Good to hear. Thanks for sharing your experience.
Out of curiosity, I was comparing the Kaizen I and Kaizen II on Sur La Table. It looks like folks complain about chipped edges on the I more often.
The II is again on sale at $100.
https://www.surlatable.com/product/PRO-2403251/Miyabi+Kaizen+II+Chefs+Knife
I got two of these 7" Kaizen 5000DP on clearance from everythingkitchens.com and absolutely love them. (They were still around $100 ea.) These are our first nice kitchen knives. Until recently we used Ikea Santokus. Such an upgrade! I love how you can chop nuts and chocolate without bits flying everywhere.
I need to get a sharpener for my Miyabis. Would you recommend the Pronto for them?
Hi Christina. I saw the 8" Kaizen Gyutoh Chef’s knife around $100 there. I also saw the 7" Santoku, but these are $170. Which one do you have? Yes, I would recommend the Pronto for your Miyabi Kaizen. Pretty easy to use and not too expensive. It is good for any knife which has narrow bevel (15 degree each side).
Of course, a waterstone is even better (both in term of the final result and the price point), but it does require has a learning curve. Not very tough to learn actually, easier than learning to ride a bicycle, but some people prefer not to go this route.
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Ah, I have two of the 8" Gyutoh Chef’s Japanese Knives. Thank you for the advice on the sharpener. Should I use both openings?
Yeah, I saw a demo in a knife skills class and feel a bit intimidated and less likely to use that.
Amazon tells me a “newer model” of the sharpener is available - and it’s less expensive. Thoughts? https://www.amazon.com/ChefsChoice-AngleSelect-Professional-Sharpener-Footprint/dp/B008EMFQ8C
It depends how well your knife edge is. Stage 1 is more aggressive than Stage 2. If your knife has completely lost its edge, then you will likely need both slots (start with Stage 1 and then finished on Stage 2). If you just want to touch up an already sharp knife, then the stage 2 is sufficient. If you don’t know, then you can try to start with stage 2 and see. If the knife edge is restored using only stage 2, then you are done. If you pull your knife through stage 2 for 10-20 times, and you don’t see much improvement, then you can switch to start with stage 1 and then stage 2.
The ChefsChoice AngleSelect Professional Sharpener (suggested by Amazon) will work, but I don’t think they will last very long. I have had a similar sharpener a long time ago. It is based on flat diamond plates set at a set angle.
The main reason I suggested the ChefsChoice Pronto is that the Pronto sharpener is based on rotating sharpening wheels. As you pull the knives through the Pronto, the wheel will rotate and give a new surface. Consequently, the unit will last a little longer than those of set flat angle surface.
America’s Test Kitchen also recommend this for manual knife sharpener:
Really helpful - thank you so much!
Hi Christina M,
I’ve had troubles with pull through sharpeners.
An alternative would be to send your knives in to Miyabi for professional sharpening about once a year, and only do honing and/or stropping for maintenance. They do it as a service for a nominal charge.
It may be years before you need such a service if you strop.
Here’s how you strop:
I have a two sided paddle strop—and it works very well. I use it on my miyabi birchwood.
Ray
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Thanks I just got a waterstone so I will be learning to sharpen with it.
Have fun.
CK, this newer model uses wheels. What do you think?
https://www.amazon.com/ChefsChoice-ProntoPro-Sharpener-Sharpening-Euro-American-dp-B007IVBET0/dp/B007IVBET0/ref=dp_ob_title_kitchen
I’ve always avoided chopping nuts and chocolate with my Japanese-style knives because I read somewhere that I would chip my knives by doing this. I believe this was due to the combination of harder steel and being thinner behind the edge. Now that you’ve used your knife for a while, have you had any issues with chopping nuts and chocolate?
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Sorry for the late response. I haven’t used it, but it should be just as good if not better. Pronto is one the better handheld sharpers
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