigy21.html

[Kekoa]

But for a gyuto I got a Kato Ginsan 210 for a bit more and like it alot. The profile is almost identical but you have a better handle and full stainless blade.

https://www.chefknivestogo.com/kagigy21.html

Kato makes the Masakage I believe, so they probably are a very similar profile.

If I were to add any suggestion to the list so far, I'd take a look at Anryu too if you want to go the direction of something a little more substantial feeling and less laser like than a Shibata. Anryu is similar to Masakage and Kato in category.

[corms99]

Thank you all so much for the quick/knowledge-filled replies. You have all given me the task of now making up my mind!!

I believe I am leaning towards a "discussion with the wife" ... which sounds like, "I couldn't make up my mind so I bought a couple".



Now to learn how to sharpen ... I assume that is another thread/section altogether ... (I guess my main question is do folks do that by hand or can anyone swear by the various angled gizmos out there ...)


Thanks again folks!

[gladius]

Now to learn how to sharpen ... I assume that is another thread/section altogether ... (I guess my main question is do folks do that by hand or can anyone swear by the various angled gizmos out there ...)

---
You will be well rewarded learning to sharpen by hand, it is easy once you get the feel of it.
Check out these lessons <<

Also see here <<.

[aporigine]

+1 on freehand.

I’ve used a friend’s Edge Pro and it does the job, but it takes a while to deploy and stow. It also does less well on wide knives, and not at all for single-bevel grinds.

Get thee a good 320 to 400 stone to set the bevel, a 1000 to 1500 to refine it, a way of keeping the stones flat*, a Sharpie and a good (no Chinese content) loupe. That’s enough equipment to do everything you need.

If your experience follows mine, you’ll get serviceable edges with not much practice, and progressively better ones as you build skill. It’s a pretty gratifying process.

You can get a paper-cutting sharp edge off the 400, and a screamer off the 1000. At that point you can decide if you want to get a stone of finer grit. But even after the lower-grit workout, you’re getting the performance that draws the regulars on this forum to Japanese knives in the first place. Hope this helps ~

*this is a popular flattening plate. I have one, and it works well. Excellent value.

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

[Radar53]

I started using an EdgePro way back in the late '90s and added freehand to the medley in the early 2010's. Both can be great for different reasons and to this day I still sharpen my most prized knives on an EdgePro Pro. Like anything it has its plusses & minuses.

In defence of the EdgePro, if you come to sharpening with no sharpening skills , it will give you genuinely sharp, repeatable edges with the shortest learning time. It certainly doesn't have the feel good factor that freehand sharpening provides, and yes it's more fiddly & "mechanical.

Probably ten years ago I met a professional sharpener here in NZ who trained under Shibata-san and we got to know each other well. At one stage he asked me if I thought I could get an edge on the EdgePro as good as he could get freehand and like a mug, I said "Yes!". We met up a week later and he did all the sharpness tests on both his and my knife. Backwards & forwards, testing this & that plus cutting a selection of vegetables. His comment to me was that he was shocked and had no idea you could get a knife sharper than his, using the EdgePro.

I suspect that the main difference was that he spent maybe five minutes sharpening his and I spent almost a day doing mine. Using the bigger freehand stones removes more metal more quickly and if you can't leave the EdgePro permanently set up in your shed or whatever, you have to set it up and put it away again each time. Learning to freehand took me longer even though I knew how to get a knife sharp. Like I said there are plusses & minuses.

On the main forum page you will see a complete section on the EdgePro (viewforum.php?f=5) ~ it's at least worth a look. I'm probably one of the last EdgePro-ers still on the site. Best of luck with whichever option you choose.

[corms99]

Wanted to round this one out / finish this off. After much hand wringing and Friday night "beer deliberations" ... well, I couldn't decide between the Masakage Yuki / Koichi 210 Gyuto. So I bought both!!! (Don't tell the wife)

I picked them up yesterday and they are both TRULY stunning.


Thanks again for all the advice folks ... looking forward to chatting with you all in the future

[gladius]

Excellent choices! Enjoy.

[Kekoa]

Nice! I really love the shape of the Masakages. I am having a custom knife made that is shaped very much like a taller version of the Yuki.

[JASinIL2006]

Enjoy the knives! Never had a Koichi, but the Yuki is quite nice.

[TheLegalRazor]

I have a Yuki santoku and a Koichi nakiri. The Yuki and Koishi are both excellent choices.

[Jeff B]

...well, I couldn't decide... So I bought both!!! (Don't tell the wife)..

Atta boy, you be our kinda people!