Kitchen Knives

If you’ve been keeping up to date with this blog, then you’ll know that I’m pretty serious about my knives. You may even suspect that I have my fair share of kitchen knives.

knives!

I think this is about half of them.

Mistakes were Made

But let’s start at the beginning. In college, I didn’t know any better, and I had some very mediocre ceramic knives. They were supposed to never need sharpening, but the sad truth was that they were never all that sharp to begin with.

When I finally graduated and got my own place, I knew what was up. I went to a local gun and knife show and met a local guy who forged hand made chef knives out of Birmingham damascus steel. Please take a moment to bask in its beauty.

literal garbage

Yea, turns out it’s a piece of literal garbage. Just because it is local, hand made, and damascus does not mean it will cut well.

This would have been around 2016, when the whole camping/wilderness community had this unreasonable penchant for thick, full-tang blades that could weather a nuclear winter and still be used afterwards to quarry enough iron to rebuild civilization. What they apparently did not care about was how well the knives cut. This unreasonable kink for thicc knives rubbed off onto me, hence this absolute monster of a chef knife.

What Actually Matters

Let me explain. There are only a couple things that actually matter in a knife. The shape of the knife and the profile of the blade. The steel used, the handle material, how pretty it is…that stuff matters a little, but if you want a knife that will glide through an onion like a shark through a public beach, then you should be looking at shape and profile.

Shibata Koutetsu, literal garbage

This is called a choil shot, and it’s an easy way to approximate the cross-sectional geometry of the blade. Often, the profile of the knife from this angle will be the single largest indicator of how well it will perform. There are a few specifics that affect food release, handling, etc, but for the purposes of this explanation, let me clarify that thinner is almost always better, especially in the centimeter closest to the cutting edge.

Cross-sectional blade geometry is so important that a knife can be dull enough to not cut your skin, but it will cut vegetables in the kitchen. You could literally rub the edge of the thin knife in the photo on a brick and it would still cut onions better than when the damascus monstrosity is sharp enough to shave.

Anyway, I think I used that knife-shaped paper weight exactly one time before realizing the horrible mistake I had made and put it in the drawer of shame.

My First Real Knives

Shun in VG-10 MAX: 8in chef knife and 7in gyuto

That’s when my dad stepped in and gave me my first actually good cooking tool, a Shun 8in chef knife. Now, a lot of knife people on the internet like to hate on Shun, presumably because soccer moms can buy them in Home Goods instead of needing to hike into the Japanese wilderness to offer their first born child to a 100 year old bladesmith…but frankly they are perfectly good knives.

They are easy to care for, have reasonably thin geometries, and they come in familiar profiles, such as the western chef knife shown here. The only real downsides are that they are on the expensive side and that their VG-10 MAX formulation easily microchips when compared with other manufacturers’ VG-10 steel.

The main downside is the 8in Shun will set you back a whopping $170. Meanwhile, I have a literal drawer full of handmade Japanese knives that cost less. Just know that if you are in the market for a knife in the $75-$175 price range, there are a LOT of other options you should consider. But if you already own a Shun, know that they take a wicked edge and that I still happily use both of mine when the mood strikes me.

Upgrading to High-End Stainless

Miyabi Mizu in SG2: 5in utility, 6.5in nakiri, 9in bread

In the summer of 2020, I began to look longingly at the exotic Japanese blade style called the Nakiri. It’s short and square, and designed specifically for cutting vegetables.

I looked at a few brands and ultimately settled on Miyabi, which is like a high-class Shun. They’re made of SG2 (a better steel) and feature an overall better fit and finish, with nicer design choices and many of the final finishing steps done by hand.

I’ll try not to spend too much time in this post on steels, but SG2 is a powder metallurgy steel known for its hardness, wear resistance, and toughness, and the manufacturing process is fascinating. Instead of mixing the alloyed components in the molten state and hoping for the best with mixing and grain formation, PM steels are atomized to create a fine powder. After sintering, the steel will be perfectly mixed, and the powder will put an upper limit on grain formation. Powder metallurgy is a revolutionary advancement adopted by many high-end knife steels, as it guarantees consistent properties and a fine grain structure, which in turn leads to knives that get sharper and stay sharp longer.

Ultimately, the Miyabi Nakiri was a wonderful knife that got me started on Japanese blade profiles, and an upcoming birthday quickly gave me the chance to round out my collection with a utility knife and bread knife (thanks mom and little sis!)

Bread knives don’t get enough love, so let me take a moment to say that I adore having a good bread knife. They receive no attention in the knife corners of the internet, and I simply do not understand why. To be fair, I don’t actually use mine for bread – my normal knives are plenty sharp for this – but there are absolutely tasks where sawing with serrations is the best approach. For example, when cutting a chilled steak lengthwise to get two thinner steaks.

Anyway, these Miyabis are beautiful stainless knives with good geometries that are a safe choice for that person in your life who knows not to put a knife in the dishwasher but still might leave it sitting on the cutting board in lemon juice for 15 minutes.

An Introduction to Carbon Steel

Tojiro in Shirogami #2: 240mm Kiritsuke, 165mm Usuba, 300mm Yanagiba, 165mm Nakiri

But me? I was not long for the world of stainless. As I’m sure you’ve experienced, the blade demons whispered to me in the night of the dark steel that was too temperamental for normal people to take care of. The mystical material used by the ancients. Sharper, harder, purer, and somehow less expensive than stainless. Carbon steel.

Shirogami, Aogami, Aogami Super…they called to me. So in the cold winter of 2020 I bought three Tojiro Shirogami blades in rapid succession. A nakiri, kiritsuke, and yanagiba. These are on the budget end of Japanese knives, costing only $60, $100, and $144 respectively. $60 for a Japanese knife is basically free, and though $144 might sound like a lot, knives this big in a quality steel are typically double that price, so I basically made money, right? Right??

You’ve already met the nakiri style, but a kiritsuke is 9.5in executive chef knife and the yanagiba is a whopping 12 inch sushi knife. In retrospect, I basically never use these styles, but they look cool as shit on my knife magnet. If you consider buying a Tojiro in shirogami, remember that they are budget minded, and occasionally have quality problems. All of mine were fine, but you still need to do sanding on the choil, and the handles they come with are less than awesome.

The four gorgeous handles you see in the photo are stabilized burl maple, and I bought them from sharpedgeshop and installed them myself, a process which can be difficult if you do it wrong. I’ll add a post on this soon.

The Cleaver Obsession

I lasted almost an entire year before discovering my new passion: chinese vegetable cleavers, or cai doas. It was around this time that I started getting serious about cooking, and as you can see, I really, really liked taking pictures of the veggies I cut. I think I was half proud of the knife, and half proud that I had finally learned what a vegetable was.

so

many

vegetables

This particular knife is the Chan Chi Kee KF1302 Cai Dao in 219mm. Take notes, because it remains one of my favorite knives to use. They come in a smaller variant as well as stainless variants, but don’t bother, the 1302 is perfection. It’s as thin as a Shibata, easy to handle as a bunka, can double as a food scoop, and only costs $75. I love this knife.

cleaver, cleaver, cleaver, cleaver, cleaver … cleaver, cleaver, cleaver, cleaver, cleaver

But oh, dear reader…I wanted more. Surely the very first cai doa I purchased wouldn’t be the best on the market? Surely there was something with a nicer steel, a more premium handle, a thinner blade?

Twenty cleavers later, I can assure you there was not. Oh, sure there’s some nice stuff out there. If you are willing to sacrifice some blade thickness for a more premium steel and nicer fit and finish, or if you like rock chopping, I’d recommend the very affordable Chopper King White #2 Cleaver. And if you want to crush some cow bones, I might point you towards my trusty F-Dick No84, 8x53.

People on the internet will sing the praises of the Sugimotos, the Migotos, or the Gesshins, but I’ve seen the choil shots and done a comprehensive mass analysis and as far as I know, there is nothing short of the unobtainable Takeda that is even in the ballpark of the laser-like profile of my CCK 1302.

thin, thicc, gyatt

It’s appropriate at this point draw your attention to the massive variation in cleaver profiles. Unlike in the earlier example, I’m not disparaging the right two cleavers, which are for bones not vegetables. The gracile beauty on the left is obviously my 1302, which would break in half if you used it on a bone. But the Daways in the middle is perfect for chicken bones while being passable on veggies, and the rustic chinatown find on the right was marketed for fish but will do well on everything up to chicken.

Specialty Knives

But lets back up. Long before I had 20 cleavers, in fact, within days of buying my 1302, I also rounded out my specialty knives collection.

Tojiro: 240mm Soba Kiri, 300mm Yanagiba, 165mm Usuba

We’ve seen the middle yanagiba before, but allow me to introduce the Tojiro Molybdenum Vanadium Soba Kiri in 240mm and the Tojiro Shirogami #2 Usuba in 165mm. These are both highly specialized Japanese knives, one for making soba and the other for carving vegetable art. They are both delightful knives, and my only regret is not spending the extra money to buy the soba kiri in 300mm.

You can see me using both knifes for their intended purpose above. And it’s probably a good time to mention that you can click on the images to enlarge them.

The Laser

Up til now I had been buying reasonably priced knives that had seen the inside of a factory at some point in their lives. But I was starting to believe those knife snobs that hated on Shun. The forums were tempting me with tales of lonely blacksmiths, hammering iron in the hidden depths of the Japanese mountains.

…which is how I spent $300 on a Shibata Koutetsu R2 Migaki Gyuto in 210mm. The gyuto is every snob’s favorite knife, and if you want a true laser, there are only a handful of choices. I considered some others, but they were all in this price range, and I loved the aggressive tip on the Koutetsu, so when one came in stock I grabbed it.

The cherry sheath it’s wearing was handmade by yours truly (more on that later), but the rest is original. At this price point, the knives you get are perfect and need no extra finishing or replacement handles.

And let me tell you, this knife is an absolute dream. If you have the budget for it, do not hesitate. Everyone online likes to casually throw around the word ‘laser’ when describing how knives cut, but seriously, it glides through food like a god damn light saber. It’s a tough race, but in some foods I feel like it even out performs my 1302.

Handmade Japanese Knives

At this point, I was ruined for factory knives. I mean, who needs money? The five you see here were all handmade by Japanese blacksmiths. The left two are by Kyohei Shindo in Aogami #2. These are excellent knives at ridiculously low prices, though I now make a habit of replacing the lackluster handles. They have a lovely finish, a dramatic thickness change from spine to tip, and while I find the bunka too short, the gyuto and the nakiri (unpictured) are excellent buys.

Kyohei 170mm Bunka and 210mm Gyuto, Matsubara 170mm Bunka and 190mm Kiri, Shibata Koutetsu 210mm Gyuto

In the middle are two Matsubara’s, the bunka in Shirogami #1, and the kiri in Aogami #2. I’m a huge fan of Matsubara knives. My dad gifted me the incredible kiri cleaver, and I eventually couldn’t resist and picked up the tall bunka in the center. More on the cleaver later, but the bunka really is an excellent height, and the fit and finish are immaculate. When I reach for a smaller knife, it is almost always the Matsubara bunka that I grab.

I’ve been casually mentioning handles and sheathes that I’ve made and installed, and while it certainly used to be a real chore, at this point I’ve retrofitted around 10 knives, and I’ve worked out a nice process. Above you can see 3 handmade sheathes, or sayas, out of walnut (thanks Samyam!) along with some handles in rosewood. I do the sheathes from scratch, but for the handles I actually buy unfinished from China and do the final shaping and polishing before installing them.

Doing three knives like this is a good weekend project, and it’s an awesome way to spruce up an affordable knife like the Kyohei.

Kiri Cleavers

So, we’ve been over my fixation with Chinese Vegetable Cleavers, and I briefly showcased this Matsubara kiri cleaver earlier…but what is the difference? Well, I’ve yet to meet a cleaver that can best the thinness of the 1302, but there is something wonderful about the kiri shape. Although it is a little smaller and therefore worse at scooping, the pointy tip is perfect for tasks like mincing garlic or through-slicing, and the reduced size makes it wonderfully manageable in the hand.

Kuaiben, Daovua 52100 180mm Kiri, Matsubara 190mm Kiri

I’ve tried out a few of these kiri cleavers, and my favorite is absolutely the Matsubara. The blade geometry and the fit and finish are noticeably better. Even the shape of the blade is superior, with a more acute tip and a backsweep underneath the choil. However if you’d like to try out the design, Daovua makes some affordable options. I’d recommend looking for their model in 52100 steel, as the entire knife is said to be of higher quality than the spring steel variants.

Beater Knives

Speaking of affordable knives, although I certainly seem to be drowning in handmade Japanese stuff these days, I do still have a place in my heart for the humble $10 Kiwi. True, the steel they are made of will get dull after only a few weeks of regular use, but they are wicked thin and they sharpen like a dream.

I keep them around as beater knives, for guests who don’t want to risk a real knife, and for teaching people how to use a whetstone.

Daily Knives

Matsubara Kiri, Shibata Gyuto, CCK 1302

So, when the onion hits the cutting board, what do I actually find myself reaching for, day after day?

Well, there are certainly a few honorable mentions, like the Kyohei gyuto, the Matsubara bunka, the Miyabi nakiri, or even the Shun chef knife, but ultimately, these are my three favorite knives.

If my place burned down and I had to start over from scratch, I’d be immediately putting myself on the wait list for a Matsubara Kiri, a Shibata Gyuto, and, of course, a Chan Chi Kee KF1302 Cai Dao in 219mm.