subscribed 😁, just started following your videos this week and what I like the most is that your videos have pointers, guidelines and valuable knowledge shared from your experience, the way you describe and explain things clearly, makes viewers feel like you are talking to us directly, I will recommend your channel to my family and friends 👨👩👦 oh kindly share links if you already have videos on how to cook mashed potatoes with gravy and if I am not asking too much, kindly please, how to cook medium rare steak (including marinade please but the not so expensive version for Asian wanna-be home cooks), thank you, if my requests are not available, it is ok, thank you Chef
Teacher, Chinese cuisine has been around for over 3000 years, and there are various cooking methods available. The Western world has almost the same cooking methods, don't you understand? The Japanese people can only use raw food as a selling point because they do not know other cooking methods. China has all cooking methods and has continued for thousands of years.
You won't convince my mum that there is a better knife than Ikea's chef knife. She gifted a pair of those to every person she even knew. I got 3 for my birthday...
You make some very good points I haven’t seen in other videos on Japanese knives, like making sure the blade is tall enough for your hand, I have a Shigeki Tanaka gyuto with a tall blade, much taller than my Wustof, and I absolutely love it.
"A knife made by Myabi can actually go through more than a hundred hands of artisans" at that second a horror scene played in my mind untill I caght up with the rest of the sentence 😂
I know the video is meant to look at knives, but I urge viewers to look at chef's technique- especially the way he's cutting when using different knives. Also look at how and where the knife is held from. The weight of the knife will also determine how you use it. Heavy knife? let the knife do the cutting. Very light knife? Each stroke will be purposeful. But the best tip given here in this video is to hold one and try it in store. Buy what you're comfortable with! Great video as always! Looking forward to more content.
thank you! the counter that I was cutting on is a bit to high for a cutting board and with the Japanese knives it is not easy to use them as I have to hold them higher up to cut haha
As someone who worked & studied for years in steel industry (with CNC machines that is) I can tell you, higher Rockwell means also more briddle, which results in higher chances of cracks/chips. The perfect steel would be as hard as possible while being flexible enough to withstand torturing. But even if you mix materials together, which they do (Chromium, Molybdan, Vanadium and so on) they'll still fall short on being flexible or hard enough. Interesting would be to do knifes with CBN (Cubic Boron Nitrid) especially cause they're thermically and chemically resistant. That's commonly used in the makes of lathe and milling tools. But the processing of making it is difficult, because it's mainly made through sintering. Thanks for the video James, was really interesting to see!
My favorite two knives are my shun Gyuto and my aogami Nakiri. I grew up using my parents' Wustoff knives, and while they are amazing and so much tougher, I just love how much more comfortable and precise my japanese knives feel with a pinch grip and how much sharper they are. I also love how they look - and while that might seem pretty trivial, I always feel that when I like looking at the tools in my hands, I end up using them more often. However, I think if I was a pro instead of a home cook I might prefer knives I wouldnt have to worry about as much
FUCKING NO!!!!!! Can you please grow a brain and grow out of these faddish content creators like Guga. I hope James will continue to make content about food people will actually want to cook and eat and any other detail orientated videos because he's a really intelligent and knowledgeable guy.
FYI from Japanese audience: 1. Gyuto(牛刀) means Cow(牛) Blade/Sword(刀) in literal translation. I don't know why it's called that way. 2. The Santoku(三徳) means three(三) characteristic(徳). The knife was made to use it on 3 different ingredients, meat, fish, and vegi. 3. Sujihiki(筋引) means String/Muscle(筋) Pull(引), and yes, it's named for the purpose of pulling/cutting the string of the meat. 4. Nakiri(菜切) means Vegi(菜) Cutter(切) and it is used to cut vegi like Chef James mentioned. 5. Yanagiba(柳刃) means Willow(柳) Blade/Sword(刃). it is called Yanagiba because it is as thin as the willow leaves.
Knives of some good makers i own/ tried and like: yu Kurosaki, shiro kamo, hideo Kitaoka, yoshikane, fujiwara, anryu, shigeki tanaka, takamura, zakuri, masamoto, moritaka, sakai kikomuri, sakai takayuki, shibata koutetsu, yoshimi kato, yoshikazu Tanaka, ogata, yamamoto, masashi just to name a few
Have the same gyuto that you were holding up in the beginning! Got it for round 300 CAD with the blade guard, and still get compliments on it wherever I go.
I have the privilege of owning a small set of 4 knives made of Japanese stainless steel. I have a gyuto, santoku and a nakiri, plus a paring knife that is the same metal. They were a gift from one of my daughters and they are fantastic. They sharpen so well and hold a nice edge. I really enjoyed your explanation of the various knifes and the steels they can be made from. It gives me a better appreciation for what I was gifted.
I love your videos! I'm a very amateur home chef. I own a 24cm Gyuto and that's what I use around 98% in my kitchen. Other than that, I have 28cm serrated knife and a small pairing knife. That's really all I ever use and I learned how during some introductory cooking classes travelling in Indochina as well as youtube. Among my peers in Southern Germany / Switzerland it is very common to use tiny supermarket pairing knives as chef knives. Those are already dull when you buy them and deteriorate quickly, leading to the "typical" squirting tomatoes as well as people crying from chopping onions. People also tend to cut their fingers quite often and I find it difficult to explain that using a bigger and sharper knife will prevent accidents. Sometimes it's also hard to explain why someone should pay a lot of money (my Gyuto was around 170 USD) for "just a knife" when you can get cheaper knives and invest the remainder in fancy (and also cheap) kitchen appliances that do stuff automagically. In my very humble experience, a good knife, a big cutting board and a good frying pan go a long way for everyday cooking in a single's kitchen.
A good, sharp paring knife isn’t even all that expensive. My Victorinox was only USD$8 when I bought it (now $12). It’s lasted for years (and still going) for something priced as nearly disposable.
@@SansBalance yeah, the decent ones are not expensive. Mine was a bit more pricier, but way less than 100 USD, if I remember right. And they indeed last forever. Once you pay for the basics, the rest is often just a bit of fancy decoration and brand name. What happens here is that people buy those off the supermarket shelf that cost maybe 1 to 3 USD - in that price range. It also says "kitchen knife" on the label. It isn't even proper knife steel - just punched out metal sheet, sharpened at the edge and attached to a plastic handle. When I was a student and moved out, living on a shoestring budget, I fell into the same trap. Having a proper chef's knife was a game changer for me later in life.
A comment I see in a lot of videos about Japanese vs Western knives is about the higher hardness; I think it's worth pointing out that the lower/higher hardness is a deliberate choice by the manufacturer. You can get Western knives with RH in the 60s, and you can Japanese knives with RH in the 50s. There isn't anything unique about the steels from either area, it's just market preference. So if you want an extremely hard Western style knife and are able to find an artisan bladesmith who will work with you, you can get a blade as hard as you like.
Great video and like a great knife, well balanced too. For any viewers in the US, Liberia and Myanmar, 240mm is 9 and 448819 millionths of an inch, but I guess 9.5" works 🙂
One thing to note about single bevel Japanese knives is that they are meant for righthanded use. As a lefty that can be a bit of an issue. I only have one Shun steak knife for the pretty which I do use righthanded.
D-handle and 30/70% sharpened knives might also not be too well suited for left handed people. some might not mind it though, and sharpening angle can probably be fixed
This was good. What you failed to convey was the idea that in Japanese cuisine, each task has a specific tool. The gyuto is not the “chef” knife. Kiritsuke is. Gyu translates to beef, so that would be your meat prep tool. If you’re into Japanese stuff or happen to work in a Japanese environment, your most important knife will be the Deba. You will break down fish to fillets with that tool. If you’re descaling your fish in house, you will need a Takohiki/sujihiki. It will also depend on your style. Kanto vs Kansai. The topic is a never-ending rabbit hole… and then you have the bocho/hocho for pretty much all knives. One last thing, it’s fairly common to replace handles. It’s actually a shortcut to look for great blades with poor handles and get them replaced. Getting a pine yanagiba will end up cheaper than a mohogani handle one, even with the replacement taken into consideration. In some cases, you also will wear out the handle faster than the blades. My deba is on its second handle in 7 years.
The worst weapon is always the blunt one. In kitchen a blunt knife is more deadly than a sharp knife. For the people who are commenting without using the brain. It is a chef channel and this quote is used by chefs for professional kitchens.
I feel like the people who say this have never cut themselves with a really sharp knife. You can have an accident with a blunt knife and get a cut. You have an accident with a sharp knife and you may never have feeling in those finger tips again!
@@Bradimus1 i have faced cut from both during early stages of cooking but once u get used to it I can assure u blunt knife is the last thing you want to work with. Once you master the skills of fast cutting like chefs you will actually get cut because of your own fast skill with a blunt knife. I think you cut very slowly or always looking while cutting because of caution but once you start cutting with speed you develop muscle memory which is very dangerous when using a blunt knife.
@@Forestgravy90 not really it's like working with saw once you used to it you can easily do it with speed. The blunt knife is more likely to cut a pro chef because they were not accustomed with a blunt knife and they produce less force to cut which leads to slippage of the knife or worse the knife doesn't even cut properly. A person who cooks daily from breakfast to dinner, he is very much used to a sharp knife so a blunt knife is very bad in that hand also it is not efficient also.
Has not been my experience. I've used a dull knife for years without cutting myself. Then when I sharpened my knives I got a really nasty cut. You really have to be careful with sharp knives.
I don’t have a very big hand, but it’s pretty wide and thick. So I found that Bob Kramer is easier for me to use, specifically the Carbon 8” Chefs knife. It’s not for everyone, requires lots of maintenance, since it’s high carbon and rusts almost immediately. That said, I have the exactly the same Santoku, birch wood one. Love it as well, especially for veggie cutting.
I'm glad you mentioned Damascus cause the way people have mentioned Damascus blades to me makes it sounds like the steel is imbued with an almost magical quality - and I'm sure there's more to it than simply "Damascus make samurai sword laser sharp" So I can't wait to see a Damascus episode! Great stuff as always Chef James
What people call damascus these days is actually just pattern welded steel. Sort of like trying to recreate the look of true damascus which has the patterns but isn't pattern welded. Samurai swords are not damascus (which originates in Damascus) either, just folded steel, which is folded so many times to get the impurities out.
@@hillbill79 Indeed :) I've seen a lot of Alex Steele videos where he's made Damascus steel things as well as pattern welded things. The forging process itself will bring a lot of impurities to the surface, so I wondered what benefits "Damascusing"/folding the steel over on itself would have. It looks to be largely visual, especially given Alex's methods of acid etching the steel to highlight the patterns created
@@azyfloof I dont mind patternwelded steel as a cladding for a solid core such as in the japanese chef knives. But a lot of knives are made from 100% pattern welded steel. I dont like knives like this as you cant harden the 2 different steels the same, so one is always harder than the other, which is a problem from a practical sense as they wear unevenly creating sharp areas and dull areas along the edge.
@@azyfloofFolding doesn't do anything with good modern steel, it might even make it worse. When you fold the steel you need to remove the forge scale on the outer surface otherwise you are essentially adding impurities into the steel that weren't there from the start. Folding was necessary back in the day to remove impurities but Hitatchi White/Blue steels are going to be as pure as you are going to get it. Most Japanese knives that are Damascus are going to be pattern welded soft outer layers with a hard core steel like White #1/2/3, Blue #1, #2, Blue Super or some of their stainless like Silver/Ginsan, SG2/R2/SLD. Damascus cladding looks cool but you are going to be a sad panda when it comes time to thin the knife. As hillhill79 said, if there is no hard core and the whole blade is Damascus, it is going to be a strange experience as the different steels at the edge will wear differently from use and during sharpening.
Can you cover the retail Wüsthof sharpeners please. (Good or bad) for us home chiefs 🔪 I have the sharpener that does regular, standard, or “Asian” knives.
I am a home cook. I love good knives. They make working in the kitchen so much easier. I am now up to about 8 Japanese knives, all hand made. I highly recommend them. I also recommend stainless. My carbon steel knives just take too much effort preventing them from rusting even though they do get wickedly sharp. The most used knife in my kitchen is a nikiri. I prefer wa handles. Japanese knives are worth the price.
As I use "cutthroat razors" to shave, I'm quite familiar with the use of strops. I believe you know better than me than a razor strop usually has two sides, one with a "green paste" (chromium oxide) and one with bare leather. Is this "configuration" ok for Japanese knives as well? 🤔 Very VERY interesting videos, you're waking up my GAS 😅. Trying to resist though. 🙂 Thank you for all the infos. See you next time!
@@ChefJamesMakinson Yep, I noticed by the colour of the strops you showed in the video, hence my question 🙂🙂. Well, I don't use much paste on my razors either, but just a veil on the "paste side" of the strop. It works, for the razor. 😅 I also noticed that the shape of the strop you showed is quite different than the ones I use for my razors, so I believe I should by one of those, were I to buy one of those beautiful knives... 🙂 Thanks again for your kind answer.
Hey James, Pro knife maker here. Nice and pretty accurate video! but I would like to add a few things. First, Japanese knives have made quite the reputation and now everybody believes they are the best there is. That might be true when they are made by true dedicated artisans. The problem is it has became such a big business that a lot of industrial companies now want their piece of the pie and make Japanese-looking knives without respecting the rules of what make a Japanese knife. For starters, even though there is nowadays a huge diversity among stainless steels, and some will have all of the upsides of carbon steel, but most stainless steels are the cheap ones and not always well heat treated. This is what gave stainless steel the poorer reputation in the first place, in the West. There is an incentive with Japanese knives to stick to a higher standard regarding sharpness and edge retention, so there's that, but you'll still have to go way down the rabbit hole to find the really good ones. Besides, it's very difficult to hand-forge stainless steel let alone to make damascus out of it, without ruining the metallurgical balance inside. Stainless has to be heat treated very accurately, within a few degrees window and there's no room for error, so even for the most skilled blacksmith, to be this accurate with a forge fire is virtually impossible. What I mean is, when you see "blacksmith finish" on a stainless steel, 95% of the time, it just has been put there to let you believe it has been hand-forged while it most certainly has not. What's funny is many very skilled blacksmith will leave a very smooth surface even after they're done forging (not the rough random hammer marks) and will also polish the blade completely, because that's the real traditional way. Again, the "blacksmith finish" is a pretty recent trend, mostly developed by industrial companies to make their knives look more hand-made. Then, as you briefly mentioned it, true damascus is not showy. in the old days, there was only tamahagane. The folding and welding process was used to make the steel more homogeneous, not more layered, like in the West. When you seen a large damascus pattern on a knife, it's most probably stainless damascus, which it 100% industrial, made from carbide powder metallurgy. And even if it looks pretty, it's basically more similar to a standard stainless steel in its structure and behavior. You're just buying the looks. Stainless doesn't weld easily, so in order to do this, steel powder must be put into a closed can, then heated and pressed. A blacksmith can't do that. Finally, sharpening steel is indeed not supposed to work on a Japanese knife, since the typical Japanese knife is quenched and tempered with a higher Rockwell point. it's a historical and cultural thing. The steel won't have enough hardness compared to the knife to be able to grind it. The edge will just slide on it and polish it. So you will have to go for the whetstones to sharpen your knives every now and then. To summarize, 90% of the so called Japanese knives are in fact industrially (often not even in Japan) and made with more western processes. It's just fake and opportunistically made because of the high demand. It can still work not so badly as a knife, just like you can still cook with an Ikea knife, but it has very little to do with Japanese tradition. The remaining 10% are not easily found and you will have to do a lot of research to find the genuine kind, and the price point will most probably be around x5. Take care.
That was very thorough and engaging...and a great reminder of why I forced myself to stop falling into the knife rabbit hole, years ago. You can fall a long, looooooong way. haha You made a valiant effort with the Japanese pronunciations, but you would benefit from some of my coaching. Not to worry though; I've heard far worse than yours. lol
A very good explanation about the different knives and steels. Are they worth it has two sides to it. Considering the hand labor in many of them one can understand why they are so expensive. So if you are for instance a sushi chef and that's all you do all day long I would say yes. But for most people I think not. They are much better off with a softer stainless steel (some 58RC) but a more rugged construction. Not only less maintenance and easier to clean but less likely to chip or break.
Stainless generally prefers to be sharpened on diamond stones with plenty of lubrication. stainless steels are inherently very abrasion resistant (which doesn't necessarily mean higher edge retention), so the diamonds can shear through those chromium carbides nice and easily.
Great video! I've been getting Tojiro knives for a while from my local shop, Seattle Cutlery. They have the D-shaped handles. I've enjoyed using them a lot! All of the ones I have are in their "Zen" line and are: 210 mm Gyuto 165 mm Santoku (Black) Petty Knife Two Paring Knives (One black one not)
My parents especially my mom were appalled when I spent $100+ for a chef’s knife when I bought my own house and moved out. I like to cook, and a good quality knife will last a very long time if you take good care of it. My parents have garbage cutco knives, and my mom only ever uses the paring knife because she says the other ones are all too big. She also cuts almost everything on a ceramic plate. Even after I bought a nice maple board, a large and small poly cutting board, and a handful of cheap cutting mats. And she is always complaining her knives are dull.
Pretty good vid. Few points. Damascus have no function , beside looks. Single bevel knifes are pretty much task specific. More brittle ,and harder knife to use. Do NOT buy single bevel to ur first or second knife. Shun is overpriced; look tojiro dp ,takamura r2(my fav) or cromax for best stainless bang for buck. There are more , these are most recommend under 200€. Carbon steel 100-200€ Munetoshi ,shiro kamo , matsubara , mazaki(imo best one round 200) , hitohira have sum good lines. There are more ,look more into artesan knifes ,u will find +100€ up There is allso stainless steel clad carbon steel. 2sides stainless middle core carbon steel. First buy 1 ,learn sharpening and u will learn what u like. If u cant bite it ,u dont cut it. Proper cutting board make life easier. NO glass , stone or hard boards. End grain ,hinoki ,hasegawa ,ashi cuttingboards most used.
Great video! Just a few additional points: A significant distinction between the Gyuto (chef's knife) and the Santoku lies in their cutting techniques. The Gyuto excels in chop-cutting methods, making it ideal for tasks requiring a more vertical motion. In contrast, the Santoku is better suited for push-cutting, which involves a more straightforward slicing action. If you're working in a smaller kitchen space, you might find the Santoku to be more convenient due to its versatility and ease of handling.
I asked ChatGPT and this was the answer. Santoku: An all-purpose knife with a wide blade and a rounded tip. It is well-suited for cutting vegetables, meat, and fish. Gyuto: A Japanese chef's knife, similar to a European chef's knife, with a long, thin blade. It is good for precise cutting and carving meat. Nakiri: A vegetable knife with a rectangular blade and a straight edge. It is excellent for cutting vegetables and herbs. Usuba: Another vegetable knife with a rectangular blade, but thinner than a Nakiri. It is often used by professional chefs. Deba: A knife for breaking down fish and other seafood. It has a thick, heavy blade. Yanagiba: A knife with a long, slender blade, often used for slicing fish for sashimi and sushi. Takobiki: A knife with a blade similar to the Yanagiba, but with a slightly rounded tip. It is also used for sashimi. Honesuki: A knife for boning poultry, especially chickens. It has a sharp, pointed blade. Petty: A small, versatile knife used for precise cutting, peeling, and paring. Sujihiki: A knife with a long, thin, tapering blade, used for slicing meat and roasts. Bunka: A versatile knife with a shorter, wide blade and a tip similar to a Santoku. It is suitable for various cutting tasks. Kiritsuke: A versatile knife with a rounded tip and a wide blade. Traditionally reserved for sushi chefs, but increasingly used by other cooks. Kamagata Usuba: A vegetable knife with a curved tip and a thin blade. It is particularly popular in the Kansai region of Japan. Yusaku: A versatile knife with a sharp, rounded tip and a wide blade. It is often used by professional chefs. Magurokiri: Specialized knife designed for cutting tuna, specifically for slicing large cuts of tuna into sashimi and sushi.
I feel sorry on the guy bringing does set. Imagine it’s a Sukenari ZDP189 damascus or Takeshi Saji rainbow damascus with maki art.😢 on an environment borrowing with out asking. Even the trays for your set up are being stolen.😢
I admit I might have a knife fetish ;) I used to make knives with my Grandpa who is no longer with us and he made even butter knives so sharp they would make razors look kinda dull. I miss that man. Anyways It's a true pleasure seeing your knife work .. reminds me of times with my grandpa who was exceptional in every way Thank you for your videos. Ps. if someone would steal my knives .. bad things might happen
Value is hard to justify because it can be objective at times and subjective. I measure value by how much it costs versus how long I expect to use a knife. There are Nella, Henckels, Victorinox, Mercer, and other brands that make knives for a relatively more affordable cost and can still last you most of your lifetime. A Japanese knife is GENERALLY a lot more expensive, but can last several lifetimes as long as you properly maintain them and baby them. So, in terms of monetary value, you don’t need a Japanese knife at all, especially if you know how to sharpen your western knives. But on the subjective end, especially if you’re a seasoned sharpener, you’ll learn that sharpening or thinning a Japanese knife is generally easier. You’ll also find that you don’t have to sharpen, thin, or hone them as much. If you are a professional chef, this is more preferable, as it can be frustrating going through several bags of onions, cabbages, potatoes, or any tough job with a slightly duller knife than when you began. James mentioned that Japanese knives are generally blade-heavy. This favours people who use the push cutting or draw cutting method. A handle heavy western knife favours people who like to rock their knife when they cut. You can also rock chop with a Japanese knife, but you shouldn’t use as much force when you’re twisting the blade on the cutting board as they certainly don’t need the extra force to slice through your vegetables. But also, it will almost certainly chip your knives. In terms of performance, Japanese knives are pretty much a level better than western knives, but you’ll start getting diminishing returns starting at about the 300-500$ range. That means that knives more expensive than that are probably going to be a little bit better than a 300-500$ knife, not a lot. There are a few lines of knives that are the exception, of course. But in general, the cutting feel and the pleasure one might feel from handling these knives is quite amazing. My one drawback is that, as a chef, I have to take extra special care of my knives at work. Mostly because our dishwashers walk around and sometimes wash our stations without asking (they should know to ask first!). That can be very devastating to me. Thankfully, it hasn’t happened yet. People can also borrow your knives and forget to bring it back. This has led me to start washing my knives myself (which people should be doing, anyways) and putting them away into my knife kit. You can’t just leave it on your cutting board. And I think this is faster than having to, for example, hone your western knife multiple times per task (depending on the scale of your task) or having to find a sharper knife that your kitchen has. And maintaining your Japanese knife at work isn’t hard at all. All you have to do is wipe it down with a slightly damp rag and then again with the drier end of the rag. Done. People also talk about how “Well, I can’t do things like chop nuts, cut through bones when I’m butchering, cut through hard cheeses, and frozen foods like with a regular knife.” You’re right, but that’s why every Japanese knife owner also has a beater knife with them for those tougher tasks! The safer tasks are the times a Japanese shines well beyond what a western knife is generally capable of. I do banquet cookery, and one time I was given the prime rib carving task. I used two knives. A Japanese petty knife to easily separate the meat from the rib, and then cut the meat in half to make nice steak cuts. But also, I used a 10-inch Japanese chef knife to carve in front of hundreds of people. A dozen prime ribs later, my knife was still sharp, and I got a lot of compliments for my knife cuts and for my knife itself from several people. Felt like a badass every day for that month because I was on the carving station for that month. A thinner 10-12 inch sujihiki slicer perhaps could’ve done the job better. But if I compared my Japanese chef knife with any western slicer (knives that were made to slice meat), my knife would be better. Then, there’s the culture you have at work. Most places in the west already provide you with serviceable knives that they rent from a knife company or have bought them outright. So, you may see workplaces where there’s not a single personal knife, much less Japanese knife. If you don’t want to get made fun of, I suggest not bringing a Japanese knife to this job. But if you work at a place where people don’t use the work knives, then for sure try to impress your co-workers with your several hundred dollar knife! Lastly, there’s the aesthetics. Japanese knives can look simple and humble, but they can also be very flashy. Today, the same can be said for some western brands and blacksmiths. For quite an expensive price, I’ve seen some beautiful knives from independent makers on instagram. You’d have to go through their website to purchase their stuff, but because they don’t have teams the wait can be a long time. For this reason, I’d say that an extremely beautiful Japanese knife can generally be more availability me than a beautiful western knife. But if anyone is interested New West Knife Works, Aura Knives, Bob Kramer are all American brands that advertise luxury and performance.
If victorinox made a quality solid wooden handle then you wouldn't need to waste money on the obviously good Japanese knives.. You're going to have to sharpen ANY knives. SO just like all the appliances in the kitchen you should have a dedicated sharpening station.
Thanks chef for the info! That Miyabi and Shun with the patterns looks very pretty! Also thanks for the entry level recommendation! Will look for a Makoto Kurosaki!
Not the same as a knife, but I have a very nice pair of Japanese hobby nippers (I think they sell at $100 or so now) and dropped them about 2.5 feet onto a tile floor. snapped the tip off. Still kind of works, but that hurt. These are beautiful though, there is certainly something to attention to detail and aesthetics (even with a knife), but if the feel in the hand is also really nice... very tempting. Overall, I've been impressed with ever Japanese tool I've ever used... I even switched to Japanese masking tape for labeling things in the kitchen.
Carbon steels will leave a slight metallic taste when used on acidic foods. I'd note that Rh63 knives are a LOT more brittle than ones that are Rh58 and few people would be willing to pay for a powdered steel chef's knife.
Spot on on the knuckle clearance. The Kramer style I like bet have not found in an artisan other than Kramer which is way outside my price range. I don’t want a mass production Kramer. I have found all sorts of cool oddities. I have a Jikko Nakiri with a sg2 Tanto tip but round tip. My Takeda are laser thin one is large Gyuto which is tall like a cleaver the sasanoha is more or all height bit has flex in its thinness. Finding styles you like and sticking with them is my recommendation. I have many Gyuto and Nakiri but few of other styles. You should also mention workhorse or beater for those items that can damage blades. Also an video on where to spend vs save on a blade. Granted what your doing changes that selection but home cook, line chef and specialty restaurants might be fun videos to watch. Guest chefs of these with a what’s in their bag and why. I own 2 Kurosaki knives early blades of his and have been seeking an Anryu your picks are great for sure.
I got just a hanesuki for skinning chicken and cutting fillets, to go with a boning knife for deboning the chicken. However I have two young boys and at least one is interested in cooking. So that will be my only Japanese knife. The rest will be Messermeister Oliva Elite knives.
I like Shun but some of the tips are so fine and thin as to be fragile. I have not chipped or broken any but did drop and slightly bend the tip on one of them. I have a good set of single bevel knives in Stainless with a harder steel core (octagonal magnolia handles) and while they did take some getting used to, each is a true example of craftsmanship and no two will be identical. A human hammered two different types of steel into each of these blades. They are the stars in my kitchen (I am most decidedly NOT a "chef"!). I like their austerity.
I have Shuns knives as well as some western knives.. One thing I'm not happy with Shuns is the handles get slippery when wet. It makes me revert to my $20 wood handled chef knife for most of my chopping needs for the secure grip
I've been using ceramic knives for maybe a decade now. don't have the money for proper steel knives, and don't feel like wasting money on crap steel knives that dull once you look at them funny. also I am now just used to not have to sharpen the ceramic knives, they still cut pretty ok. I wish I had a proper kitchen with proper tools, though.
Another excellent video, you're the real deal, thank you. As a chef the first time I used a nakiri it blew my mind. If you have to do a mountain of julienne, brunoise or chiffonade they absolutely motor through it.
Bro, I love what you do, but I can't stop looking at your hairline. All you need is a 5 second trip to the barber to trim that little triangle. I'm half joking here haha
I had a yanagiba recently. I found it too long which is a shame as I rather enjoyed it (although it was beveled on the wrong side, I think; Abject hatred of lefties seems to be the cultural unifier).
I wouldnt dare to rock chop with such expensive and brittle/hard japanese knives. It could chip if it doesnt chip, the tip could get dull rather fast even though it hasnt cut anything. I like the tip of my knives to be the sharpest part of a knive for doing fine work. Thats why gyuto or any other chefknive's tip are so pointy unlike santoku with a not so pointy tip which is more for the homecook, or very small professional kitchens.
Gave my mom my Shun chef knife, after teaching her not to be putting it in the sink, or in the drawer, banging on other metals. Also chefs knives aren't cleavers mother.
I can’t remember where I heard this advice about your knife, It should only be in three places ever in your hand horizontally, laying at the top of your cutting board or in knife storage, that means never in a sink or a dish drainer. You use it you rinse it off dry it and put it away!
I have a mukimono knife because I love the shape and it feels very good in my hand. I use it for (almost) everything even tho it's supposed to be used to make art with food.
Today I literally binged this channel whole day and saw every uncle Roger reaction video 🤣🗿 btw sir you always gives honest reaction and informative review in every video 💖👌
6:45 do carbon steel! If you use it daily. And treat it with respect.. even in a humid shack in monsoon season kyushu. Rust wont be an issue. Be an a-hole and stack it in the sink with dirty dishes for 2 days: rust.
hardness actually has nothing to do with sharpness, you can make a razor out of bronze for example. it is simply that a harder knife stays sharper longer, not that is can be made sharper
Io vado a pesca di tonno rosso(50/70 kgs puoi vedere uno dei miei video di pesca), ogni volta che ne devo sfilettare uno penso sempre alle "katane" di quei video 😂😂😂
Wow! Chef James this was a great video! You are very knowledgeable about knives! This is a very, very good video and it should help many people selecting a knife. There are so many topics that could be covered in detail, but you chose the ones that are most important! I am very impressed with this video for sure! Keep up the great work and I look forward to more videos like this! Check out Jesse Hu if you haven't done so already. He has some great knife making videos that you will enjoy. He is funny as well! I just have to say it again... GREAT VIDEO!
while you have given a LOT of good info in this video and in your other what knife video, there is one thing that bugged me... it's more about the heat treatment process that is making western style knives a tiny bit "softer" not so much the specific steel used, they are going for a higher toughness by sacrificing a small amount of hardness. this is why Japanese made blades tend to chip more, they are aiming for hardness over toughness. in a good blade it's a balancing act with hardness and toughness for an application... just because a steel is "harder" doesn't mean it will hold it's edge longer. as an example: O-1 steel can be made to 63-64 HRC, and A-2 to 60-61 HRC but A-2 will have better edge retention, while the O-1 can technically be made Slightly sharper in this video you have a list of knife steels and just in the first two lines it's wrong - it's calling 1095 Low HRC and 440c medium HRC.... 1095 should be between 62-64 as quenched and 57-58 HRC after tempering, 440C should be 59-60 as quenched and 56-58 after tempering. their final hardness is normally about the same. 440C will hold an edge slightly better due to the carbides that form in it, 1095 would be tougher and better for something like a cleaver. going further AUS 8 should be about 58-59 HRC, AUS 10 59-60 HRC, D2 54-61 HRC, VG1 58-59 HRC, VG10 60-62 HRC. most simple or Alloy steels with more than 60 points of carbon can reach a similar hardness - but the toughness will be different for a specific hardness. In the end what I'm trying to say is that you need to look at what your style of usage will be to decide what would be a better fit for you. if your likely to abuse the blade a bit a tougher blade would be better for you. and if you are carful with a blade you can use a higher hardness style.
Respect for the content. I learn. Love all knives.... puukko, kukri, parang, katana, santoku... But when it comes to cooking, you'll have to pull my German forged French chef knife from my cold hands. ⚔️
Don't forget to Subscribe and Check Out my Other Knife Video! th-cam.com/video/LgqoN2Duo5U/w-d-xo.html
subscribed 😁, just started following your videos this week and what I like the most is that your videos have pointers, guidelines and valuable knowledge shared from your experience, the way you describe and explain things clearly, makes viewers feel like you are talking to us directly, I will recommend your channel to my family and friends 👨👩👦 oh kindly share links if you already have videos on how to cook mashed potatoes with gravy and if I am not asking too much, kindly please, how to cook medium rare steak (including marinade please but the not so expensive version for Asian wanna-be home cooks), thank you, if my requests are not available, it is ok, thank you Chef
make one for chinese knives please especially about the cleaver.
Teacher, Chinese cuisine has been around for over 3000 years, and there are various cooking methods available. The Western world has almost the same cooking methods, don't you understand? The Japanese people can only use raw food as a selling point because they do not know other cooking methods. China has all cooking methods and has continued for thousands of years.
I hope you can come to China and eat whatever you like. Just take a look and you'll understand
I Got to snatch the same 240mm Anryu Kuroichi Gyuto, it's so beautiful and definitely my favorite in my collection! :D
Gyuto - 0:15
The Petty Knife - 0:59
The Santoku - 1:23
Sujihiki - 1:54
Nakiri - 2:30
Yanagiba - 3:07
Buying Recomendation - 4:13
Bladesmithing - 4:26
Steel Hardness - 5:30
Stainless vs Carbon - 6:17
Handle Types - 8:19
Balance Point - 9:28
Knife Finishes - 9:49
Care and Maintenance - 11:09
Stropping - 11:58
Which knife maker - 12:35
Short Story - 15:29
Where to buy - 16:12
Thank you Jim! I forgot 😄
You won't convince my mum that there is a better knife than Ikea's chef knife. She gifted a pair of those to every person she even knew. I got 3 for my birthday...
Her mind will be blown if she uses a Tojiro DP or a Takamura 😆
That is kinda cute though, your mum sounds like a really lovely person.
All the best to you and yours
You make some very good points I haven’t seen in other videos on Japanese knives, like making sure the blade is tall enough for your hand, I have a Shigeki Tanaka gyuto with a tall blade, much taller than my Wustof, and I absolutely love it.
Thank you! I tried!
"A knife made by Myabi can actually go through more than a hundred hands of artisans" at that second a horror scene played in my mind untill I caght up with the rest of the sentence 😂
🤣
I know the video is meant to look at knives, but I urge viewers to look at chef's technique- especially the way he's cutting when using different knives. Also look at how and where the knife is held from. The weight of the knife will also determine how you use it. Heavy knife? let the knife do the cutting. Very light knife? Each stroke will be purposeful. But the best tip given here in this video is to hold one and try it in store. Buy what you're comfortable with!
Great video as always! Looking forward to more content.
thank you! the counter that I was cutting on is a bit to high for a cutting board and with the Japanese knives it is not easy to use them as I have to hold them higher up to cut haha
As someone who worked & studied for years in steel industry (with CNC machines that is) I can tell you, higher Rockwell means also more briddle, which results in higher chances of cracks/chips.
The perfect steel would be as hard as possible while being flexible enough to withstand torturing. But even if you mix materials together, which they do (Chromium, Molybdan, Vanadium and so on) they'll still fall short on being flexible or hard enough.
Interesting would be to do knifes with CBN (Cubic Boron Nitrid) especially cause they're thermically and chemically resistant. That's commonly used in the makes of lathe and milling tools.
But the processing of making it is difficult, because it's mainly made through sintering.
Thanks for the video James, was really interesting to see!
Thank you!!
My favorite two knives are my shun Gyuto and my aogami Nakiri. I grew up using my parents' Wustoff knives, and while they are amazing and so much tougher, I just love how much more comfortable and precise my japanese knives feel with a pinch grip and how much sharper they are. I also love how they look - and while that might seem pretty trivial, I always feel that when I like looking at the tools in my hands, I end up using them more often. However, I think if I was a pro instead of a home cook I might prefer knives I wouldnt have to worry about as much
Can you please review on guga foods
FUCKING NO!!!!!! Can you please grow a brain and grow out of these faddish content creators like Guga. I hope James will continue to make content about food people will actually want to cook and eat and any other detail orientated videos because he's a really intelligent and knowledgeable guy.
He has
I am food enjoyer and definitely not chief at any level, but watching someones collection of knives was oddly satisfying 👍
FYI from Japanese audience:
1. Gyuto(牛刀) means Cow(牛) Blade/Sword(刀) in literal translation. I don't know why it's called that way.
2. The Santoku(三徳) means three(三) characteristic(徳). The knife was made to use it on 3 different ingredients, meat, fish, and vegi.
3. Sujihiki(筋引) means String/Muscle(筋) Pull(引), and yes, it's named for the purpose of pulling/cutting the string of the meat.
4. Nakiri(菜切) means Vegi(菜) Cutter(切) and it is used to cut vegi like Chef James mentioned.
5. Yanagiba(柳刃) means Willow(柳) Blade/Sword(刃). it is called Yanagiba because it is as thin as the willow leaves.
Knives of some good makers i own/ tried and like: yu Kurosaki, shiro kamo, hideo Kitaoka, yoshikane, fujiwara, anryu, shigeki tanaka, takamura, zakuri, masamoto, moritaka, sakai kikomuri, sakai takayuki, shibata koutetsu, yoshimi kato, yoshikazu Tanaka, ogata, yamamoto, masashi just to name a few
Have the same gyuto that you were holding up in the beginning! Got it for round 300 CAD with the blade guard, and still get compliments on it wherever I go.
very nice!
I have the privilege of owning a small set of 4 knives made of Japanese stainless steel. I have a gyuto, santoku and a nakiri, plus a paring knife that is the same metal. They were a gift from one of my daughters and they are fantastic. They sharpen so well and hold a nice edge. I really enjoyed your explanation of the various knifes and the steels they can be made from. It gives me a better appreciation for what I was gifted.
I love your videos!
I'm a very amateur home chef. I own a 24cm Gyuto and that's what I use around 98% in my kitchen. Other than that, I have 28cm serrated knife and a small pairing knife. That's really all I ever use and I learned how during some introductory cooking classes travelling in Indochina as well as youtube.
Among my peers in Southern Germany / Switzerland it is very common to use tiny supermarket pairing knives as chef knives. Those are already dull when you buy them and deteriorate quickly, leading to the "typical" squirting tomatoes as well as people crying from chopping onions. People also tend to cut their fingers quite often and I find it difficult to explain that using a bigger and sharper knife will prevent accidents.
Sometimes it's also hard to explain why someone should pay a lot of money (my Gyuto was around 170 USD) for "just a knife" when you can get cheaper knives and invest the remainder in fancy (and also cheap) kitchen appliances that do stuff automagically.
In my very humble experience, a good knife, a big cutting board and a good frying pan go a long way for everyday cooking in a single's kitchen.
A good, sharp paring knife isn’t even all that expensive. My Victorinox was only USD$8 when I bought it (now $12).
It’s lasted for years (and still going) for something priced as nearly disposable.
@@SansBalance yeah, the decent ones are not expensive. Mine was a bit more pricier, but way less than 100 USD, if I remember right. And they indeed last forever.
Once you pay for the basics, the rest is often just a bit of fancy decoration and brand name.
What happens here is that people buy those off the supermarket shelf that cost maybe 1 to 3 USD - in that price range. It also says "kitchen knife" on the label.
It isn't even proper knife steel - just punched out metal sheet, sharpened at the edge and attached to a plastic handle.
When I was a student and moved out, living on a shoestring budget, I fell into the same trap. Having a proper chef's knife was a game changer for me later in life.
Thank you so much!
A comment I see in a lot of videos about Japanese vs Western knives is about the higher hardness; I think it's worth pointing out that the lower/higher hardness is a deliberate choice by the manufacturer. You can get Western knives with RH in the 60s, and you can Japanese knives with RH in the 50s. There isn't anything unique about the steels from either area, it's just market preference. So if you want an extremely hard Western style knife and are able to find an artisan bladesmith who will work with you, you can get a blade as hard as you like.
Great video and like a great knife, well balanced too. For any viewers in the US, Liberia and Myanmar, 240mm is 9 and 448819 millionths of an inch, but I guess 9.5" works 🙂
Thank you! It took me about five days to put this together haha
One thing to note about single bevel Japanese knives is that they are meant for righthanded use. As a lefty that can be a bit of an issue. I only have one Shun steak knife for the pretty which I do use righthanded.
I said to hold the knife before but yes I should had said that
D-handle and 30/70% sharpened knives might also not be too well suited for left handed people. some might not mind it though, and sharpening angle can probably be fixed
This was good. What you failed to convey was the idea that in Japanese cuisine, each task has a specific tool. The gyuto is not the “chef” knife. Kiritsuke is. Gyu translates to beef, so that would be your meat prep tool. If you’re into Japanese stuff or happen to work in a Japanese environment, your most important knife will be the Deba. You will break down fish to fillets with that tool. If you’re descaling your fish in house, you will need a Takohiki/sujihiki. It will also depend on your style. Kanto vs Kansai. The topic is a never-ending rabbit hole… and then you have the bocho/hocho for pretty much all knives.
One last thing, it’s fairly common to replace handles. It’s actually a shortcut to look for great blades with poor handles and get them replaced. Getting a pine yanagiba will end up cheaper than a mohogani handle one, even with the replacement taken into consideration. In some cases, you also will wear out the handle faster than the blades. My deba is on its second handle in 7 years.
The worst weapon is always the blunt one. In kitchen a blunt knife is more deadly than a sharp knife.
For the people who are commenting without using the brain. It is a chef channel and this quote is used by chefs for professional kitchens.
I feel like the people who say this have never cut themselves with a really sharp knife. You can have an accident with a blunt knife and get a cut. You have an accident with a sharp knife and you may never have feeling in those finger tips again!
But you're mich more likely to be cautious and not force the cutting if a knife is sharp
@@Bradimus1 i have faced cut from both during early stages of cooking but once u get used to it I can assure u blunt knife is the last thing you want to work with. Once you master the skills of fast cutting like chefs you will actually get cut because of your own fast skill with a blunt knife.
I think you cut very slowly or always looking while cutting because of caution but once you start cutting with speed you develop muscle memory which is very dangerous when using a blunt knife.
@@Forestgravy90 not really it's like working with saw once you used to it you can easily do it with speed. The blunt knife is more likely to cut a pro chef because they were not accustomed with a blunt knife and they produce less force to cut which leads to slippage of the knife or worse the knife doesn't even cut properly.
A person who cooks daily from breakfast to dinner, he is very much used to a sharp knife so a blunt knife is very bad in that hand also it is not efficient also.
Has not been my experience. I've used a dull knife for years without cutting myself. Then when I sharpened my knives I got a really nasty cut. You really have to be careful with sharp knives.
One thing to point out, stainless is not the same as stain proof. Some stainless steels still rust when in contact with more acidic foods.
I see this may become addictive, to buy different knifes! Specially for some of us with OCD hehehe
Saludos James!
😂
I use a hacksaw and sword to cut with I've still got most of my fingers plus nobody dares break in
🤣
I absolutely love my Nakiri and Santoku. I use them for probably 90% of all my cooking.
most affordable best all purpose knife?
Chefs knife
Great video chef! it is very helpful for a beginner
Glad to hear that!
I don’t have a very big hand, but it’s pretty wide and thick. So I found that Bob Kramer is easier for me to use, specifically the Carbon 8” Chefs knife. It’s not for everyone, requires lots of maintenance, since it’s high carbon and rusts almost immediately. That said, I have the exactly the same Santoku, birch wood one. Love it as well, especially for veggie cutting.
I have three Shun knives, a chef's knife, a nakiri, and a paring knife. Those along with a Mercer bread knife are all I need.
😉
I'm glad you mentioned Damascus cause the way people have mentioned Damascus blades to me makes it sounds like the steel is imbued with an almost magical quality - and I'm sure there's more to it than simply "Damascus make samurai sword laser sharp"
So I can't wait to see a Damascus episode! Great stuff as always Chef James
haha yeah I know what you mean, they can be pretty but if not made perfectly they can add drag when cutting
What people call damascus these days is actually just pattern welded steel. Sort of like trying to recreate the look of true damascus which has the patterns but isn't pattern welded. Samurai swords are not damascus (which originates in Damascus) either, just folded steel, which is folded so many times to get the impurities out.
@@hillbill79 Indeed :) I've seen a lot of Alex Steele videos where he's made Damascus steel things as well as pattern welded things. The forging process itself will bring a lot of impurities to the surface, so I wondered what benefits "Damascusing"/folding the steel over on itself would have. It looks to be largely visual, especially given Alex's methods of acid etching the steel to highlight the patterns created
@@azyfloof I dont mind patternwelded steel as a cladding for a solid core such as in the japanese chef knives. But a lot of knives are made from 100% pattern welded steel. I dont like knives like this as you cant harden the 2 different steels the same, so one is always harder than the other, which is a problem from a practical sense as they wear unevenly creating sharp areas and dull areas along the edge.
@@azyfloofFolding doesn't do anything with good modern steel, it might even make it worse. When you fold the steel you need to remove the forge scale on the outer surface otherwise you are essentially adding impurities into the steel that weren't there from the start. Folding was necessary back in the day to remove impurities but Hitatchi White/Blue steels are going to be as pure as you are going to get it. Most Japanese knives that are Damascus are going to be pattern welded soft outer layers with a hard core steel like White #1/2/3, Blue #1, #2, Blue Super or some of their stainless like Silver/Ginsan, SG2/R2/SLD. Damascus cladding looks cool but you are going to be a sad panda when it comes time to thin the knife. As hillhill79 said, if there is no hard core and the whole blade is Damascus, it is going to be a strange experience as the different steels at the edge will wear differently from use and during sharpening.
I'd love a japanese knife sharpening video - strops and whetstones and the like.
😉
Can you cover the retail Wüsthof sharpeners please. (Good or bad) for us home chiefs 🔪
I have the sharpener that does regular, standard, or “Asian” knives.
I would love you to talk about good knife blocks/storage 😂 I have a knife block and it’s a bit of a pain to store them!
I don't have one at home but That could be for another knife video
@@ChefJamesMakinson or even the best way to store your knives in the kitchen. Living in close quarters sucks to try and do that.
I am a home cook. I love good knives. They make working in the kitchen so much easier. I am now up to about 8 Japanese knives, all hand made. I highly recommend them. I also recommend stainless. My carbon steel knives just take too much effort preventing them from rusting even though they do get wickedly sharp. The most used knife in my kitchen is a nikiri. I prefer wa handles. Japanese knives are worth the price.
As I use "cutthroat razors" to shave, I'm quite familiar with the use of strops. I believe you know better than me than a razor strop usually has two sides, one with a "green paste" (chromium oxide) and one with bare leather. Is this "configuration" ok for Japanese knives as well? 🤔
Very VERY interesting videos, you're waking up my GAS 😅.
Trying to resist though. 🙂
Thank you for all the infos.
See you next time!
yes but I don't tend to use much paste with my knives, thank you!
@@ChefJamesMakinson Yep, I noticed by the colour of the strops you showed in the video, hence my question 🙂🙂.
Well, I don't use much paste on my razors either, but just a veil on the "paste side" of the strop. It works, for the razor. 😅
I also noticed that the shape of the strop you showed is quite different than the ones I use for my razors, so I believe I should by one of those, were I to buy one of those beautiful knives... 🙂
Thanks again for your kind answer.
Very educational, thank you!
Glad it was helpful!
Hey James, Pro knife maker here.
Nice and pretty accurate video! but I would like to add a few things.
First, Japanese knives have made quite the reputation and now everybody believes they are the best there is. That might be true when they are made by true dedicated artisans. The problem is it has became such a big business that a lot of industrial companies now want their piece of the pie and make Japanese-looking knives without respecting the rules of what make a Japanese knife.
For starters, even though there is nowadays a huge diversity among stainless steels, and some will have all of the upsides of carbon steel, but most stainless steels are the cheap ones and not always well heat treated. This is what gave stainless steel the poorer reputation in the first place, in the West. There is an incentive with Japanese knives to stick to a higher standard regarding sharpness and edge retention, so there's that, but you'll still have to go way down the rabbit hole to find the really good ones.
Besides, it's very difficult to hand-forge stainless steel let alone to make damascus out of it, without ruining the metallurgical balance inside. Stainless has to be heat treated very accurately, within a few degrees window and there's no room for error, so even for the most skilled blacksmith, to be this accurate with a forge fire is virtually impossible. What I mean is, when you see "blacksmith finish" on a stainless steel, 95% of the time, it just has been put there to let you believe it has been hand-forged while it most certainly has not. What's funny is many very skilled blacksmith will leave a very smooth surface even after they're done forging (not the rough random hammer marks) and will also polish the blade completely, because that's the real traditional way. Again, the "blacksmith finish" is a pretty recent trend, mostly developed by industrial companies to make their knives look more hand-made.
Then, as you briefly mentioned it, true damascus is not showy. in the old days, there was only tamahagane. The folding and welding process was used to make the steel more homogeneous, not more layered, like in the West. When you seen a large damascus pattern on a knife, it's most probably stainless damascus, which it 100% industrial, made from carbide powder metallurgy. And even if it looks pretty, it's basically more similar to a standard stainless steel in its structure and behavior. You're just buying the looks. Stainless doesn't weld easily, so in order to do this, steel powder must be put into a closed can, then heated and pressed. A blacksmith can't do that.
Finally, sharpening steel is indeed not supposed to work on a Japanese knife, since the typical Japanese knife is quenched and tempered with a higher Rockwell point. it's a historical and cultural thing. The steel won't have enough hardness compared to the knife to be able to grind it. The edge will just slide on it and polish it. So you will have to go for the whetstones to sharpen your knives every now and then.
To summarize, 90% of the so called Japanese knives are in fact industrially (often not even in Japan) and made with more western processes. It's just fake and opportunistically made because of the high demand. It can still work not so badly as a knife, just like you can still cook with an Ikea knife, but it has very little to do with Japanese tradition. The remaining 10% are not easily found and you will have to do a lot of research to find the genuine kind, and the price point will most probably be around x5.
Take care.
Hey! Thank you very much for the explanations! There is so much to know about Bladesmithing!
Very interesting! Thanks for the education!
That was very thorough and engaging...and a great reminder of why I forced myself to stop falling into the knife rabbit hole, years ago. You can fall a long, looooooong way. haha
You made a valiant effort with the Japanese pronunciations, but you would benefit from some of my coaching. Not to worry though; I've heard far worse than yours. lol
A very good explanation about the different knives and steels. Are they worth it has two sides to it. Considering the hand labor in many of them one can understand why they are so expensive. So if you are for instance a sushi chef and that's all you do all day long I would say yes. But for most people I think not. They are much better off with a softer stainless steel (some 58RC) but a more rugged construction. Not only less maintenance and easier to clean but less likely to chip or break.
In my bag are gyuto, petty, bunka and left yanagiba. I use them in pro european italian/slovenian/french cusine kitchens.
Stainless generally prefers to be sharpened on diamond stones with plenty of lubrication. stainless steels are inherently very abrasion resistant (which doesn't necessarily mean higher edge retention), so the diamonds can shear through those chromium carbides nice and easily.
Chef, what do you think about the show 'The Bear'? How accurate is it?
I haven't seen it yet
@@ChefJamesMakinson Thank you Chef.
A lot of custom knifemakers and small time makers can make you a kydex cover or sheath for relatively cheap if you ask them nicely.
Great video! I've been getting Tojiro knives for a while from my local shop, Seattle Cutlery. They have the D-shaped handles.
I've enjoyed using them a lot!
All of the ones I have are in their "Zen" line and are:
210 mm Gyuto
165 mm Santoku (Black)
Petty Knife
Two Paring Knives (One black one not)
nice!
My parents especially my mom were appalled when I spent $100+ for a chef’s knife when I bought my own house and moved out. I like to cook, and a good quality knife will last a very long time if you take good care of it. My parents have garbage cutco knives, and my mom only ever uses the paring knife because she says the other ones are all too big. She also cuts almost everything on a ceramic plate. Even after I bought a nice maple board, a large and small poly cutting board, and a handful of cheap cutting mats. And she is always complaining her knives are dull.
Pretty good vid. Few points.
Damascus have no function , beside looks.
Single bevel knifes are pretty much task specific.
More brittle ,and harder knife to use.
Do NOT buy single bevel to ur first or second knife.
Shun is overpriced; look tojiro dp ,takamura r2(my fav) or cromax for best stainless bang for buck. There are more , these are most recommend under 200€.
Carbon steel 100-200€
Munetoshi ,shiro kamo , matsubara , mazaki(imo best one round 200) ,
hitohira have sum good lines.
There are more ,look more into artesan knifes ,u will find +100€ up
There is allso stainless steel clad carbon steel. 2sides stainless middle core carbon steel.
First buy 1 ,learn sharpening and u will learn what u like.
If u cant bite it ,u dont cut it.
Proper cutting board make life easier. NO glass , stone or hard boards.
End grain ,hinoki ,hasegawa ,ashi cuttingboards most used.
Great video! Just a few additional points: A significant distinction between the Gyuto (chef's knife) and the Santoku lies in their cutting techniques. The Gyuto excels in chop-cutting methods, making it ideal for tasks requiring a more vertical motion. In contrast, the Santoku is better suited for push-cutting, which involves a more straightforward slicing action. If you're working in a smaller kitchen space, you might find the Santoku to be more convenient due to its versatility and ease of handling.
Useful share TFS
I asked ChatGPT and this was the answer.
Santoku: An all-purpose knife with a wide blade and a rounded tip. It is well-suited for cutting vegetables, meat, and fish.
Gyuto: A Japanese chef's knife, similar to a European chef's knife, with a long, thin blade. It is good for precise cutting and carving meat.
Nakiri: A vegetable knife with a rectangular blade and a straight edge. It is excellent for cutting vegetables and herbs.
Usuba: Another vegetable knife with a rectangular blade, but thinner than a Nakiri. It is often used by professional chefs.
Deba: A knife for breaking down fish and other seafood. It has a thick, heavy blade.
Yanagiba: A knife with a long, slender blade, often used for slicing fish for sashimi and sushi.
Takobiki: A knife with a blade similar to the Yanagiba, but with a slightly rounded tip. It is also used for sashimi.
Honesuki: A knife for boning poultry, especially chickens. It has a sharp, pointed blade.
Petty: A small, versatile knife used for precise cutting, peeling, and paring.
Sujihiki: A knife with a long, thin, tapering blade, used for slicing meat and roasts.
Bunka: A versatile knife with a shorter, wide blade and a tip similar to a Santoku. It is suitable for various cutting tasks.
Kiritsuke: A versatile knife with a rounded tip and a wide blade. Traditionally reserved for sushi chefs, but increasingly used by other cooks.
Kamagata Usuba: A vegetable knife with a curved tip and a thin blade. It is particularly popular in the Kansai region of Japan.
Yusaku: A versatile knife with a sharp, rounded tip and a wide blade. It is often used by professional chefs.
Magurokiri: Specialized knife designed for cutting tuna, specifically for slicing large cuts of tuna into sashimi and sushi.
13:11 they seem pretty popular and accessible. japanese knives tend to be more optimized for cutting than durability
I feel sorry on the guy bringing does set. Imagine it’s a Sukenari ZDP189 damascus or Takeshi Saji rainbow damascus with maki art.😢 on an environment borrowing with out asking. Even the trays for your set up are being stolen.😢
I admit I might have a knife fetish ;) I used to make knives with my Grandpa who is no longer with us and he made even butter knives so sharp they would make razors look kinda dull. I miss that man. Anyways It's a true pleasure seeing your knife work .. reminds me of times with my grandpa who was exceptional in every way
Thank you for your videos.
Ps. if someone would steal my knives .. bad things might happen
Value is hard to justify because it can be objective at times and subjective. I measure value by how much it costs versus how long I expect to use a knife. There are Nella, Henckels, Victorinox, Mercer, and other brands that make knives for a relatively more affordable cost and can still last you most of your lifetime. A Japanese knife is GENERALLY a lot more expensive, but can last several lifetimes as long as you properly maintain them and baby them. So, in terms of monetary value, you don’t need a Japanese knife at all, especially if you know how to sharpen your western knives.
But on the subjective end, especially if you’re a seasoned sharpener, you’ll learn that sharpening or thinning a Japanese knife is generally easier. You’ll also find that you don’t have to sharpen, thin, or hone them as much. If you are a professional chef, this is more preferable, as it can be frustrating going through several bags of onions, cabbages, potatoes, or any tough job with a slightly duller knife than when you began.
James mentioned that Japanese knives are generally blade-heavy. This favours people who use the push cutting or draw cutting method. A handle heavy western knife favours people who like to rock their knife when they cut. You can also rock chop with a Japanese knife, but you shouldn’t use as much force when you’re twisting the blade on the cutting board as they certainly don’t need the extra force to slice through your vegetables. But also, it will almost certainly chip your knives.
In terms of performance, Japanese knives are pretty much a level better than western knives, but you’ll start getting diminishing returns starting at about the 300-500$ range. That means that knives more expensive than that are probably going to be a little bit better than a 300-500$ knife, not a lot. There are a few lines of knives that are the exception, of course. But in general, the cutting feel and the pleasure one might feel from handling these knives is quite amazing.
My one drawback is that, as a chef, I have to take extra special care of my knives at work. Mostly because our dishwashers walk around and sometimes wash our stations without asking (they should know to ask first!). That can be very devastating to me. Thankfully, it hasn’t happened yet. People can also borrow your knives and forget to bring it back. This has led me to start washing my knives myself (which people should be doing, anyways) and putting them away into my knife kit. You can’t just leave it on your cutting board. And I think this is faster than having to, for example, hone your western knife multiple times per task (depending on the scale of your task) or having to find a sharper knife that your kitchen has. And maintaining your Japanese knife at work isn’t hard at all. All you have to do is wipe it down with a slightly damp rag and then again with the drier end of the rag. Done. People also talk about how “Well, I can’t do things like chop nuts, cut through bones when I’m butchering, cut through hard cheeses, and frozen foods like with a regular knife.” You’re right, but that’s why every Japanese knife owner also has a beater knife with them for those tougher tasks! The safer tasks are the times a Japanese shines well beyond what a western knife is generally capable of.
I do banquet cookery, and one time I was given the prime rib carving task. I used two knives. A Japanese petty knife to easily separate the meat from the rib, and then cut the meat in half to make nice steak cuts. But also, I used a 10-inch Japanese chef knife to carve in front of hundreds of people. A dozen prime ribs later, my knife was still sharp, and I got a lot of compliments for my knife cuts and for my knife itself from several people. Felt like a badass every day for that month because I was on the carving station for that month. A thinner 10-12 inch sujihiki slicer perhaps could’ve done the job better. But if I compared my Japanese chef knife with any western slicer (knives that were made to slice meat), my knife would be better.
Then, there’s the culture you have at work. Most places in the west already provide you with serviceable knives that they rent from a knife company or have bought them outright. So, you may see workplaces where there’s not a single personal knife, much less Japanese knife. If you don’t want to get made fun of, I suggest not bringing a Japanese knife to this job. But if you work at a place where people don’t use the work knives, then for sure try to impress your co-workers with your several hundred dollar knife!
Lastly, there’s the aesthetics. Japanese knives can look simple and humble, but they can also be very flashy. Today, the same can be said for some western brands and blacksmiths. For quite an expensive price, I’ve seen some beautiful knives from independent makers on instagram. You’d have to go through their website to purchase their stuff, but because they don’t have teams the wait can be a long time. For this reason, I’d say that an extremely beautiful Japanese knife can generally be more availability me than a beautiful western knife. But if anyone is interested New West Knife Works, Aura Knives, Bob Kramer are all American brands that advertise luxury and performance.
If victorinox made a quality solid wooden handle then you wouldn't need to waste money on the obviously good Japanese knives..
You're going to have to sharpen ANY knives.
SO just like all the appliances in the kitchen you should have a dedicated sharpening station.
Thanks chef for the info! That Miyabi and Shun with the patterns looks very pretty! Also thanks for the entry level recommendation! Will look for a Makoto Kurosaki!
Any time!
Not the same as a knife, but I have a very nice pair of Japanese hobby nippers (I think they sell at $100 or so now) and dropped them about 2.5 feet onto a tile floor. snapped the tip off. Still kind of works, but that hurt. These are beautiful though, there is certainly something to attention to detail and aesthetics (even with a knife), but if the feel in the hand is also really nice... very tempting. Overall, I've been impressed with ever Japanese tool I've ever used... I even switched to Japanese masking tape for labeling things in the kitchen.
May the criminal scum that stole that person's knives never know peace, never know prosperity. Never find love.
📢💥Arigatou gozaimasu🙇🏻♂️...🥷🖖
Carbon steels will leave a slight metallic taste when used on acidic foods.
I'd note that Rh63 knives are a LOT more brittle than ones that are Rh58 and few people would be willing to pay for a powdered steel chef's knife.
Spot on on the knuckle clearance. The Kramer style I like bet have not found in an artisan other than Kramer which is way outside my price range. I don’t want a mass production Kramer. I have found all sorts of cool oddities. I have a Jikko Nakiri with a sg2 Tanto tip but round tip. My Takeda are laser thin one is large Gyuto which is tall like a cleaver the sasanoha is more or all height bit has flex in its thinness. Finding styles you like and sticking with them is my recommendation. I have many Gyuto and Nakiri but few of other styles. You should also mention workhorse or beater for those items that can damage blades. Also an video on where to spend vs save on a blade. Granted what your doing changes that selection but home cook, line chef and specialty restaurants might be fun videos to watch. Guest chefs of these with a what’s in their bag and why. I own 2 Kurosaki knives early blades of his and have been seeking an Anryu your picks are great for sure.
I got just a hanesuki for skinning chicken and cutting fillets, to go with a boning knife for deboning the chicken. However I have two young boys and at least one is interested in cooking. So that will be my only Japanese knife. The rest will be Messermeister Oliva Elite knives.
Did I see correctly: the petty knife is double bevel like a european knife 😶. I'm used to single bevel japanese knives.
I like Shun but some of the tips are so fine and thin as to be fragile. I have not chipped or broken any but did drop and slightly bend the tip on one of them. I have a good set of single bevel knives in Stainless with a harder steel core (octagonal magnolia handles) and while they did take some getting used to, each is a true example of craftsmanship and no two will be identical. A human hammered two different types of steel into each of these blades. They are the stars in my kitchen (I am most decidedly NOT a "chef"!). I like their austerity.
I have Shuns knives as well as some western knives.. One thing I'm not happy with Shuns is the handles get slippery when wet. It makes me revert to my $20 wood handled chef knife for most of my chopping needs for the secure grip
As an amateur chef, I love Japanese knives. As a left-handed amateur chef, I hate Japanese knives.
I've been using ceramic knives for maybe a decade now. don't have the money for proper steel knives, and don't feel like wasting money on crap steel knives that dull once you look at them funny. also I am now just used to not have to sharpen the ceramic knives, they still cut pretty ok.
I wish I had a proper kitchen with proper tools, though.
Another excellent video, you're the real deal, thank you.
As a chef the first time I used a nakiri it blew my mind. If you have to do a mountain of julienne, brunoise or chiffonade they absolutely motor through it.
I don't understand why we need so many types of knives. I've been using the Chinese cleaver for over 30 years for literally everything!
Bro, I love what you do, but I can't stop looking at your hairline. All you need is a 5 second trip to the barber to trim that little triangle. I'm half joking here haha
My favorite knives are made by Tojiro. VG-10 steel, 61 Rockwell
I had a yanagiba recently. I found it too long which is a shame as I rather enjoyed it (although it was beveled on the wrong side, I think; Abject hatred of lefties seems to be the cultural unifier).
I wouldnt dare to rock chop with such expensive and brittle/hard japanese knives. It could chip if it doesnt chip, the tip could get dull rather fast even though it hasnt cut anything. I like the tip of my knives to be the sharpest part of a knive for doing fine work. Thats why gyuto or any other chefknive's tip are so pointy unlike santoku with a not so pointy tip which is more for the homecook, or very small professional kitchens.
I have a Shun, but I don't know what style it is. It has what I'd call a low frequency serrated blade and a rounded end. It is incredibly razer sharp.
Gave my mom my Shun chef knife, after teaching her not to be putting it in the sink, or in the drawer, banging on other metals.
Also chefs knives aren't cleavers mother.
I can’t remember where I heard this advice about your knife, It should only be in three places ever in your hand horizontally, laying at the top of your cutting board or in knife storage, that means never in a sink or a dish drainer. You use it you rinse it off dry it and put it away!
It would have been hilarious if this video was sponsored by Kamikoto Knives 😂
I have a mukimono knife because I love the shape and it feels very good in my hand. I use it for (almost) everything even tho it's supposed to be used to make art with food.
Today I literally binged this channel whole day and saw every uncle Roger reaction video 🤣🗿 btw sir you always gives honest reaction and informative review in every video 💖👌
Thank you so much! :)
Carbon steels are usually tougher (less prone to chipping) than stainless steels. Another important trade off between the steel types.
6:45 do carbon steel! If you use it daily. And treat it with respect.. even in a humid shack in monsoon season kyushu. Rust wont be an issue. Be an a-hole and stack it in the sink with dirty dishes for 2 days: rust.
The most stressful part of my life is how small my kitchen is lol.
hardness actually has nothing to do with sharpness, you can make a razor out of bronze for example. it is simply that a harder knife stays sharper longer, not that is can be made sharper
single beveled knifes are drifting sideways while cutting. i learned that the hard way...
I liked this video, especially the practical insight. Thank you
oooh beautiful yanagiba. Excellent sushi knife
Io vado a pesca di tonno rosso(50/70 kgs puoi vedere uno dei miei video di pesca), ogni volta che ne devo sfilettare uno penso sempre alle "katane" di quei video 😂😂😂
I have one and its razor sharp. But i never use it. Its too big.. i prefer a smaller petty knife.
I personally prefer the Nakiri over the Santoku.
I like chinese chef knife too. Idk for knife i feel like you dont need anything too expensive
the main reason is definetley the steel hardness. also the handles can be very fancy.
That's so sad that people are so scummy to steal knives from others.
Wow! Chef James this was a great video! You are very knowledgeable about knives! This is a very, very good video and it should help many people selecting a knife. There are so many topics that could be covered in detail, but you chose the ones that are most important! I am very impressed with this video for sure! Keep up the great work and I look forward to more videos like this! Check out Jesse Hu if you haven't done so already. He has some great knife making videos that you will enjoy. He is funny as well! I just have to say it again... GREAT VIDEO!
Thank you!!
I use a fine ceramic “steel” on my japanese knives, i never use old style metal “steels”.
Shuns cost several hundred each so that expensive on must be closer to a grand.
It is deferential hardening, like in the way a katana's edge is done.
i recommend tojiro knives. perfect price point.
11:27 don't try to catch them if you drop them
I recognize a Makoto Kurosaki gyuto when I see one! Very beautiful and high performing blade! Very cool collection!
Thank you so very much!!
while you have given a LOT of good info in this video and in your other what knife video, there is one thing that bugged me...
it's more about the heat treatment process that is making western style knives a tiny bit "softer" not so much the specific steel used, they are going for a higher toughness by sacrificing a small amount of hardness. this is why Japanese made blades tend to chip more, they are aiming for hardness over toughness. in a good blade it's a balancing act with hardness and toughness for an application...
just because a steel is "harder" doesn't mean it will hold it's edge longer. as an example: O-1 steel can be made to 63-64 HRC, and A-2 to 60-61 HRC but A-2 will have better edge retention, while the O-1 can technically be made Slightly sharper
in this video you have a list of knife steels and just in the first two lines it's wrong - it's calling 1095 Low HRC and 440c medium HRC.... 1095 should be between 62-64 as quenched and 57-58 HRC after tempering, 440C should be 59-60 as quenched and 56-58 after tempering. their final hardness is normally about the same. 440C will hold an edge slightly better due to the carbides that form in it, 1095 would be tougher and better for something like a cleaver.
going further AUS 8 should be about 58-59 HRC, AUS 10 59-60 HRC, D2 54-61 HRC, VG1 58-59 HRC, VG10 60-62 HRC.
most simple or Alloy steels with more than 60 points of carbon can reach a similar hardness - but the toughness will be different for a specific hardness.
In the end what I'm trying to say is that you need to look at what your style of usage will be to decide what would be a better fit for you. if your likely to abuse the blade a bit a tougher blade would be better for you. and if you are carful with a blade you can use a higher hardness style.
Thank you! Yes there is still a lot of explain and with these videos I was just trying to go over the basics
Respect for the content. I learn. Love all knives.... puukko, kukri, parang, katana, santoku... But when it comes to cooking, you'll have to pull my German forged French chef knife from my cold hands. ⚔️
😂
Another great video... And how i like how you explain things is just great and Simple to remember... I learn a lot i dont know as cheff... Top💪💪💪
Glad to help!
Really interesting video. thank you. I'm looking forward to the knife-sharpening episode.
Thank you!