More Than One Gyuto?

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Koop

Koop

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Joined
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Location
Mesa, AZ
Why would I have two gyutos in my arsenal? I'm not a collector - at least I don't consider myself one. When I started down this path, I figured I would need a few Japanese kitchen knives for specific tasks. I had a Yaxell/Enso bunka to start this journey and didn't know what that was getting me into. It taught me what sharp really is, then I found this forum and became obsessed.

I gave the Enso to my daughter as I acquired better knives. I bought a honesuki, a couple of pettys, a bunka, a sujihiki from JCK and a Kintaro (Yoshimi Kato) stainless clad white #2 gyuto from JKI. This gyuto is on the laserish end of the spectrum - 215mm heel to tip and 131 grams. I loved the way it felt when slicing a head of cabbage. It floated through it. But then I used it on potatoes and food release was not part of the program. I had to peel the potato pieces off of the side of the blade. It was like they were suctioned on.

A few days ago I bought a TF Maboroshi gyuto. It's a thing of beauty on carrots and potatoes. Last night I cut a head of cabbage with it. I missed the magical feeling of ghosting through the produce that the Kintaro gave me. Now I get it. My Mabs has it place - great feeling and food release on potatoes and such and the Kintaro has it's place - floating through a head of cabbage. That's why I need two gyutos.

My wife thinks I'm a bit nutty, but that's my story and I'm sticking to it.
 
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I agree with what. you said except its four Gyutos. Two 270's (one workhorse one lazer) and same with 240's. Now I need to sell a bunch of knives to get to that :).
 
BillHanna said:
This is why I’m gonna have 5+ custom small cleavers.

Wait until the REAL heavy hitters weigh in.
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I'm donating knives & cleavers to culinary school when it opens still closed because of covid. I wonder if cooking schools are opening on Mainland. Doing house cleaning have a roll of trash bags filled a couple already. Have to say to myself will I use this? Either chuck it if it's junk or donate.
 
Koop said:
Why would I have two gyutos in my arsenal? I'm not a collector - at least I don't consider myself one. When I started down this path, I figured I would need a few Japanese kitchen knives for specific tasks. I had a Yaxell/Enso bunka to start this journey and didn't know what that was getting me into. It taught me what sharp really is, then I found this forum and became obsessed.

I gave the Enso to my daughter as I acquired better knives. I bought a honesuki, a couple of pettys, a bunka, a sujihiki from JCK and a Kintaro (Yoshimi Kato) stainless clad white #2 gyuto from JKI. This gyuto is on the laserish end of the spectrum - 215mm heel to tip and 131 grams. I loved the way it felt when slicing a head of cabbage. It floated through it. But then I used it on potatoes and food release was not part of the program. I had to peel the potato pieces off of the side of the blade. It was like they were suctioned on.

A few days ago I bought a TF Maboroshi gyuto. It's a thing of beauty on carrots and potatoes. Last night I cut a head of cabbage with it. I missed the magical feeling of ghosting through the produce that the Kintaro gave me. Now I get it. My Mabs has it place - great feeling and food release on potatoes and such and the Kintaro has it's place - floating through a head of cabbage. That's why I need two gyutos.

My wife thinks I'm a bit nutty, but that's my story and I'm sticking to it.
Click to expand...

Congrats on your acquisitions! You're a collector—which is not a bad thing. IMHO, the majority of KKF members are 'collectors,' whether they admit it or not.
 
Why more than two is also my wife's question :) For me I have two 210mms and four 240mms. Some are lasers, one is a middle of the road gyuto and my Tsourkan is a work horse so they all see use depending on what I'm making for lunch/dinner. The other benefit is it really is just fun to swap to different knives.
 
It's just the tip of the iceberg my friend.

Basically, you can have three gyutos and justify them: laser, all-rounder, workhorse. Or as you said - for a different cutting feel with strong and weak points which you apply to food you have to cut. You could probably add a few more "types" if you want to really really be specific about that but I consider it cheating.

Then you may multiply by wanting to own one in all popular lengths - say 12 gyutos of the three above denominations, make that 18 if you'll consider 150mm and 225mm must be counted in - albeit a 150mm workhorse doesn't make much sense.

Then you may add some to this because you want:

-particular steel
-particular finish
-particular bladesmith/maker
-particular grinder (say, someone with many Y. Tanaka)
-etc.

And so on and so forth.

Rule of thumb: you are not a collector until two units are a same "type" AND "length". Doubling up in the above further particularization doesn't count, but cannot however nullify the breach of singularity within the two main differentiations. :D
 
Before getting into J-knives—about a decade ago—I was perfectly happy in the kitchen with Wustofs, a Mac petty and couple of Sabs.
After tripping and stumbling down the J-knife rabbit hole, I kept on digging up new justifications to buy knives—gotta get a deba; need this or that maker; must get a knife in this steel; 225s are better for me; etc.
Everyone has their own collecting trajectory. There's no practical reason for me to have moved beyond Masamoto HC—that knife works just fine.
 
For me, the knife has to have a purpose to fit on the rack. And it has to be on the rack, or it doesn't stay.

I have 3 gyutos - a 200, 230, 250 (by real edge length). They all have a purpose and fit a roll.

I've got one free spot and two knives coming in, so the battle will be commencing.
 
esoo said:
For me, the knife has to have a purpose to fit on the rack. And it has to be on the rack, or it doesn't stay.

I have 3 gyutos - a 200, 230, 250 (by real edge length). They all have a purpose and fit a roll.

I've got one free spot and two knives coming in, so the battle will be commencing.
Click to expand...

Personally, I like the luxury of being able to change up the rotation, rediscovering knives that had fallen outta favor with me. I don't have a knife rack or knife block—but just bring out the 1–3 knives I'll use.
 
DitmasPork said:
Personally, I like the luxury of being able to change up the rotation, rediscovering knives that had fallen outta favor with me. I don't have a knife rack or knife block—but just bring out the 1–3 knives I'll use.
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I totally get that philosophy. For me however, it becomes a stress to have good tools sitting and not being used, so I've come to terms with buying and selling. There are two knives I sort-of regret selling, but I'm comfortable in the fact that it allows me to try other ones.
 
4 gyutos more than enough for me(1 240mm, 1 270mm, another 2 for back up)

At home I only use 1 stainless clever for all tasks, although I barely cook at home.
 
esoo said:
I totally get that philosophy. For me however, it becomes a stress to have good tools sitting and not being used, so I've come to terms with buying and selling. There are two knives I sort-of regret selling, but I'm comfortable in the fact that it allows me to try other ones.
Click to expand...

Why do you feel stress? Honest question. Knives are just inanimate objects, they don't get upset if ignored—tools, not art. There's no shortage of good kitchen knifes, cooks are spoilt for choices with buying knives. All knife makers—Jiro, Manaka, Raquin, et al—are cranking out good knives left and right.

Some that I consider to be serious collectors—both pro chefs and home cooks—buy all their knives as tools, regularly bringing their prized assets into a pro environment or home kitchen.

Although, I understand the desire for some to cap the number of knives—perhaps for lack of space; wanting to recoup funds, etc. I've sold/traded knives to upgrade; and make room.
 
DitmasPork said:
There's no shortage of good kitchen knifes, cooks are spoilt for choices with buying knives. All knife makers—Jiro, Manaka, Raquin, et al—are cranking out good knives left and right.
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I wonder about this - when I look at JKI or Bernal and others, I see most of their inventory is sold out, and some it has been sold out for months. I wonder how Jon is making out with so little inventory on hand.
 
Koop said:
I wonder about this - when I look at JKI or Bernal and others, I see most of their inventory is sold out, and some it has been sold out for months. I wonder how Jon is making out with so little inventory on hand.
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True, lots of brands sell quickly—if I had a nickel for every time I'd missed out on a knife I wanted, I'd have a big pocket of change. That said, if I didn't have any knives at all, it wouldn't be difficult for me to quickly buy what I needed for the kitchen, with a quick trip to the knife store or online. I'd make do with a Mac Pro or Misono.
 
Koop said:
Why would I have two gyutos in my arsenal? I'm not a collector

A few days ago I bought a TF Maboroshi gyuto. It's a thing of beauty on carrots and potatoes. Last night I cut a head of cabbage with it

My wife thinks I'm a bit nutty, but that's my story and I'm sticking to it.
Click to expand...
Heh, I didn't think of myself as a collector either, until I suddenly realized 2 things. 1) well, I had to admit that what I had was in fact 'a collection.' Sure, I liked to use knife A for this, knife B for that, and knives C D & E for "dis dat or da oddah" as Dr John would say, but in reality, one single gyuto could perform most of those tasks just as well. Then 2) I had to admit to myself that I was acquiring knives on more than just the basis of utility. Utility was perhaps the most important consideration, but I will admit that I was not buying any ugly knives. Just like they teach students at culinary school that people 'eat with their eyes' I think many on this forum are in denial that aesthetic qualities play a larger role in how we select our tools than they'd like to admit. It might be subconcious, but it's there I'm certain.

I typically use 210s or even my slightly smaller Kagekiyo or the 180 bunka, but when the whole head of cabbage hits the board, I don't even really think about it, I reflexively grab the 240 and go to town. For some reason, when I have a ton of volume, like when I was preparing a bunch of onions, peppers, zucchinis, and whatnot for the grill, even though my usual go-to 210 would have flown through all that, for some reason again, I grab that 240 Yoshikane...

Wives think we are nutty, this is legit, can confirm.
 
DitmasPork said:
Why do you feel stress? Honest question. Knives are just inanimate objects, they don't get upset if ignored—tools, not art. There's no shortage of good kitchen knifes, cooks are spoilt for choices with buying knives. All knife makers—Jiro, Manaka, Raquin, et al—are cranking out good knives left and right.

Some that I consider to be serious collectors—both pro chefs and home cooks—buy all their knives as tools, regularly bringing their prized assets into a pro environment or home kitchen.

Although, I understand the desire for some to cap the number of knives—perhaps for lack of space; wanting to recoup funds, etc. I've sold/traded knives to upgrade; and make room.
Click to expand...

It is a weird form of decision anxiety - I'll naturally tend to one knife when I have more than one and than I have guilt/stress over not using a high value item. If the knives were of a $50 value, it wouldn't matter, but at $500 it makes a difference to me.

So it's not that the knives care if I ignore them, it's that I paid $$$ for them and I'm ignoring them for something else.
 
Phip said:
Umm, excuse me. I thought I was the only one with a dozen knives on the magnetic strip by the sink in the garage. My spouse doesn't know they're there so they don't count, right?
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brilliant.jpg
 
esoo said:
It is a weird form of decision anxiety - I'll naturally tend to one knife when I have more than one and than I have guilt/stress over not using a high value item. If the knives were of a $50 value, it wouldn't matter, but at $500 it makes a difference to me.

So it's not that the knives care if I ignore them, it's that I paid $$$ for them and I'm ignoring them for something else.
Click to expand...

I get where you're coming from. TBH, laziness is one of the reasons I've not sold many knives—can't be bothered taking multiple photos of each knife; don't have a kitchen scale to weigh knives; nor calipers to measure thickness; don't wanna spend time answering questions like 'where the balance point is' or 'how's the food release,' hate searching around for packaging for shipment, etc. Glad I hung on to my 240 Kato workhorse, bought when they were selling for like 500–550 new.
 
esoo said:
For me, the knife has to have a purpose to fit on the rack. And it has to be on the rack, or it doesn't stay.

I have 3 gyutos - a 200, 230, 250 (by real edge length). They all have a purpose and fit a roll.

I've got one free spot and two knives coming in, so the battle will be commencing.
Click to expand...
Get a bigger rack then :)
 
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