# Kato 27cm chefs knife. Maxim delivers



## bieniek (Aug 9, 2012)

June, when we gathered at Marienlyst, I asked Maxim if he could order Kato from Yoshiaki Fujiwara in 27cm length, cause 24 felt little short and low at heel. 

I was about to pick one back then, really would, I liked how it works so much. But at the end of the day I decided I should get something more... bigger :biggrin:

As I written before, this was a very very big surprise. I still like the Shig, but for everyday beater, I found my workhorse. 
Its 300 hundred grams so it will get a while to get used to. 
[Today I sharpened also Ittetsu from Jon. What a difference :wink:]

Little comparison after first day. 
Im trying to be as objective and just as I can here. Sure opinions are personal so dont trust me.

If you can compare these, the shig is a ballet dancer, while Kato is a rubgy player that can dance ballet equally well. 
I know it sounds silly, but thats how it is. And it looks funny - kato is twice thicker hehe
But the tip is very slim. 

I was prepping some mise en place for my oxtails, and a veg stock as a base, And this knife surely does cut through celeriac better than Shig. And how it cuts through - it really makes me wonder how it is posible?!
I dont want to give any of those any scoring, its to early. Where one wedges - the other does same. Not too much of that just so you know.

Sharpness, well, kato its the only chefs knife I am using ohira on. It cuts through tomato like a dream, the steel is really crazy. Im not going into speculating what is it, but it tastes strange on stones. Nothing Ive tried before. Its rock solid, its hard as heck, it resists well yet sharpens easily and handles polishing rather nicely. Keeps the bite well. Dont know how to explain better, sorry

Reactivity? Very Little patina developed, but no stinking, I intentionally was not wiping the knife directly after cutting, but there was little to none rusting/stinking problem. 
No color change on onions - Im am now 100 percent shure - when I got shig - the first onion got all brown, and there was stinky time. 
With this knife theres no such problems.
1:0

As for the first day, I of course sharpened the knife before :wink: and thrown it at some heavy prep today, oxtails cutting included... The result is nice and juicy chip hehehe - and fellas let me tell you my Shig have chips also, little piece of tip breaks off regularly and I dont mind. Its all cool. 
Anyway, for now Im going to use just the kato, so the chips are going to get sharpened over in maybe two months. 
I dont use microbevels on chefs knives. If I have to sharpen them everyday, so bee it. 

More to come. Im will write longer back to back after I spend with that blade some more time. 
I was thinking i should do passaround - but I dont want to let it go.


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## Andrew H (Aug 9, 2012)

Thanks for the review bieniek. Is your shig custom ordered? It looks like it has more belly than most.


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## gentlecook (Aug 9, 2012)

Thanks for sharing !

I wanna see test with salmon filet =)


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## gentlecook (Aug 9, 2012)

Andrew H said:


> Thanks for the review bieniek. Is your shig custom ordered? It looks like it has more belly than most.



its two Kato gyuto's , 240mm and 270mm

240mm - he take it like prototype
after testing 240 he decided to order 270 with chesnut handle.. )


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## schanop (Aug 9, 2012)

I thought the other one is Gesshin Ittetsu.


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## gentlecook (Aug 9, 2012)

now i see another kanji's / profiles and handles..

so , im wrong )

LMAO :O


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## Andrew H (Aug 9, 2012)

gentlecook said:


> now i see another kanji's / profiles and handles..
> 
> so , im wrong )
> 
> LMAO :O



So was I.


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## bieniek (Aug 9, 2012)

Cheers. Im really planning extensive tests and have a weekend off. Maybe can manage tomorrow? If its possible, maybe will include Yoshikane 27 V2 damascus in comparison.

Yes guys, shig, when doesnt need servicing, sleeps at work. So didnt have the chance to photo-compare it.
Problem is, I can only take pictures, dont have camcorder.


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## heirkb (Aug 10, 2012)

Pleeease do a passaround. JK (kinda, lol), your knife, your decision.

I love the thicker but amazing cutting knives, so this seems perfect in many ways. I'd just want to test the performance myself first if I were to drop the dollars for one. I remember not being blown away by my Shig even though I had heard such great things.


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## bieniek (Aug 10, 2012)

I will do a passaround, it is just not going to be right now. I have to take care of those chips. 
You know, Its all about personal preference. Im little surprised you dont like how the shig is cutting, but then, whats better?


Little update. 
My chef used it today also. He is a lefty... but anyway, he was cutting cabbage, swedes and celeriacs. The guy was surprised, let can tell you. 
I think the weight of the blade helps it, but the damn thing then should get stuck somewhere in the swede, but its not - and these were nice and fresh swedes 
He was just cutting them in half with one hand, not pressing too hard. 
Also, after the cabage cutting, he didnt wiped the knife. Theres no marks of that, as there was no stinking.
I took Shig with me today so Im going to make little session now


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## DeepCSweede (Aug 10, 2012)

Mental note - Stay away from Bieniek and his chef - I do not want to get cut in half by a lefty with a KATO :rofl2:


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## DeepCSweede (Aug 10, 2012)

I am looking forward to hearing more about these knives though.


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## maxim (Aug 10, 2012)

Little correction knife name is Yoshiaki Fujiwara and maker is Mr. Kiyoshi Kato


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## Mucho Bocho (Aug 10, 2012)

Did you say "Im not going into speculating what is it, but it tastes strange on stones." Now that's a knife nut, eating swarf. thats Passion!


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## bieniek (Aug 10, 2012)

man have to taste everything in his life, they say

Thats why i started with shite

 :justkidding:


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## Mucho Bocho (Aug 10, 2012)

BIENIEK's a BONIFIED FREAK, but in a good way. HA

:lolsign:


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## heirkb (Aug 10, 2012)

bieniek said:


> I will do a passaround, it is just not going to be right now. I have to take care of those chips.
> You know, Its all about personal preference. Im little surprised you dont like how the shig is cutting, but then, whats better?



It wasn't that I didn't like it, it's that it wasn't amazing. I first tested it against a Tadatsuna laser and was surprised to find that the Shig did not cut with less resistance on anything really. I started thinking why did I pay 500 for this when I could have bought a 250-300 dollar knife? 

Then I got my first Heiji. It cuts most things, especially those annoying things, with a surprising lack of resistance if I get my technique right. It still struggles a bit on dense apples and dense sweet potatoes for example, but otherwise feels resistance-free.

Then I tried the Gesshin Hide gyuto at Jon's shop and even though it's thicker than the Heiji, it went through those super dense items even better! Blew my mind how an even thicker knife cuts better. I didn't have much time with this one, but I've heard similar things from others who have used this knife. 

So the Heiji and Gesshin Hide in particular are two I can think of that definitely cut more easily than my Shig used to. Of course, some of this is based on memory and not side-by-side comparison and I know memory can be f-ed up. I did test the Shig against a Heiji, though, and definitely preferred my Heiji.


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## bieniek (Aug 11, 2012)

maxim said:


> Little correction knife name is Yoshiaki Fujiwara and maker is Mr. Kiyoshi Kato



Yes man, and youre name is Maksim, sorry for both mistakes :sad0:


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## bieniek (Aug 11, 2012)

heirkb, okay, we talk cutting resistance. I dont really care, unless its terribly bad. 

Whats more important for me is that there no annoying stickiness on stuff like onion/potato. Or anything for that matter. 

Shite I just thought at work I have carrots that were cropped yesterday, still dirty [just like I remember them from own garden] Doesnt get any more fresh than that. Have to take detour and get some for the testing. 

So what produce should get included in the testing?


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## heirkb (Aug 11, 2012)

That's surprising. I'm basically the reverse. I care about cutting resistance and usually don't mind sticking unless it's pretty bad. I actually started caring even more once I started working in a kitchen, since having to force a knife to cut all day long gets old pretty quickly.

How is the cutting resistance on the Kato compared to some of the other knives?


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## bieniek (Aug 12, 2012)

So I tried my best! But Im total amateur at everything I do so this is a shite video plus its made with kodak compact camera. 

But you get the idea. This is how thinned glestain, Gesshin Ittetsu and Kato cuts through celeriac. 
All were sharpened to the point I was happy with the edge, not to the same level of finishing. And so the Glestain was jns 1k -> binsui -> strop -> binsui.
The ittetsu was quite similar but with some strokes on aoto, and kato was ended on strop-> ohira -> strop -> ohira. So not the biggest ite to the edge here, just sharpness.
After i thought, I should cut slice closest to camera with Kato, but you get the idea of hows the performance. 

Its most in the feeling, but you also see how the other blades get stuck, and how the kato goes through. Take into account, its 5mm thick

[video=youtube;7EFwsAA7tNc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EFwsAA7tNc[/video]


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## bieniek (Aug 12, 2012)

also eat this! 

Some pics of Shig, Gesshin and Kato together with grind


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## andoniminev (Aug 12, 2012)

Nice review and nice pics. I just didn't get what kid of steel the knife is made of. Feel disappointed that I couldn't try it at Marielyst.


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## maxim (Aug 12, 2012)

He uses Japanese Carbon steel :whistling:


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## chinacats (Aug 12, 2012)

Would like to see same test with same finish (ohira) on all edges if possible. Thanks


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## heirkb (Aug 12, 2012)

Thanks for the video!

Wow, you guys must have different celeriac out there. I can cut a potato like that with my Heiji, but I haven't met any knife that cuts celeriac like that.


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## bieniek (Aug 13, 2012)

chinacats said:


> Would like to see same test with same finish (ohira) on all edges if possible. Thanks



Sorry, dont put any stainless on the ohira. Its just no point


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## bieniek (Aug 13, 2012)

But yeah, for the sake of testing, i can do that. It might just not be the bitiest of edges, especially on the glestain.
And I dont really know when I gonna get a chance to cut whole celeriac home again...


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## chinacats (Aug 13, 2012)

Cool, film not necessary, maybe you can do the test at work and report back. I just thought it may be a better comparison--at least between the carbon blades. Should say that the Kato looked ridiculous going through the celeriac though...must be a great knife!

Thanks!


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## bieniek (Aug 13, 2012)

heirkb said:


> Thanks for the video!
> 
> Wow, you guys must have different celeriac out there. I can cut a potato like that with my Heiji, but I haven't met any knife that cuts celeriac like that.



That might be.

Ours werent genetically modified so they could be used as a missiles againt chinese. 

:lol2:


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## Matus (Oct 10, 2014)

The way the Kato went through that celeriac is really impressive. I am a physicist and it leaves me scratching my head ...


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