Honesuki bone knife recommendations needed

[sacguy71]

1)Pro or home cook?
Home cook

2)What kind of knife do you want? (Gyuto, Santoku, Petty, Paring, Sujihiki, etc.)
Honesuki for breaking down whole chickens

3) What size knife do you want?
150mm

4)How much do you want to spend?
up to $400

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

6)Do you prefer Western or Japanese handle?
Japanese style

7)What are your main knife/knives now?
Miyabi Kaizen II Gyuto, Tsunehisa AUS10 Hammered Damascus Kiritsuke 210mm, and Kohetsu Blue #2 Nashiji Petty 170mm.

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

9)What cutting techniques do you prefer? Are you a rocker, chopper or push/pull cutter?
Hybrid- between chopper and push/pull cutter.


10)Do you know how to sharpen?
Yes, well I am learning to use whetstone on cheaper knives.


so looking good chicken boning knife for breaking down bone in chicken thighs or whole chickens

[jmcnelly85]

I’m not going to lie, your kohetsu petty seems like an outstanding chicken knife


https://www.chefknivestogoforums.com/vi ... hp?t=17408 This thread is filled with some good food for thought

[billk1002]

If you wanted to try something different, variety is the spice of life, this would make an excellent choice.
I own the nakiri from this line and the SLD steel gets wicked sharp and holds an edge very nicely.
Good luck with your search...

https://www.chefknivestogo.com/kosldho15.html

[cliff]

This is not generally a category where it makes sense to spend up. The basic Kanehide and Tojiro's are terrific and functional. If you want harder steel -- to my mind, not really necessary here -- you could look to Moritaka, still well within your budget. I like the Misono carbon 165. It's a little bigger, which I like; the steel sharpens easily and is forgiving.

If you want something fancier, in a single-bevel, Toyama makes a great one. While I haven't tried it, I'm confident the Takayuki Tokujo, forged by Togashi and also a single-bevel, is also great.

Most of the time, a stout petty will be more practical and versatile. But who wants to be practical?

[sacguy71]

Thank you, I will take a look at these and other options.

[Mowgface]

I have a cheap Masahiro that I love, as well as a much fancier Gesshin Ginga.

I agree that you don’t have to splurge for a specialty knife that does not get pulled out that often, but I will say I much rather use the Ginga even tho the Masahiro is perfectly functional.

[TheLegalRazor]

You can spend a lot on a honesuki, but you don't need to. My Kanehide, which is made for commercial butchery, works very well. Butchery is messy and your hands and knife end up wet and greasy. I put my Kanehide under the faucet and thoroughly clean the blade and handle with soap and water. I don't have to be as careful as with my wa handle, carbon steel knives.

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

[sacguy71]

I ended up buying a cheap Mercer boning knife for the time being. I think that I need to visit some high end cutlery shops to try out Honesuke and other knives.

[telda13]

If you wanted to try something different, variety is the spice of life, this would make an excellent choice.
I own the nakiri from this line and the SLD steel gets wicked sharp and holds an edge very nicely.
Good luck with your search...

https://www.chefknivestogo.com/kosldho15.html

I have this knife and would recommend it. I cut up a chicken or two roughly every other week. The knife sharpens up really quickly and has good edge retention.

[jmcnelly85]

I ended up buying a cheap Mercer boning knife for the time being. I think that I need to visit some high end cutlery shops to try out Honesuke and other knives.

Mercer makes solid boning knives, once you get comfortable with the butchery process give your petty a shot. There isn’t a lot of difference between a tall petty and a double bevel honesuki. If you still have the itch after that a good single bevel is in your future.

[wcarlew@hotmail.com]

Not only great for poultry, but I get great results shaping ice blocks for cocktails
https://www.chefknivestogo.com/katkhori15.html

[ronnie_suburban]

I have the Kahehide (left) and a Takeda (50/50). I reach for the Kanehide virtually every time. As others have posted, I don't think you "need" a nicer knife for these types of tasks, though there's certainly nothing wrong wanting/having one.

[Bob Z]

I went for a basic version here also and ended up liking it alot. Tojiro colored series with durable plastic handle and you can get a nice color for it also.
https://www.globalkitchenjapan.com/prod ... 4242446419

[cliff]

I love my Masahiro VC for quick, messy jobs, but it's no match for a Toyama single-bevel. It feels at least twice as sharp. I do hesitate to pull out the Toyama when I fear being up to my elbows in guts and slime.

[Jeff B]

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

You seem to be pretty hung up on Blue steel. Yeah, it's a good steel but it's not the end all be all of knife steels. A lot of great steels out there now days.

[XexoX]

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

You seem to be pretty hung up on Blue steel. Yeah, it's a good steel but it's not the end all be all of knife steels. A lot of great steels out there now days.

Indeed. Sir Jeff himself once said "All steels are equal if you can't keep them sharp. -- Jeff B."

[ronnie_suburban]

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

You seem to be pretty hung up on Blue steel. Yeah, it's a good steel but it's not the end all be all of knife steels. A lot of great steels out there now days.

But who can resist this . . .



In all seriousness, you raise an excellent point. I'm curious how strong a preference the blue steel is here. Deal breaker, just a starting point or something in between?

[sacguy71]

Maybe because blue steel has good reputation and looks amazing? I am flexible. Right now using my cheap $20 Mercer boning knife that is stainless steel and works well. I need to try out some honesuki or just get another gyuto.

[Jeff B]

Maybe because blue steel has good reputation and looks amazing? I am flexible. Right now using my cheap $20 Mercer boning knife that is stainless steel and works well. I need to try out some honesuki or just get another gyuto.

If you are talking about knives that develop a patina across the whole knife then you are wanting a knife clad in iron or a mono steel knife in white carbon. It would be extremely rare if not impossible to find a mono steel knife in Blue steel. Any stainless clad carbon will develop a nice patina along the exposed core steel.
And as far as good reputation, that's nearly all steels used in Japanese knives these days.

[Qapla']

It would be extremely rare if not impossible to find a mono steel knife in Blue steel.

Sakai Takayuki and Suien both sell monosteel blue #2 gyuto's etc.