# Gyuto for a Amatuer



## Nyx (Apr 9, 2019)

Hello,

I'm finally in the market for a decent Gyuto and would really appreciate some recommendations.

LOCATION
- Arizona, USA.

KNIFE TYPE
I'm interested in (by order):
- Gyuto - 210mm to 230mm

Are you right or left handed?
- I'm right handed.

Are you interested in a Western handle (e.g., classic Wüsthof handle) or Japanese handle?
- Western.

What length of knife (blade) are you interested in (in inches or millimeters)?
- 210mm to 230mm

Do you require a stainless knife? (Yes or No)
- At the very least should be stainless clad

What is your absolute maximum budget for your knife?
- About $200.

KNIFE USE
Do you primarily intend to use this knife at home or a professional environment?
- At home.

What are the main tasks you primarily intend to use the knife for (e.g., slicing vegetables, chopping vegetables, mincing vegetables, slicing meats, cutting down poultry, breaking poultry bones, filleting fish, trimming meats, etc.)? (Please identify as many tasks as you would like.)
- Mainly slicing vegetables and filleting meat and fish.

What knife, if any, are you replacing?
- None. Just some awful supermarket knives.

Do you have a particular grip that you primarily use? (Please click on this LINK for the common types of grips.)
- Pinch grip and hammer grip

What cutting motions do you primarily use? (Please click on this LINK for types of cutting motions and identify the two or three most common cutting motions, in order of most used to least used.)
- Rock, Draw and Chop

What improvements do you want from your current knife? If you are not replacing a knife, please identify as many characteristics identified below in parentheses that you would like this knife to have.)
- Hold an edge for a decent amount of time.
- Is comfortable to use for an extended time (coming up on an early onset of mild-arthritis already).
- Light but not flexible blade

Better aesthetics (e.g., a certain type of finish; layered/Damascus or other pattern of steel; different handle color/pattern/shape/wood; better scratch resistance; better stain resistance)?
- Since I plan to pass this (and any other knives I might buy) to my daughter, and she really likes Damascus cladding, I guess that is (sorta) a plus point.
- Good scratch and stain resistance.
- Wood handle (feels "warmer" to hold)

Comfort (e.g., lighter/heavier knife; better handle material; better handle shape; rounded spine/choil of the knife; improved balance)?
- Light blade but not flexible.

Ease of Use (e.g., ability to use the knife right out of the box; smoother rock chopping, push cutting, or slicing motion; less wedging; better food release; less reactivity with food; easier to sharpen)?
- Ability to use the knife right out of the box; less reactivity with food; easier to sharpen

Edge Retention (i.e., length of time you want the edge to last without sharpening)?
- Ability to keep edge for a decent time.

KNIFE MAINTENANCE
Do you use a bamboo, wood, rubber, or synthetic cutting board? (Yes or no.)
- Wood.

Do you sharpen your own knives? (Yes or no.)
- No.

If not, are you interested in learning how to sharpen your knives? (Yes or no.)
- Yes.

Are you interested in purchasing sharpening products for your knives? (Yes or no.)
- No.

SPECIAL REQUESTS/COMMENTS
My daughter did some research and really liked the Yoshihiro Damascus clad chefs knives. I'm OK with the aesthetics but am a bit skeptical as they carry knives from different knife-smiths. What do you guys think about this knife:

https://www.echefknife.com/product/...d-damascus-stainless-steel-gyuto-chefs-knife/

Anything similar, with somewhat of a pedigree , would be really appreciated.

Thank you all.


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## Carl Kotte (Apr 9, 2019)

Nyx said:


> Hello,
> 
> I'm finally in the market for a decent Gyuto and would really appreciate some recommendations.
> 
> ...



Off the bat: have you considered Tojiro DP (there is also a damascus version), VG10?


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## parbaked (Apr 9, 2019)

This is a really good first Japanese knife:
https://www.japaneseknifeimports.co...als/products/gesshin-stainless-210mm-wa-gyuto

Ask the store to do a free initial sharpening and you will be good to go...


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## Nyx (Apr 9, 2019)

.


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## Nyx (Apr 9, 2019)

.


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## inferno (Apr 9, 2019)

I'm not gonna tell you what to get i'm instead gonna recommend what to not get as a beginner and maybe accustomed to german thick beefy soft knives.

Dont get carbon steel. it rusts. Especially in the dishwasher machine.

Dont get these supersteels like sg2/r2/hap40/srs-15/zdp-189/s30v they are quite brittle and easy to chip and you will not be able to sharpen them easy at all unless you have expensive stones. and usually several of them.

Maybe get something like vg-1/vg-5/vg-10/aus-8/13c26/19c27/gin-3 in 58-60hrc hardness. much easier to sharpen and they dont chip very easy in comparison. alos usually much more rust resistant.

Dont get damascus. You will probably ruin the finish very soon, and then it looks like crap. The actual damascus patterns on the knives are not hardened steel so it scratches very easy. its usually a mix of nickel and 304/316/some soft 400 series steel, its soft as butter.

Get something with some type of synthetic handle, plastic, pakkawood, micarta, g10, corian, carbon fiber and so on. these dont crack and swell. and might even survive it through the dishwasher should it ever happen.

I would get something in the 100-150 range to begin with, a simple pakkawood/micarta monosteel SS. Probably something like Masamoto/Masahiro/MAC/Misono/Hattori maybe (if you like a fancier handle). These are good solid beginner knives that are hard to really ruin.


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## Nyx (Apr 10, 2019)

Carl Kotte said:


> Off the bat: have you considered Tojiro DP (there is also a damascus version), VG10?


Carl, I had not. Will look into it in detail. Thanks for the recommendation.


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## Nyx (Apr 10, 2019)

parbaked said:


> This is a really good first Japanese knife:
> https://www.japaneseknifeimports.co...als/products/gesshin-stainless-210mm-wa-gyuto
> 
> Ask the store to do a free initial sharpening and you will be good to go...




Thank you, parbaked.


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## Nyx (Apr 10, 2019)

inferno said:


> I'm not gonna tell you what to get i'm instead gonna recommend what to not get as a beginner and maybe accustomed to german thick beefy soft knives.
> 
> Dont get carbon steel. it rusts. Especially in the dishwasher machine.
> 
> ...




Thank you so much for the information. I really appreciate it.


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## refcast (Apr 10, 2019)

I would also suggest the Gesshin stainless 210 wa gyuto.

You get a wood handle that will be warm to the touch. The japanese style handle lets you grip it more comfortably, in my experience, so that would be nice to try. It's larger than most western handles so its more comfy; plus there are no exposed metal bits like with full tang western handles. The knife is mono-steel, so the entire thing is hard and won't scratch too easily. If you wanted to mirror polish it, it would keep the polish for quite a long time. The saya lets you store the knife without fear of breaking the tip or chipping the blade. The long neck lets you do in hand work with more finesse than with a shorter neck. The steel is quite new-user friendly, so it won't break or chip too easily.

Of course, there are other options on this site as well. 

Yoshihiro is a retail brand that like quite a few, stock knives from all over Japan and sell it under their label. The hammered damascus knife you linked is a fairly common knife that other brands also sell in slightly different configuations. These are made in Seki, if I remember correctly, but the company stocks knives from various regions and makers in Japan.


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## Carl Kotte (Apr 10, 2019)

Nyx said:


> Carl, I had not. Will look into it in detail. Thanks for the recommendation.



You’re welcome! I bought a 240 mm myself about a year ago and I’ve been very satisfied. Little maintenance and good edge retention. I have some (actually, quite a lot of) experience of chef knives from other well-known brands (MAC, Misono, Masamoto, Takamura, Kanetsune, Global, Wüsthof, Sabatier etc.). In terms of value/money ratio I think Tojiro scores very high... IMO: in that respect it is among the top ones.


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## labor of love (Apr 10, 2019)

The Japanese Knife Imports YouTube channel has excellent videos on sharpening. Many of them are geared toward beginners. I suggest you start there. Once you receive a brand new nice sharp jknife you will want to find a way to keep it sharp, like we all do here. My first Japanese knife was $90. My second was $100. My third was $120. That was many many thousands of dollars ago and hundreds of knives ago. 
Anyway, buy something you think looks cool and is affordable. Then find a way to keep it sharp.


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## panda (Apr 10, 2019)

https://www.amazon.com/Mac-Knife-Professional-French-2-Inch/dp/B0017VK3UI
this is by far the best japanese knife to start out with, forget damascus that sh*t is stupid.


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## Bert2368 (Apr 10, 2019)

It's your first one. You intend to learn to sharpen. DON'T GET DAMASCUS. It will get marred, buy your daughter a "pretty knife" after you get some sharpening experience.

I would suggest one of the VG 10 cored stainless clad Fujitora/Tojiro DP knives, their blades are pretty darn good for the money, lightyears ahead of what you have been using. And they can be sharpened by mere mortals with basic equipment.

I gave this 210mm gyuto to someone for Xmas, it is a more than decent entry level J knife for the money in my opinion.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/cr/B06WLNJD4Q/ref=mw_dp_cr

https://www.amazon.com/Tojiro-DP-Gy...o+230mm&qid=1554940701&s=gateway&sr=8-1-fkmr0

Their are many cheap stones which will sharpen it effectively.


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## PappaG (Apr 10, 2019)

my recommendation as you want western - $105 cannot be beat: https://www.japaneseknifeimports.co...ecials/products/gesshin-stainless-210mm-gyuto


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## MrHiggins (Apr 10, 2019)

I'd get a Hattori. It's a bit more that $200 ($225), but is an awesome western handled knife. They're sold at Japanese Chefs Knife.


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## slickmamba (Apr 10, 2019)

I agree with others to get something in a stainless steel with a sub 60HRC. The store will usually show the hrc somewhere in the details about the knife. It will allow you to not worry about rusting(mostly), and will allow you to rock cut with the knife without worrying about chipping.


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## Bert2368 (Apr 11, 2019)

PappaG said:


> my recommendation as you want western - $105 cannot be beat: https://www.japaneseknifeimports.co...ecials/products/gesshin-stainless-210mm-gyuto



I do keep looking at the 240mm version of that gyuto, and it keeps being out of stock... So I go and sharpen that poor 'ol Henckel. Again.

Specs just say "Monosteel" for the blade. Any idea which steel they used?


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## Nyx (Apr 11, 2019)

Bert2368 said:


> It's your first one. You intend to learn to sharpen. DON'T GET DAMASCUS. It will get marred, buy your daughter a "pretty knife" after you get some sharpening experience.
> 
> I would suggest one of the VG 10 cored stainless clad Fujitora/Tojiro DP knives, their blades are pretty darn good for the money, lightyears ahead of what you have been using. And they can be sharpened by mere mortals with basic equipment.
> 
> ...



Thank you, Bert.


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## Nyx (Apr 11, 2019)

refcast said:


> I would also suggest the Gesshin stainless 210 wa gyuto.
> 
> You get a wood handle that will be warm to the touch. The japanese style handle lets you grip it more comfortably, in my experience, so that would be nice to try. It's larger than most western handles so its more comfy; plus there are no exposed metal bits like with full tang western handles. The knife is mono-steel, so the entire thing is hard and won't scratch too easily. If you wanted to mirror polish it, it would keep the polish for quite a long time. The saya lets you store the knife without fear of breaking the tip or chipping the blade. The long neck lets you do in hand work with more finesse than with a shorter neck. The steel is quite new-user friendly, so it won't break or chip too easily.
> 
> ...




I will look into it in detail. Thank you, refcast.


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## Nyx (Apr 11, 2019)

panda said:


> https://www.amazon.com/Mac-Knife-Professional-French-2-Inch/dp/B0017VK3UI
> this is by far the best japanese knife to start out with, forget damascus that sh*t is stupid.



Lol. Will look into it, Thanks.


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## Nyx (Apr 11, 2019)

PappaG said:


> my recommendation as you want western - $105 cannot be beat: https://www.japaneseknifeimports.co...ecials/products/gesshin-stainless-210mm-gyuto



Thanks PappaG. Second recommendation for a Gesshin. Will definitely look into it.


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