By: Ed Lee
Madison,WISince my first purchase of Misono carbon gyuto(210) and petty(120),I’ve upgraded all the right ways. A Yoshikane gyuto(270),Ittosai Kotetsu(300),Watanabe gyuto(270) and Shigefusa gyutos(210,240). Especially after my shigefusas had arrived,I thought that I had found the ultimate knives. It doesn’t get better than shigefusa as far as carbon knives are concerned in my opinion. Then came a really wet summer in the hottest and most humid station. And no matter what I tried,I couldn’t keep rust from forming on these knives.(except for polishing the knives everyday with flitz,which unfortunately erases hard worked on patina) It was the craziest thing. They would just sit dry,then moisture would form between where they’d sit and rust would form. so I pulled back the watanabe and shigefusas for the summer and was in the market for a new stainless. At this point,I’d heard so much about super thin gyutos and how wonderful they are and was itching to try it but wasn’t quite sure about the super thinness of an all purpose knife. Mark from chefknivestogo provided an offer I couldn’t resist so I got myself a Suisin Inox Honyaki Wa-Gyuto 270.
1 F&F:
The fit and finish is simply perfect on these knives just like any other high-end suisin knives. This knife is not made by master blacksmiths like Doi,but the final quality of this blade is second to none.
2 Saya:
A very basic saya. I’ve seen better work from pretty much anywhere. At the price range,it should come with a saya that is more pleasing to the eyes and made with better material. I’ve never held an Ikkanshi Tadatsuna gyuto in person,but their sayas look very nice and well made in the pictures. However,it does what it is meant to do. Protect the knife.
3 Handle:
At first,before putting it to use,felt that it might be a bit too big. Once I started using the knife,I had forgotten all about my presumptions. Perfect size handle with nice balance and the octagonal yew wood handle definitely feels better than your standard D-shaped ho wood handles.
4 Blade material:
A Swedish stainless steel that’s very easy to sharpen and touch up. It holds it’s edge decently long and all it takes to bring it back to good workable sharpness is a light honing on the ceramic rod or a high grit stone. For instance,I tipped this knife slightly and all it took was a 600 grit to 3000,6000 and then to 10000 in the matter of minutes.
Note- just like any other knife,it does dull rapidly on ply boards. Did not experience chipping though. This is a very fast knife on a rubber or a wood board.
Once it gets going,it just wants to go faster.
5 Blade profile:
This is where this knife is a true winner. I’ve never used anything like this. If my shigefusas fly thru prep,this knife glides thru everything. Super fast and quiet. It especially excels at pretty much anything veg prep and raw protein preparation.
It does seem to struggle a little bit with hard crust on animal proteins or with thick fish skin. One thing to keep in mind is that because the knife is so thin,it asks the holder to treat it like so. Then again,you don’t need to put much pressure on anything with this knife.
Since I got this knife,I am a believer and regret not jumping on the bandwagon earlier. This knife’s made my prep time quite shorter and with more precision.
0.3By: JBroida
beverly hills,caSimply the best... enough said. This is one of those super thin lazer gyutos. It has incredible fit and finish. I like everything about this knife. If you are looking for a super thin gyuto,look no further.
0.3By: Greg Washington
Los Angeles,Ca.I am very pleased with this knife. It’s well balanced and light. The fit and finish is unsurpassed. Mark was very kind and informative which makes for great service.
If you have a similar dilemma as I did with The Suisin and The Tadatsuna,go with the Suisin.
0.3By: STK
Rockville MDMy first high-end knife coming up from an 8" Shun Classic. The lightness of the Suisin makes my Shun feel downright clunky and cumbersome. I love the blade thinness and length seems perfect. Now I need a better and bigger cutting board! My only complaint is a very small 1mm nick in the wood of the handle. I won’t bother returning since this is a tool and the blade was in incredible shape. I still use my Shun for some quickie tasks,but have been spoiled going forward now...
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