OMG. looks exactly like my first one, unpacked, inside a wok, spider and spatula, hang drain, $10 1984-5. Tang set into the wood. Even when the tang came out, I kept using it, almost like a mezza luna. That was my most used knife. That knife made me feel like I could cook. Sharpen it right now like a razor. All you need. Thanks for the blast from the past.
Recently I saw a kiritsuke for the first time (on-line) and liked the shape very much so I bought one. It arrived today and I’m a bit disappointed. The knife is really nice but it’s out of my league. I studied the edge and if I damage it - which I will - I do not have the skill to rehabilitate it. It’s a shame. I don’t want to use it so into a cabinet it goes.
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I also recently bought one, and so far I really like it. I have no skills to rehabilitate a knife, either, but if something happens, I would take it to a local pro. You should really use it instead of just keeping it in a cabinet. It won’t do you any good there! I really do understand the trepidation, though.
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Hi RD,
I don’t have any kiritsukes, but my Shan Zu has a kiritsuke tip.
I now have a full rack of hard steel damascus knives–some I’ve now used for five years. So far, no chipping–not even a scratch.
With Shun, you can send it back for sharpening–and they’ll do it for free.
Ray
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Thank you. I will probably use it sometime…in the future. Haha. Yes. You are right I need to research a local professional. I’m sure there’s one in the area.
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Thanks Ray. Many years ago I had a couple Shuns and recall I could ship them (out west I think) for sharpening. I never did but I might be able to contact the online website. Perhaps they provide a similar service.
I have a Shun 10” kiritsuke, don’t use it much. I picked it up after coming across a some article / video featuring Chris Consentino promoting the knife. Marketed as blue steel … I was intrigued.
I initially wanted to get the dual core version he was using, don’t recollect why I didn’t get it. Either it was out of stock or considerably more expensive. Most likely the latter …
The relatively straight edge however is not compatible with my default rocking chop style of cutting. Probably also due to the length which is a tad unwieldy. Perhaps if it was shorter I might figure a way to use more regularly. In hindsight, glad I didn’t splurge on the dual core version.
Definitely better suited for those who use an up down cutting motion imo.
Just use the knife, if it chips just get it sharpened/re-edged. If you chip it too often then maybe it goes back into the cabinet.
If there is an open ended quest to improve the “one knife” situation, it would be for one with a high HRC 60+ coupled with toughness. Cowry-X, ZDP-189 or maybe something in the top right of this chart fit the bill, CPM-M4 in the bottom chart? I don’t think honyakis solve this dilemma? I really want my cake and eat it too …
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This video pretty precisely demonstrates why I only need a Gyuto/chef’s knife and a tournier knife for 95% of the tasks in my home kitchen.
Deba, Bunka, Nakiri, Kiritsuke etc. all sounds so very nice - but they can’t beat a gyuto/chef’s knife for versatility combined with output if you - like me - don’t like chopping and prefer a light rock-chop and a rocking motion when cutting.
Btw I do own 50+ knives and I could do just fine with just 4-5 knives in my collection.
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Most people can live with 2 knives. The question is always about the 3rd knife.
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I feel you
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Ha. That’s the one attempt by Kai Shun to do a blue carbon steel that develops a patina–though they do surround it with cladding, Sgee.
Not American/Japanese fusion at all–more like an artisan knife. No one expected a knife like this from Shun. Great for things that are soft using a push cut–almost a sushi knife.
I fell for videos like that 4-5 years ago, when I started my interest in asian/japanese knives.
I seriously thought a Nakiri would be so much better for cutting vegetables than a gyuto and I thought a Kiritsuke looked so cool and it just had to be a better knife than the Gyuto.
A bunka looked like the better version of a Santoku…
They simply HAD to make me cut better when working in the kitchen.
4-5 years later and $ 10,000 poorer, I have to admit it’s nonsense & rubbish.
Yes, it’s good fun to experiment with different knife designs, but when I make most of the food I make, I want efficiency and output and best precise quality cutting - AND I don’t want to have to wash up 4-5 knives instead of just 2, when 2 can bring me there faster and better.
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Generally agree with you, however I suspect if I was working in a high end kaiseki kitchen some of those shapes may be in regular rotation.
I definitely love my yanagis/sakimaru takobiki as a single purpose fish slicer.
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Agreed.
If I was a sushi chef, there are of course single bevel knives and specialty knives, that will help you out in ways a Gyuto can not in the same way.
But I’m speaking as a home cook/amateur chef - and 95% of these knife shapes are totally unneccessary for the best enthusiastic home cook.
Fun to use ? Maybe so
Efficient to use ? I seriously doubt it
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I do agree that I can inte-swap my knives. I mostly have ~4 main knives out because it help me to lengthen my knife sharpening duration. The common knife recommendation for most home cooks are: one main knife (a Western Chef’s knife, Santoku, Nakiri Chinese chef’s knife…) and one short knife (a paring knife or similar). A lot of people recommend a bread knife as the third knife. Personally, if I can limit to three knives (knife styles), then the third one is a cleaver.
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Agreed. My mother who is an amazing home cook used one cheapo stamped santoku-like knife from Asian grocery stores for as long as I can remember. And sharpened it on a cheapo $5 likely 3 digit grit stone infrequently. She would roll her eyes back in the day whenever I whipped out my arsenal of knives.
Knives do not make the meal… hence the desire for a simpler daily one knife solution. And also heck of a lot less to clean and baby with that arsenal of carbon steels
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I hope I’m not ruining the fun of owning many knives - I’m just telling my story as honestly as I can.
My Nakiri R2 was a dust collector on my magnetic knife block - same as my Wüsthof Chai Dao and my 5-6 Santokus.
My 2 Sujihiki’s are nice for cutting roasts and meat slices - and definitely would be a staple If I worked in a restaurant as a chef, but as a home cook, my Chefs knife cuts 95% as nice looking slices as my Sujihiki, even though I hate to admit it.
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I have a different take. Think of it not as a goal, but as a path, as an experience. Yes, on the surface, it seems wasteful to have $10,000 worth of 50 knives to only discover you need 4-5 knives. However, this is part of self-discovery. So, not wasteful at all in my opinion. I kind of went through as cast iron cookware phase and now slowly converting to carbon steel cookware.
This is no different than someone traveled 20 foreign countries to only find out that he misses his home town the most. Or that someone has been buying the most expensive and best truffles and putting truffles in every dishes to only later discover that he loves regular mushrooms just as much. Going through experience and know what one likes is a valuable life lesson. I think.
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And the responses are so dependent on how the likely acquirer cooks and eats. Lots of bread baking, maybe a serrated bread knife. Lots of butchering and breaking down proteins, maybe a cleaver and maybe a boning knife. Lots of vegetables, maybe a Chinese vegetable cleaver, a nakiri, or an usuba. Lots of fish cleaning, maybe a rapala filet knife. And then there’s the matter that the chef/gyuto and a parer can handle all of those jobs, making that third knife unnecessary even if it would be fun.
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