it's funny 'cuz it's true, the Miyabi Koh santoku was love at first cut, best knife for me, after the global G2 ( which they dissed by calling it nothing special in 2023). Shun you buy if they are 1/2 price and then you sell it and get a Miyabi, Mac, Kramer, Tojiro or Global....etc.
I've owned the Miyabi Birchwood knives for nearly 10 years. They are awesome. And yes "they have the performance to back up their aesthetics". Don't like how they look? Buy something else. Don't like their price? Buy something else. I would recommend them, and I would buy them again (but will never need to).
the perfect video for me as someone getting ready to start culinary school and start taking my cooking to a new level! i want to make sure the knives i purchase are of good quality and worth the money!
this is a ridiculously good video. I wish I could make it more than once. Not only did you give all the knives you tested and overall they all seem to make sense and I definitely left this video feeling more informed about the pros and cons of what I choose.
Excellent review because there was no waffle, good test approach an explanations. 32 knifes reviewed in under 10 minutes with good research and chart. I am now a subscriber. 😃
Hey, you’ve tried the Zwilling chef’s knives 38401 which has a more curvy tip. The traditional Zwilling chef’s knife 38411 is way better. I use it for my “heavy duty” and a Nakiri for my delicate work
Damn, life really does come full circle. Imagine this, sitting on the couch after a long day of work, doing what I usually do, watching random kitchen or cooking related videos. Suddenly, something just hits me. Oh, them! Design Details and spectrum and also that one time Bryn got me an early access invite to check out Figma while it was still in beta. Idk if it’s the nostalgia but for some reason randomly stumbling across this video makes me so happy
Excellent overview, including real-life usage, quite honest and to the point takes, nicely done. I'd disagree on some aesthetics judgments though, but to each his own (like the Meiji handle .. that's some of the most comfortable handles out there for me)
FWIW a breakdown of wetstones and honing steels would be a good accessory to this series. I appreciate you guys going into the breakdown of the metals used and specific alloys(?) of different knives. But when knives get dull it helps to know how to sharpen them. I sharpened my married friends knives before they registered for some wustof's and it blew their minds.
Oh also my favorite knife is completely randomly your favorite knife. I didn't even know that before commenting. The Kramer carbon absolutely rocks. It's almost like a chef knife with the heart of a cleaver (not really but that thing is heavy)
I also have the 9.5 inch version of your Miyabi Birchwood arriving today (looked for years and finally found the 9.5 for $266 USD) so i'm a little sad you didn't like it, but we'll see how it goes.
@@nuggyfresh6430the handle is too heavy imo and has too big a gap that requires choking up or soley holding the handle no pinch grip. it also hates to take an edge.. I have a diff model but the handles are the same issue and gap.
Hey guys I would check out the Bradford knives chefs knife. It's an American company known for their high quality products. It's made in Magna cut steel which is said to be the best all-around steel available today.
I am a professional chef and my list for best chefs knife would be 10 inch Victorinox Chef knife 10 inch Wüsthof Classic Ikon 7 inch Chinese Chef Knife from Zwilling I don't have the zwilling pro but i have used one at work and it feels great.
I agree with you. Nothing touches the Victorinox's, especially when it comes to price to performance. If they doubled the price, and performance it would smash every knife ever created, in both categories. I grabbed an open box wood handle version for about $30 and it's one of my favorite knives. My main daily driver did end up being their #1 pick over-all (2.0 version,) but when you're spending over $200 on a knife it's no longer about the value at that point in my opinion.
Great video! Chef here, have a few nice Japanese knives but actually quite like my old wustof ikon. The heavy weight for some jobs paired with it not breaking when going through small bones or the countless times i've dropped it. Looking for a replacement for it atm
I have smallish hands and the miyabi 6000 MCt, similar style. I find the handle pretty much useless as I have to choke up due to the gap but then your thumb sits half on the metal bump, so it's best just to hold all on handle . Also handle is bulky & overly heavy , but so are shuns, & kramer is worse.
I was disappointed that you didn’t go over the drawbacks of Japanese and carbon steel knives in more detail. The lack of corrosion resistance and brittle edges make these knives a poor choice for the average home cook who is not a knife hobbyist. Your #1 rated Zwilling/Kramer Carbon is certainly a nice knife but would not be an appropriate recommendation for a vast majority of people.
And that's why it's not our default recommendation which we have an entire video about. We also have an entire video about knife chemistry and the impacts of chromium.
@@cultflav My point is that if someone cruises in and takes this particular video at face value, they very likely will be disappointed if they make a purchase based upon your top recommendation. Providing more context would be more helpful.
@@ZensōMusic Same, i own some japanese knives that are all stainless (cause im not stupid enough to go carbon), and even then 1 time forget to rinse/dry one it will get rust spots..
@@ZensōMusic They clearly say that their most recommended knife is the hedley and bennett, which is made of AUS10 stainless. I think you mean to say that if someone just looked at the number one spot they would be disappointed, which isn't their fault at all.
@@larsvegas1505 well it's stain less not proof. That said, Ive mistreated my stainless but none rust. I have a global, Miyabi and material knife and none rust after a year. Carbon is ok if u wipe it which is easy to remember to do if u make it a habit. Depends on the composition tho
My Dalstrong chips really bad from pepper seeds and chili seeds. I needed a 6in for my apt in HK and their 6in. Global is my go to worry free stainless. That Kramer shape is why I bought the Dalstrong to see if I would like the profile and I do. I would love to see your reaction to Takeda knifes. I have the 240 gyuto and the 210 (225) Sasanoha which is my favorite. For some reason they became impossible to find at the old price. Steel and geometry in reviews is often not addressed. I have a few sg2s I dont like to sharpen and my AS steel seems to edge very well and less effort. Want to learn sharpening find a White 1 steel. It is so pleasant to feel on the stone and made my sharpening better on knifes that give no feedback. Do a video on stropping hard knifes as it can allow you to go 6-9 months just stropping. Leather is what I have on acrylic but bluejeans on a board I saw done in Japan. The use of polishing pastes on the strop to get that wicked edge. totally not needed to go that far.
I LOVE THIS VIDEO!!! this is a 10 out of 10 video!! you mentioned geometry, took shun and miyabi down a peg, pointed out bolters are annoying, and had a really cool and veried selection of knives. GREAT WORK
As a chef of 20+ years. I use a miyabi as my everyday driver and I literally enjoy everything about it. I can’t even use other knives and compare them at all.
Great review, I realize there are hundreds of knife brands so not possible to try them all. I kept waiting for a made in Canada Grohmann chef knife to get reviewed. Love the set I have. Cheers
Maybe I missed it but I was surprised not to see Masamoto's VG "Hyper Molybdenum Vanadium" in the mix. I love mine. And as I understand it, they are pretty much the go-to for every sushi chef.
Great high speed overview! I think you make some excellent observations about the knives: Global G2 being a great beginners knife (I started out using one of these). Shun being pretty but chippy, and Miyabi being well made but too expensive - yes! Also in my experience, generally handle heavy balance which is not ideal. Finally I think the comment about the Wusthof Ikon is probably fair, but they have altered the heat treatment and sharpening angle to make the knife perform better - in fact so have most German manufacturers, I have a Messermeister Oliva that is essentially a Wusthof with more pleasant handle appearance and ergonomics that is actually very nice to use.
Great review! May I please ask you what knife you would recommend for a beating-horse knife, you know the one you don't feel bad about if it hits a bone, have to cut through acid stuff or let be a long time on the cutting board?
Can we get the $15 Winco Stal included in a review. 🔪 👌🏼 I put mine to work, easy to sharpen, sure it doesn’t have a fancy handle, it’s stamped steel and not refined at all, but it’s an absolute workhorse that’ll get the job done forever. It’s comparable to the legendary Victorinox 8” Chefs Knife and my first and only Chefs Knife.
Normaly, I do not comment, but I must this time. Miyabi 5000MCD Birchwood and Miyabi Black 5000MCD67 are by many reviews one of the most beautiful knife on the market. So it is weird that you mentioned that you did not love the astetics, and I undestand it is personal taste, but you know, you did not comment this for 70% of other knives here that are so ugly as... I bought few weeks ago Miyabi Black 5000MCD67 Rocking Santoku after testing in the shop in Japan many other similarly priced knives and heaving at home 8 other good knives, and this one is out of the box the sharpest knife and very comfortable to use(ok, my is not chef, but rocking santoku - whatever this means). I agree that MCD67 has larger possibility to chip when going on bones or harder stuff because it is very thin, very low 10° blade angle and very hard steal ZDF189 with 66HRC. It is more for use if one wants to cut everything like butter - so it is not one knife for everything-type. From this knives that you poses, the 5000MCD67 is for me the top 3 of this list as I tried almost all of them. And just for the info, I bought Miyabi Black 5000MCD67 for 210€ (cca 230$), so 500usd is list price, but it is almost never sold by this price, and other Japanese knives are rarely discounted. Miyabi Koh 8" (ok knife), Shun Kanso 8"(ok knife), and especially Ikea models (not ok knives) are not near as good as MCD and MCD67. Ikea is simply to soft, no edge retention at all. If you like dull knives, than those are acceptable because you can wash it in dishwasher 😂. MCD67 is totally sharp now over few weeks - more than any other I have. Great in hand and most beautiful knife, especially if you oil it with right oil or wax.
Why don't you guys test the Tramontina Century series, these are affordable chef knives, at least in my experience they are comparable to the Victorinox and the Wüsthof in their quality, they also use the same type of german steel of these brands. It's a big brand and they're quite well know in some countries. Many Gastronomy students outside the first world use a Tramontina kit as their first high quality knives since they're more affordable.
Pretty spot-on with all of your assessments. I have the Miyabi knives, and now that my Japanese collection is growing, they just can't compare. I'll be selling them. The Dao knife also, I have that cleaver, and every time I use it the edge chips. It's ridiculous. Misen is a workhorse, sorry to hear they are going out of business. Hmm, maybe I should pick up another while I can. Have you guys tried Kaishin knives? For the price they compare to much more expensive Japanese knives. Their Gyuto is my favorite! Like butter.
The link you gave us doesn't work when I typed it in it says the domain is for sale. Might be my phone but I don't think so I double-checked the address and it still comes up domains for sale. Too bad I really wanted a new chef's knife if you're going to fix the link I hope you do.. I'm going to try it again
Great comparison video! I agree with all of what you said. My first knife I bought for myself was a 210mm Tojiro Gyuto from a recommendation of a good friend. I’ve been hooked on good knives ever since. Been running a thinned Takeda Gyuto for the last couple years. Aogami Super is by far one of my favorite knife steels along with 52100.
I’ve been working in kitchens for over a decade and honestly have some pretty good knife skills, but I know next to nothing about them. I’ve just always used the Cozzini knives that my work supplies. I’ve always wondered what it would be like to have a $300 knife, but I never know where to start. Maybe I’ll check one of these out.
I thought the the same. I own three, including the one they reviewed. They couldn't be more wrong about that knife. I personally love it, and it's a daily user for me in the busy kitchen I work in.
@beckynelson8758 it objectively was the second-worst construction and finish of the bunch and the performance didn't live up to the price tag for us. Glad you love it though, nothing wrong with that.
@@Nailenthusiast1981Dalstrong is 99% mysogynistic marketing , 1% extras aka sheaths & pins, All to hide from the poor china made construction & material. Dullest knives I've ever tried & dollar store value. Anyone that says they are good havent tried a good knife, as even mercer ultimate is sharper otb. No one needs bougie handles, that's all gimmick. Good Kitchen cooks use carbon steel anyway, or reliable commercial brands like Victorinox /Dexter/ Mercer ,which cost 1/3 for better quality . A material knife, tojiro or misen is better and those are sub $80.
they are all marketing but Chinese made crap and they only make the handles. You can literally buy their blades for 1/4 what they charge on temu and other sites like that
It's kinda hard to believe I purchased a Tojiro DP 210 for $59.75 eight years ago. As a home cook, my only regret is not getting the 230, but I have a small kitchen and nowhere to safely store a 10' knife that it won't get damaged.
Tojiro has a sub-brand Fujitora which is sold twice cheaper on Amazon. Fujitora 210 costs 50 dollars for example. It looks absolutely identical to Tojiro and serial number is identical. Also all Fujitora knives on Amazon are sold from Amazon Japan while Tojiro is sold by US shops. I couldn’t figure out if knives of these two sister brands differ in quality or if they are identical knives but sold by different names.
@@proudbacteria1373 I have tried to figure out if the Fujitora is the same knife as the DP for quite some time. There doesn't seem to be much information out there. I do see that many Amazon sellers are trying to pass off the Fujitora as a Tojiro DP or Classic
@@MichaelCleveland-ek5gb There are 3 brands which belong to the same company: Tojiro, Fujitora and Fuji Cutlery. Fujitora has weird distribution. It is not sold on official Tojiro website but sold to third party resellers for cheaper money than Tojiro. What I don’t understand if Fujitora knives are identical knives to Tojiro or if they are slightly inferior in quality and hence cheaper. Fuji Cutlery is also sold on Amaz-n but these knives are made in China.
@@MichaelCleveland-ek5gb Tojiro and Fujitora brands do belong to the same company. If you look at sellers on Bezos’s site you will notice that Fujitora knives are exclusively imported from Japan ( sellers are in Japan) while Tojiro knives are sold by US authorized sellers. There is an opinion that Tojiro brand is aimed at international market.
@@MichaelCleveland-ek5gb A lot of knives which are sold as Tojiro are actually Fujitora knives. When sellers write Tojiro Fujita Toru it is Fujitora knife. You have to look at emblem and Japanese letters on blades to see a difference.
I feel like the #1 knife on the list didn't get enough love in terms of what makes it truly great compared to the others, and it actually felt like one of the shorter reviews. I think #1 on the list deserved some extra time and attention, would've made the build up more satisfying, but just a bit of constructive criticism. I thought the video was great overall.
As an ex professional chef, my 10" wustie classic was awesome then, and awesome now albeit a little overkill for home use. For the few Japanese knives I've used, have and tried, they are a little on the light side for me
The nice thing about japanese knives is the craft/precision and edge retention.. but i like chinese chefs knifes for most jobs.. i like to chop stuff op fast for home cooking.. and the extra weight/height and flatness of the blade makes that perfect for the job. And after the chopping u can use it as a scoop aswell..
You guys seem to gravitate towards knives with small handles and short blade height but then you make the Kramer #1 (which I do not disagree with). Interesting.
I love my Miyabi, it is expensive but in Kyoto I bought the grade b birchwood for 40% off which is a steal. Would highly recommend Miyabi as it looks good in the kitchen but would definitely try going for a carbon kramer
Idk how the Misen out beat the Material. The prob with Misen is they rust like crazy even with wiping & the petty is atrocious known for snapping & dullest otb knife i ever bought. I sent both back. Material knives are super sharp otb great handle and weight. I got their petty & 8in for under $80. The tojiro dp wont take an edge easily, i find the miyabi 6000 mct is sharper but need a diamond stone. No mention of misono is odd cuz they are great.
Easy answer: we've never encountered any of those issues across several Misen units and we didn't like the Material as much. Sounds like we've had pretty opposite experiences across the board though, as DP has been super easy to sharpen for us, as have the super hard miyabis. Misono not mentioned because we had to pack in a bunch of knives within our a budget for the review and they didn't make the cut. This review was already ~$5k out of our own pockets.
The conclusion of this vid is that there is some good entree level japanese knives and some amazing enthousiast japanese knives., witch can be harder to get..And a cheap eu chefs knife still aint bad for the money.. but some esp the wusthof are not any better then a 30 dollar victorinox.. but cost way too much in comparison (difference is more n the handle then in the blade quality or shape). Atleast a blade like the zwilling pro has some cost in manufacturing with the bolster and cool looks making it worth a bit more. Also putting the zwiling pro down on the shape is a bit weird since u can just order the other shape.
Just remember kids, one hell of a lot of us have bench grinders and taking a little off a bolster is a matter of a couple of seconds. If you’re young and don’t remember the knifegrinder’s truck coming round once a month to all the pro kitchens, I’m sorry. I have knives without bolsters, I just don’t find myself using them.
We pay for all of these test units ourselves and we picked about $5k worth of interesting knives. Messermeister makes pretty generic 4116 knives and most lines would probably land between 3 and 5 on our scale.
I learned to cook with Cutco knives, but we’d never recommend them due to predatory sales tactics, comically bad pricing, and massively out-of-date perf characteristics. They’re frankly just not competitive in 2024 (honesty, since at least the early 90s) and the sales practices make them a complete non-starter.
The problem with Misen knives is that they sent good quality knives for yt reviewers but what they actually sell has horrible quality control. The only review I saw from someone that actually bought the knife had such a bad finish it was certainly not worth the money.
@@cultflav I researched about them a while ago and that was the only self bought knife I found. Maybe you guys got lucky. Or maybe he got unlucky. It's hard to know with only two reviews.
Disagree on IKEA VÖRDA knives. For a 9,5 euros for bigger knives and 6,5 euros for smaller knives they are pretty good and more than adequate for majority of people for the fraction of the price of other knives. Knives are made of X50CRMOV15 steel which is used in much more expensive brands. The handle and balance and shape of blades is really good, and handles do not slip in hand even if hands are wet or greasy. Unless you are a professional chef you can go by really well with these. I do use honing rod on them before any bigger cutting, yes, but when you take their price into consideration I'd say they are pretty good knives. Not to mention they will not rust or stain.
Yup, they're cheap. That's their best feature and we did give them points for it. That x50 steel is so soft though that it requires constant maintenance as you mentioned. I would not consider that a good knife - just a cheap knife. Re: x50 in more expensive knives, we took materials points away from those knives bc of that since it's such a budget steel. There's a deep dive video on knife chemistry on this channel that has more details on why we don't recommend any of the 4116 formulations.
@zoned1361 I think there's a couple things to unpack there. 1. Most chefs in the world don't use high-end knives (and they shouldn't). Food workers outside of super high-end or very customer-facing roles want cheap stuff that can get damaged without too much issue and they often have sharpeners come in on a weekly (or at least monthly) basis, so soft isn't too bad for them. 2. A massive majority of home cooks almost never sharpen their knives and don't know anything about honing either (e.g. the prevalent myth that "it doesn't sharpen, it realigns the edge"). There's this idea that's prevalent rn that home cooks should use commercial tools bc they're somehow better. Really, they're just different things. 3. Higher-end steels do require sharpening, but depending on the steel, it's often much less frequently which saves home cooks loads of time over the lifespan of the knife. In general, we advise honing when it starts to feel dull. That'll give it a little more bite through adhesive wear. If that doesn't fix it, time to sharpen. I have zero patience for anything approaching a dull knife and I only need to sharpen every few weeks bc I prioritize edge retention over corrosion resistance (basically the opposite of x50).
@@cultflav Yes, I agree that expensive knives are better and have better quality, better edge retention, no deny about that. But I don't agree that expensive knives are better for beginners or most of home cooks. First thing everyone needs to buy, along expensive knife, is honing rod and then sharpening stone and learn both honing and sharpening, which is not that hard to learn but it takes time. Second, and often, it comes the maintenance such as oiling the knives so they don't rust. How many people want that? It is not very practical for most people. If you chip an IKEA knife, no big deal, but if you chip a 300 dollar knife it is a different story. Wouldn't you agree? I bet knives like IKEA's are more practical to beginners and home cooks. Once they learn how to handle knives and what is working for them and what is not, once they learn how to hone the knife then sky is the limit. But for home cooking the knife that cuts, is well built, does not slip in hand and has almost 0 maintenance, apart from occasional honing may be the way to go for many people. And you can use those commercial sharpening gizmo's on these knifes. No harm done and they will cut. And lastly, I liked your review and the span of knives you guys used, really amazing! Also it's super amazing that you even tested IKEA knives! I just tried to show another point of view. Anyways, Happy New Year and all the best! :)
I think going too cheap can hurt consumers too, because many then feel like they don't need to take care of it at all. That's why our main recs are in the middle ground between your examples here - right around $100 - where imo it maximizes the bang for your buck. Appreciate you jumping in either way, just trying to expand on why we ranked them this way. Happy new year!
Steel isn't the only factor in a knife though... zdp189 + sg2 (e.g. the Miyabis) are both cpm steels like s35 and would have a lot of the same benefits. The grind and geometry for the Dalstrong were complete trash, which were the real issues.
You are right. I have scrolled too much forward because I have thought the Wüsthof knifes are in the top 10. The Wüsthof Ikon is one of the best knifes out there. It's a joke that you put it in one of the last places.
@musikus7092 maybe true of Wusthof in the 90s. Today, it gets trounced on every metric other than price (which still isn't very good for its performance).
"Miyabi is what Shun thinks that they are"
Subbed.
😄
lol
it's funny 'cuz it's true, the Miyabi Koh santoku was love at first cut, best knife for me, after the global G2 ( which they dissed by calling it nothing special in 2023). Shun you buy if they are 1/2 price and then you sell it and get a Miyabi, Mac, Kramer, Tojiro or Global....etc.
I've owned the Miyabi Birchwood knives for nearly 10 years.
They are awesome. And yes "they have the performance to back up their aesthetics".
Don't like how they look? Buy something else.
Don't like their price? Buy something else.
I would recommend them, and I would buy them again (but will never need to).
the perfect video for me as someone getting ready to start culinary school and start taking my cooking to a new level! i want to make sure the knives i purchase are of good quality and worth the money!
Victorinox. Dollar-for-dollar, pound-for-pound, the best value. You could get by without an upgrade forever.
this is a ridiculously good video. I wish I could make it more than once. Not only did you give all the knives you tested and overall they all seem to make sense and I definitely left this video feeling more informed about the pros and cons of what I choose.
Can you put links in the description?
Just ordered the hedley and bennett knife for my bf bday this month. This video was so helpful because I know nothing about cooking. Thanks guys !
Excellent review because there was no waffle, good test approach an explanations. 32 knifes reviewed in under 10 minutes with good research and chart. I am now a subscriber. 😃
Hey, you’ve tried the Zwilling chef’s knives 38401 which has a more curvy tip. The traditional Zwilling chef’s knife 38411 is way better. I use it for my “heavy duty” and a Nakiri for my delicate work
knife likeness can be subjective. ni find the willing perry mediocre and the handless scratch easily .
Damn, life really does come full circle.
Imagine this, sitting on the couch after a long day of work, doing what I usually do, watching random kitchen or cooking related videos.
Suddenly, something just hits me. Oh, them! Design Details and spectrum and also that one time Bryn got me an early access invite to check out Figma while it was still in beta.
Idk if it’s the nostalgia but for some reason randomly stumbling across this video makes me so happy
Hey Bryn, where can I find the video again from this clip at 6:37, been looking everywhere for it...I'm sure it was in TH-cam? Cheers 🙏
Excellent overview, including real-life usage, quite honest and to the point takes, nicely done. I'd disagree on some aesthetics judgments though, but to each his own (like the Meiji handle .. that's some of the most comfortable handles out there for me)
is there a list? You don’t leave the graphics up long enough to read.
if only there was a pause button
Nothing from New West Knife Works?
Love it. I hope you post more on youtube. Also get those affiliate links up in the description for your recommends!
Kind of in disbelief that two of my favourites are on rank 23 and 22 😧
FWIW a breakdown of wetstones and honing steels would be a good accessory to this series. I appreciate you guys going into the breakdown of the metals used and specific alloys(?) of different knives. But when knives get dull it helps to know how to sharpen them. I sharpened my married friends knives before they registered for some wustof's and it blew their minds.
There's hundreds of videos on whetstones. Another one would be superfluous at this point.
I really loved this video and you guys deserve more subs for absolute sure.
Oh also my favorite knife is completely randomly your favorite knife. I didn't even know that before commenting. The Kramer carbon absolutely rocks. It's almost like a chef knife with the heart of a cleaver (not really but that thing is heavy)
I also have the 9.5 inch version of your Miyabi Birchwood arriving today (looked for years and finally found the 9.5 for $266 USD) so i'm a little sad you didn't like it, but we'll see how it goes.
@@nuggyfresh6430the handle is too heavy imo and has too big a gap that requires choking up or soley holding the handle no pinch grip. it also hates to take an edge.. I have a diff model but the handles are the same issue and gap.
Hey guys I would check out the Bradford knives chefs knife. It's an American company known for their high quality products. It's made in Magna cut steel which is said to be the best all-around steel available today.
I bought my miyabi 6000 11 years ago, still the best knife i've owned, and i've owned wusthofs, globals and lots of other brands, love them.
great video. informative and precise. was wondering what your opinion on the TUO brand of knives is. its my go to favorite knife set.
I am a professional chef and my list for best chefs knife would be
10 inch Victorinox Chef knife
10 inch Wüsthof Classic Ikon
7 inch Chinese Chef Knife from Zwilling
I don't have the zwilling pro but i have used one at work and it feels great.
I agree with you. Nothing touches the Victorinox's, especially when it comes to price to performance. If they doubled the price, and performance it would smash every knife ever created, in both categories. I grabbed an open box wood handle version for about $30 and it's one of my favorite knives. My main daily driver did end up being their #1 pick over-all (2.0 version,) but when you're spending over $200 on a knife it's no longer about the value at that point in my opinion.
Nice to see Pierre Thiam's cookbook "Senegal" in the bookcase. Chef's kiss!
Great video!
Chef here, have a few nice Japanese knives but actually quite like my old wustof ikon. The heavy weight for some jobs paired with it not breaking when going through small bones or the countless times i've dropped it. Looking for a replacement for it atm
I feel like that knife would cost half the price if they hadnt sponsored masterchef for 20 years.. but probably decent stuff if u want to fork for it!
Thanks so much for the effort that was put into this video! A+ doesn’t do it justice so S+!
if your doing a pinch grip, is the Miabi handle really a downside?
I have smallish hands and the miyabi 6000 MCt, similar style. I find the handle pretty much useless as I have to choke up due to the gap but then your thumb sits half on the metal bump, so it's best just to hold all on handle . Also handle is bulky & overly heavy , but so are shuns, & kramer is worse.
I was disappointed that you didn’t go over the drawbacks of Japanese and carbon steel knives in more detail. The lack of corrosion resistance and brittle edges make these knives a poor choice for the average home cook who is not a knife hobbyist. Your #1 rated Zwilling/Kramer Carbon is certainly a nice knife but would not be an appropriate recommendation for a vast majority of people.
And that's why it's not our default recommendation which we have an entire video about. We also have an entire video about knife chemistry and the impacts of chromium.
@@cultflav My point is that if someone cruises in and takes this particular video at face value, they very likely will be disappointed if they make a purchase based upon your top recommendation. Providing more context would be more helpful.
@@ZensōMusic Same, i own some japanese knives that are all stainless (cause im not stupid enough to go carbon), and even then 1 time forget to rinse/dry one it will get rust spots..
@@ZensōMusic They clearly say that their most recommended knife is the hedley and bennett, which is made of AUS10 stainless. I think you mean to say that if someone just looked at the number one spot they would be disappointed, which isn't their fault at all.
@@larsvegas1505 well it's stain less not proof. That said, Ive mistreated my stainless but none rust. I have a global, Miyabi and material knife and none rust after a year. Carbon is ok if u wipe it which is easy to remember to do if u make it a habit. Depends on the composition tho
Time to build the wall from knives out!
proven to be a powerful deterrent against burglars.
I purchased the Miyabi Birchwood Santoku for only $175 (50% off msrp). Excellent price for the quality.
That was both informative, and entertaining. I subbed, and ty! :)
Great review! I am considering a Steelport. Who would you recommend to do the blade thinning? Thank you!
What about the Kramer Damascus line over the carbon version?
I would definitely prefer the carbon line performance-wise (also, Damascus is very much not the vibe for us).
My Dalstrong chips really bad from pepper seeds and chili seeds. I needed a 6in for my apt in HK and their 6in. Global is my go to worry free stainless. That Kramer shape is why I bought the Dalstrong to see if I would like the profile and I do. I would love to see your reaction to Takeda knifes. I have the 240 gyuto and the 210 (225) Sasanoha which is my favorite. For some reason they became impossible to find at the old price. Steel and geometry in reviews is often not addressed. I have a few sg2s I dont like to sharpen and my AS steel seems to edge very well and less effort. Want to learn sharpening find a White 1 steel. It is so pleasant to feel on the stone and made my sharpening better on knifes that give no feedback. Do a video on stropping hard knifes as it can allow you to go 6-9 months just stropping. Leather is what I have on acrylic but bluejeans on a board I saw done in Japan. The use of polishing pastes on the strop to get that wicked edge. totally not needed to go that far.
I work in a college prep kitchen and im looking for a knife that works as hard as I do, so this was helpful. Thank you.
Great vid and I’m hanging for a Hitohiro ..would be great if you guys could add some suggested links for places to try find/buy them 👍
I LOVE THIS VIDEO!!! this is a 10 out of 10 video!! you mentioned geometry, took shun and miyabi down a peg, pointed out bolters are annoying, and had a really cool and veried selection of knives. GREAT WORK
As a chef of 20+ years. I use a miyabi as my everyday driver and I literally enjoy everything about it. I can’t even use other knives and compare them at all.
Which sub-model of Hitohira 180mm Santoku did you guys test?
Kikuchiyo Ren
Hey is that StevenSharpens doing some thinning for you ❤👍. Great review.
Sure is! He's great!
Have you looked at any of the Meridien knives?
Unable to find that brand name. Do you mean Messermeister Meridian?
Great review, I realize there are hundreds of knife brands so not possible to try them all. I kept waiting for a made in Canada Grohmann chef knife to get reviewed. Love the set I have. Cheers
Maybe I missed it but I was surprised not to see Masamoto's VG "Hyper Molybdenum Vanadium" in the mix. I love mine. And as I understand it, they are pretty much the go-to for every sushi chef.
Great high speed overview! I think you make some excellent observations about the knives: Global G2 being a great beginners knife (I started out using one of these). Shun being pretty but chippy, and Miyabi being well made but too expensive - yes! Also in my experience, generally handle heavy balance which is not ideal. Finally I think the comment about the Wusthof Ikon is probably fair, but they have altered the heat treatment and sharpening angle to make the knife perform better - in fact so have most German manufacturers, I have a Messermeister Oliva that is essentially a Wusthof with more pleasant handle appearance and ergonomics that is actually very nice to use.
Great review! May I please ask you what knife you would recommend for a beating-horse knife, you know the one you don't feel bad about if it hits a bone, have to cut through acid stuff or let be a long time on the cutting board?
Can we get the $15 Winco Stal included in a review. 🔪 👌🏼
I put mine to work, easy to sharpen, sure it doesn’t have a fancy handle, it’s stamped steel and not refined at all, but it’s an absolute workhorse that’ll get the job done forever. It’s comparable to the legendary Victorinox 8” Chefs Knife and my first and only Chefs Knife.
Normaly, I do not comment, but I must this time. Miyabi 5000MCD Birchwood and Miyabi Black 5000MCD67 are by many reviews one of the most beautiful knife on the market. So it is weird that you mentioned that you did not love the astetics, and I undestand it is personal taste, but you know, you did not comment this for 70% of other knives here that are so ugly as... I bought few weeks ago Miyabi Black 5000MCD67 Rocking Santoku after testing in the shop in Japan many other similarly priced knives and heaving at home 8 other good knives, and this one is out of the box the sharpest knife and very comfortable to use(ok, my is not chef, but rocking santoku - whatever this means). I agree that MCD67 has larger possibility to chip when going on bones or harder stuff because it is very thin, very low 10° blade angle and very hard steal ZDF189 with 66HRC. It is more for use if one wants to cut everything like butter - so it is not one knife for everything-type. From this knives that you poses, the 5000MCD67 is for me the top 3 of this list as I tried almost all of them. And just for the info, I bought Miyabi Black 5000MCD67 for 210€ (cca 230$), so 500usd is list price, but it is almost never sold by this price, and other Japanese knives are rarely discounted. Miyabi Koh 8" (ok knife), Shun Kanso 8"(ok knife), and especially Ikea models (not ok knives) are not near as good as MCD and MCD67. Ikea is simply to soft, no edge retention at all. If you like dull knives, than those are acceptable because you can wash it in dishwasher 😂. MCD67 is totally sharp now over few weeks - more than any other I have. Great in hand and most beautiful knife, especially if you oil it with right oil or wax.
You missed the one from assio & engvall.. Highly recommend!
this is so thorough, hope u get the chance to make more!
Have you tried any of the shun kanso knives?
Why don't you guys test the Tramontina Century series, these are affordable chef knives, at least in my experience they are comparable to the Victorinox and the Wüsthof in their quality, they also use the same type of german steel of these brands. It's a big brand and they're quite well know in some countries. Many Gastronomy students outside the first world use a Tramontina kit as their first high quality knives since they're more affordable.
Pretty spot-on with all of your assessments. I have the Miyabi knives, and now that my Japanese collection is growing, they just can't compare. I'll be selling them. The Dao knife also, I have that cleaver, and every time I use it the edge chips. It's ridiculous. Misen is a workhorse, sorry to hear they are going out of business. Hmm, maybe I should pick up another while I can. Have you guys tried Kaishin knives? For the price they compare to much more expensive Japanese knives. Their Gyuto is my favorite! Like butter.
What about zwilling 1731?
The link you gave us doesn't work when I typed it in it says the domain is for sale. Might be my phone but I don't think so I double-checked the address and it still comes up domains for sale.
Too bad I really wanted a new chef's knife if you're going to fix the link I hope you do.. I'm going to try it again
Added link to the description. Not sure why that wasn't there in the first place 🤔
Great comparison video! I agree with all of what you said. My first knife I bought for myself was a 210mm Tojiro Gyuto from a recommendation of a good friend. I’ve been hooked on good knives ever since. Been running a thinned Takeda Gyuto for the last couple years. Aogami Super is by far one of my favorite knife steels along with 52100.
Love the takeda, the only knife I've tried that consistently doesn't let food stick while cutting.
@@ajq0301 too bad you can’t find them anymore…at least I can’t find anywhere they aren’t out of stock. Looking to add a 240mm Gyuto to the collection.
I’ve been working in kitchens for over a decade and honestly have some pretty good knife skills, but I know next to nothing about them. I’ve just always used the Cozzini knives that my work supplies. I’ve always wondered what it would be like to have a $300 knife, but I never know where to start. Maybe I’ll check one of these out.
😭😭😭 dalstrong is ranked so low. It’s ashamed, I’ve used many of dalstrongs knives
I thought the the same. I own three, including the one they reviewed. They couldn't be more wrong about that knife. I personally love it, and it's a daily user for me in the busy kitchen I work in.
@beckynelson8758 it objectively was the second-worst construction and finish of the bunch and the performance didn't live up to the price tag for us. Glad you love it though, nothing wrong with that.
@@Nailenthusiast1981Dalstrong is 99% mysogynistic marketing , 1% extras aka sheaths & pins, All to hide from the poor china made construction & material. Dullest knives I've ever tried & dollar store value. Anyone that says they are good havent tried a good knife, as even mercer ultimate is sharper otb. No one needs bougie handles, that's all gimmick. Good Kitchen cooks use carbon steel anyway, or reliable commercial brands like Victorinox /Dexter/ Mercer ,which cost 1/3 for better quality . A material knife, tojiro or misen is better and those are sub $80.
they are all marketing but Chinese made crap and they only make the handles. You can literally buy their blades for 1/4 what they charge on temu and other sites like that
Maybe oil the Miyabi handles, oiled wood vs raw vood is a world of difference
Yup, they were oiled!
Great video, I make a chefs knife that I think would compete well in that line up.
Willing to take a look! cultflav.com/review-units 🙏
My wife just bought the hexclad knife set. Sad. She's super happy, I guess I will pretend not to know she got scammed by her favorite TV chef.
I finally found an acceptable chefs knife in the Korin carbon steel 59 HRC. I need to keep it oiled, However it’s great.
In good news, unless you have VERY high humidity, the oiling shouldn't be necessary - just dry it after use!
It's kinda hard to believe I purchased a Tojiro DP 210 for $59.75 eight years ago. As a home cook, my only regret is not getting the 230, but I have a small kitchen and nowhere to safely store a 10' knife that it won't get damaged.
Tojiro has a sub-brand Fujitora which is sold twice cheaper on Amazon. Fujitora 210 costs 50 dollars for example. It looks absolutely identical to Tojiro and serial number is identical. Also all Fujitora knives on Amazon are sold from Amazon Japan while Tojiro is sold by US shops. I couldn’t figure out if knives of these two sister brands differ in quality or if they are identical knives but sold by different names.
@@proudbacteria1373 I have tried to figure out if the Fujitora is the same knife as the DP for quite some time. There doesn't seem to be much information out there. I do see that many Amazon sellers are trying to pass off the Fujitora as a Tojiro DP or Classic
@@MichaelCleveland-ek5gb There are 3 brands which belong to the same company: Tojiro, Fujitora and Fuji Cutlery. Fujitora has weird distribution. It is not sold on official Tojiro website but sold to third party resellers for cheaper money than Tojiro. What I don’t understand if Fujitora knives are identical knives to Tojiro or if they are slightly inferior in quality and hence cheaper. Fuji Cutlery is also sold on Amaz-n but these knives are made in China.
@@MichaelCleveland-ek5gb Tojiro and Fujitora brands do belong to the same company. If you look at sellers on Bezos’s site you will notice that Fujitora knives are exclusively imported from Japan ( sellers are in Japan) while Tojiro knives are sold by US authorized sellers. There is an opinion that Tojiro brand is aimed at international market.
@@MichaelCleveland-ek5gb A lot of knives which are sold as Tojiro are actually Fujitora knives. When sellers write Tojiro Fujita Toru it is Fujitora knife. You have to look at emblem and Japanese letters on blades to see a difference.
Beautiful channel, beautiful video and a beautiful couple.
What more could a person ask for!
Thanks Jason for the recommendation. Subscribed!
My Victorinox Rosewood isn't even in the top 10 :(. Time for a upgrade.
Masamoto VG is the best knife I've ever owned.
You should definitely try get your hands on a takamura knife, you won't regret it
My 1st knife was the tojiro oboro, meeen i cant imagine to work with another knife !!!
I feel like the #1 knife on the list didn't get enough love in terms of what makes it truly great compared to the others, and it actually felt like one of the shorter reviews. I think #1 on the list deserved some extra time and attention, would've made the build up more satisfying, but just a bit of constructive criticism. I thought the video was great overall.
Thank you.
As an ex professional chef, my 10" wustie classic was awesome then, and awesome now albeit a little overkill for home use. For the few Japanese knives I've used, have and tried, they are a little on the light side for me
The nice thing about japanese knives is the craft/precision and edge retention.. but i like chinese chefs knifes for most jobs.. i like to chop stuff op fast for home cooking.. and the extra weight/height and flatness of the blade makes that perfect for the job. And after the chopping u can use it as a scoop aswell..
You guys seem to gravitate towards knives with small handles and short blade height but then you make the Kramer #1 (which I do not disagree with). Interesting.
No timestamps or charpters 🤔
Love my Misono UX10
I love my Miyabi, it is expensive but in Kyoto I bought the grade b birchwood for 40% off which is a steal. Would highly recommend Miyabi as it looks good in the kitchen but would definitely try going for a carbon kramer
Idk how the Misen out beat the Material. The prob with Misen is they rust like crazy even with wiping & the petty is atrocious known for snapping & dullest otb knife i ever bought. I sent both back. Material knives are super sharp otb great handle and weight. I got their petty & 8in for under $80. The tojiro dp wont take an edge easily, i find the miyabi 6000 mct is sharper but need a diamond stone. No mention of misono is odd cuz they are great.
Easy answer: we've never encountered any of those issues across several Misen units and we didn't like the Material as much. Sounds like we've had pretty opposite experiences across the board though, as DP has been super easy to sharpen for us, as have the super hard miyabis.
Misono not mentioned because we had to pack in a bunch of knives within our a budget for the review and they didn't make the cut. This review was already ~$5k out of our own pockets.
@@cultflav Could you compare Tojiro and Fujitora knives? Are they the same knives but with different logos? The price difference is big.
Thanks for the review, this covered alot of territory!
The conclusion of this vid is that there is some good entree level japanese knives and some amazing enthousiast japanese knives., witch can be harder to get..And a cheap eu chefs knife still aint bad for the money.. but some esp the wusthof are not any better then a 30 dollar victorinox.. but cost way too much in comparison (difference is more n the handle then in the blade quality or shape). Atleast a blade like the zwilling pro has some cost in manufacturing with the bolster and cool looks making it worth a bit more. Also putting the zwiling pro down on the shape is a bit weird since u can just order the other shape.
Whoever does he editing is a real one, love the office references.
Ive heard way different things about wustof knives, plus they have a great warranty program ive heard
Just remember kids, one hell of a lot of us have bench grinders and taking a little off a bolster is a matter of a couple of seconds. If you’re young and don’t remember the knifegrinder’s truck coming round once a month to all the pro kitchens, I’m sorry. I have knives without bolsters, I just don’t find myself using them.
Can you review f dick red spirit series knifes?I own the set and I would like your opinion
Steel wise, it's probably around with Victorinox, although I haven't had one in my hands personally it doesn't look like a handle I'd enjoy.
for about $40 the Dexter Duo Glide is an incredible USA made knife that punches way above its weight class.
y'all should check it out
Love your dual presentation on this! Great work!
My favourite knives are these really cheap, honestly quite shite, Kiwi Brand knives.
They don't hold an edge, but are so easy to sharpen.
I heard well of them but they are not available in my country. My favorite chef knife is Xituo Butcher, the one with the blue turquoise ring.
No Messermeister?
We pay for all of these test units ourselves and we picked about $5k worth of interesting knives. Messermeister makes pretty generic 4116 knives and most lines would probably land between 3 and 5 on our scale.
Tojiro ❤
Masamoto ks best knife I've ever used
I'm not sure about smashing the knives...
"The Andrew Tate of knives."
And subbed.
Mercer? Dexter?
Why don't you compare any of these to an american classic like cutco ?
I learned to cook with Cutco knives, but we’d never recommend them due to predatory sales tactics, comically bad pricing, and massively out-of-date perf characteristics. They’re frankly just not competitive in 2024 (honesty, since at least the early 90s) and the sales practices make them a complete non-starter.
The problem with Misen knives is that they sent good quality knives for yt reviewers but what they actually sell has horrible quality control. The only review I saw from someone that actually bought the knife had such a bad finish it was certainly not worth the money.
We have never been sent a review unit - we exclusively bought them ourselves.
@@cultflav I researched about them a while ago and that was the only self bought knife I found. Maybe you guys got lucky. Or maybe he got unlucky. It's hard to know with only two reviews.
@thiago.assumpcao if it helps, this was the 4th one we've tested.
$300 knives? wow
Disagree on IKEA VÖRDA knives. For a 9,5 euros for bigger knives and 6,5 euros for smaller knives they are pretty good and more than adequate for majority of people for the fraction of the price of other knives. Knives are made of X50CRMOV15 steel which is used in much more expensive brands. The handle and balance and shape of blades is really good, and handles do not slip in hand even if hands are wet or greasy. Unless you are a professional chef you can go by really well with these. I do use honing rod on them before any bigger cutting, yes, but when you take their price into consideration I'd say they are pretty good knives. Not to mention they will not rust or stain.
Yup, they're cheap. That's their best feature and we did give them points for it. That x50 steel is so soft though that it requires constant maintenance as you mentioned. I would not consider that a good knife - just a cheap knife.
Re: x50 in more expensive knives, we took materials points away from those knives bc of that since it's such a budget steel. There's a deep dive video on knife chemistry on this channel that has more details on why we don't recommend any of the 4116 formulations.
@@cultflav Even the expensive knives need constant honing, as is even suggested by every chef out there.
@zoned1361 I think there's a couple things to unpack there.
1. Most chefs in the world don't use high-end knives (and they shouldn't).
Food workers outside of super high-end or very customer-facing roles want cheap stuff that can get damaged without too much issue and they often have sharpeners come in on a weekly (or at least monthly) basis, so soft isn't too bad for them.
2. A massive majority of home cooks almost never sharpen their knives and don't know anything about honing either (e.g. the prevalent myth that "it doesn't sharpen, it realigns the edge"). There's this idea that's prevalent rn that home cooks should use commercial tools bc they're somehow better. Really, they're just different things.
3. Higher-end steels do require sharpening, but depending on the steel, it's often much less frequently which saves home cooks loads of time over the lifespan of the knife.
In general, we advise honing when it starts to feel dull. That'll give it a little more bite through adhesive wear. If that doesn't fix it, time to sharpen. I have zero patience for anything approaching a dull knife and I only need to sharpen every few weeks bc I prioritize edge retention over corrosion resistance (basically the opposite of x50).
@@cultflav Yes, I agree that expensive knives are better and have better quality, better edge retention, no deny about that.
But I don't agree that expensive knives are better for beginners or most of home cooks.
First thing everyone needs to buy, along expensive knife, is honing rod and then sharpening stone and learn both honing and sharpening, which is not that hard to learn but it takes time. Second, and often, it comes the maintenance such as oiling the knives so they don't rust.
How many people want that? It is not very practical for most people.
If you chip an IKEA knife, no big deal, but if you chip a 300 dollar knife it is a different story. Wouldn't you agree?
I bet knives like IKEA's are more practical to beginners and home cooks. Once they learn how to handle knives and what is working for them and what is not, once they learn how to hone the knife then sky is the limit. But for home cooking the knife that cuts, is well built, does not slip in hand and has almost 0 maintenance, apart from occasional honing may be the way to go for many people. And you can use those commercial sharpening gizmo's on these knifes. No harm done and they will cut.
And lastly, I liked your review and the span of knives you guys used, really amazing!
Also it's super amazing that you even tested IKEA knives!
I just tried to show another point of view.
Anyways, Happy New Year and all the best! :)
I think going too cheap can hurt consumers too, because many then feel like they don't need to take care of it at all. That's why our main recs are in the middle ground between your examples here - right around $100 - where imo it maximizes the bang for your buck.
Appreciate you jumping in either way, just trying to expand on why we ranked them this way. Happy new year!
Japanese knife for me carbon steel
S35 should have given you the best knife on the list. I doubt it was real.
Steel isn't the only factor in a knife though... zdp189 + sg2 (e.g. the Miyabis) are both cpm steels like s35 and would have a lot of the same benefits. The grind and geometry for the Dalstrong were complete trash, which were the real issues.
Did you ever heard of german knives? Without them the test isn't complete
Several of these are German.
You are right. I have scrolled too much forward because I have thought the Wüsthof knifes are in the top 10.
The Wüsthof Ikon is one of the best knifes out there. It's a joke that you put it in one of the last places.
@musikus7092 maybe true of Wusthof in the 90s. Today, it gets trounced on every metric other than price (which still isn't very good for its performance).
Great Video thanks 🎉
“Andrew Tate as a knife.” 😂😂😂😂 Hilarious
you're not factoring in price, even if you're not making a budget knife video price is still a factor that you should use in the process of ranking
20% of our scoring metric is price. But it's also relative to the quality of the product instead of just price in isolation.
Great little vid right here. Enjoyed seeing some knives I wasn’t familiar with. Global has its fans, but just too ugly IMO. 😂
I've been replacing my global knives with Miyabi black and Birch, yes expensive but if the pri e doesn't bother you, easily the best knives out there