# Best Carbon Gyuto



## oddwine (Sep 10, 2017)

Hello, im wondering if anyone know the ¨best¨carbon gyuto there is, in terms sharpness. Must be japanese handle. It cant be way too expensive(over 1000usd)


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## rick alan (Nov 15, 2012)

Well first thing you have to understand is that the hardest and finest grained knives are still nothing but dull knives when they are dull. Number two is that no edge holds its super-keen for very long. Number three might just as well be number one, and that is, 'If you are not expert at sharpening then no knife will ever come within fog-horn distance of "sharpest." So, are you an expert sharpener? If this is call for pause then do check out the other forums here while you are contemplating this, cheftalk is a great all around site.


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## Iceman (Jan 4, 2011)

Realize too that _"the best"_ of anything more-or-less is gonna get you opinions, not true hardcore facts carved in stone. Anything that is _"the best"_ of anything unless it is backed by statistics, will be an opinion. The best wine ... The best muscle car ... The best jazz album ... The best bourbon ... et al. Lots of things backed by statistics still turn out to be opinions lots of times too. LOL.


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## rick alan (Nov 15, 2012)

Yes and as example a battleship never fires just one gun at a target, but rather delivers a "spread' of fire, 6 guns in the case of the light battleship/heavy cruiser my father crewed in WWII. And here we could easily deliver a spread of well over a dozen, with each makers knife varying somewhat from knife to knife, and with close seconds numbering upwards of a hundred and more. And then of course you'd have to pick a knife style too.


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## oddwine (Sep 10, 2017)

Let me be more spesific, in terms of best knife i of course mean the sharpest knife, the ability for the steel to hold the sharpest edge. What my sharpening skill is currently at is highly unrelevant, but yes i enjoy the art of sharpening, and too evolve the skill aswell, therfore when i invest in knives i want the highest potenial for sharpness.

with ¨the best¨ i mean that people can comment on what they belive is the best knife, its only useful for me if i get some spesific model or information.

Also im having a hard time finding good information about carbon japanese chef knives models, so if anyone know some sites, forums or such with good info that be great! Currently i know very little about spesific models


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## scott livesey (Jan 25, 2013)

part of the problem is there is no accepted test for sharpness or toughness. most low alloy high carbon steels can be sharpened so they can whittle hair, not a trait that applies in most kitchens. that said, that level of sharpness is usually attained by the owner doing his own sharpening. try here http://www.kitchenknifeforums.com/forum.php,


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## Iceman (Jan 4, 2011)

In the service I had a Ka-Bar that I could shave with. Sharpness is relative to both the knife and who is sharpening it.


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## rick alan (Nov 15, 2012)

As Scott said any high-purity low-alloy carbon is going to get real sharp real easy, with good stones and/or strops. If you are slicing sashimi that is one thing, white steel 1 honyaki is the phrase you'll hear sung here. But chopping it up on the board is quite another, edge retention and holding on to a good degree of sharpness over ultimate sharpness is preferable for the latter if you ask me. Dedicated knives is the way to go for most wanting to do both. You really need to consider these things to make intelligent choices. And that said it is always still going to come down to sharpening.


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## oddwine (Sep 10, 2017)

what is honyaki? also is what is hitachi? Yes but one can use shirogami 1 on a chopping board succesfully i belive(?)


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## scott livesey (Jan 25, 2013)

oddwine said:


> what is honyaki? also is what is hitachi? Yes but one can use shirogami 1 on a chopping board succesfully i belive(?)


Honyaki is a special class of Japanese knives, hand forged of a single piece of steel using traditional methods, very expensive. Hitachi is a corporation that has a group that makes steel, that group has a division that makes cutlery steel. Shirogami 1 is one of these cutlery steels, you see it only in Japanese knives as it is not exported. Gyuto is a chef's knife and so can be directly compared to chef's knives made in Japan, China, USA, France, or Germany. get 10 knife owners together, and you may have 10 different 'best' gyutos. as far as which steel is best, get 10 knife makers together and you may have 10 'best' steels. are you looking for a bragging rights knife or a daily user? you want a braggin rites knife, get one of these http://www.jayfisher.com/Vega_Larvikite.htm. for me a daily user is more about size, weight, and ergonomics. find a store that has knives you can touch and see which one fits and handles the best for you.


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## oddwine (Sep 10, 2017)

So does honyaki have cladding of other metals on the knife, or does it have shirogami cladding or is just one single piece without cladding? and you can get honyaki with both aomi and shirogami steel right?


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## chrislehrer (Oct 9, 2008)

The Masamoto KS wa-gyuto is very hard to beat.

Gyuto tend to be cladded or solid. "Honyaki" is something of a misnomer here. Technically, yes, it means that the knife is solid steel, but that's in distinction from kasumi knives, i.e., single-beveled knives with a steel face bonded to an iron one. Since gyuto are double-beveled, the issue doesn't apply.


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## scott livesey (Jan 25, 2013)

oddwine said:


> So does honyaki have cladding of other metals on the knife, or does it have shirogami cladding or is just one single piece without cladding? and you can get honyaki with both aomi and shirogami steel right?


single piece, no cladding got to look up what is available, I would think more shirogami as it is a more traditional steel


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## chrislehrer (Oct 9, 2008)

scott livesey said:


> single piece, no cladding got to look up what is available, I would think more shirogami as it is a more traditional steel


Yes: if it says honyaki, it's a single solid steel knife.

Aogami exists here, but Scott's right that shirogami is much more common. I'd think aogami would be rather inflexible for a gyuto, but I could be wrong.


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## scott livesey (Jan 25, 2013)

flexibility is thickness and grind rather than steel type. Shirogami would be easier to forge, but needs to be water quenched for highest hardness which means higher fail rate in making. Aogami being a low alloy high carbon steel can be oil quenched. if doing a blind test where the only difference was steel type, very few people could tell any difference.


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