[chev]

Professional Chef - hopelessly deadlocked - going out of the country on a 3 month gig - tipped my favorite knife and must replace it by Wednesday - the Gesshin I want is out of stock so here is what I'm thinking:

Kohetsu Western HAP40 240mm Gyuto

Mac Mighty 240mm Gyuto

Misano Moly 240mm Gyuto

JCK Original Kagayaki 240mm Gyuto

Yoshihiro AUS 10 240mm Gyuto

I'm purposely leaving out what my "favorite" knife was so as not to color every ones opinion - also - it should be hard to figure out what it may be by my choices above.  

Thanks in advance for your help.  It's 22:00 here in Detroit and I'm going to have a beer.  I'm hoping to come hope before midnight to a several opinions and suggestions - even those outside of what I've listed.  

 

[rick alan]

Mashugana 256 in Iwasaki special steel.  It's bigger, and it's a Mashugana.

 

[chrislehrer]

MAC

 

[rick alan]

Mashugana!

 

[chev]

Thanks, Rick,

I'm appreciative of your suggestion and also  the fact that you think I'm not smart enough to know basic trivia - the University of Michigan, Boston College, and New England Culinary Institute must have all felt the same before giving me diplomas.

 

[rick alan]

Did I ever even suggest that you were trivial, or even failed in any recognitions?  Though I am wondering about Chris.

Yoshiko, really?  Must fly under the radar.

And such an eclectic range of choices you represented, all over the place.  From ordinary steel to super-steel, from the lighter side to heavy.

Along with the intimation that you had finished a shift, were heading out for a beer and perhaps where already in a bit of giddy mental statis.

Could anyone be blamed for not taking you completely serious?  Such a debate.

Oh well, wot the hell wot the hell, as a former contributor might say.  Anyway given your choices and what I know of them I'd say the Kohetsu was a no-brainer here.  In the same super-steel vain you might aso consider the Geshin Kagero.

Not being able to decide myself which way for a goto knife I bought a Kagero petty because it seemed ideal for a steak knife at the very least, and I needed something to finally get the taste of that crappy Shun out of my mouth.  Turns out I like it so much that I do all my small fine slicing with it.

Thin behind the edge but not too thin.  Takes a wicked edge for stainless and holds it forever, once you get past the factory edge with a few sharpenings.  Sharpens easy enough on ordinary waterstones, very easy burr removal.  With a 12deg/side edge it simply laughs at the cutting board.

Could hardly ask for a better steak knife either, though for that specialized use I would ideally like a different edge profile.  Ah well, maybe one of these days I'll get my hands a blank, buy a belt sander (these PM steels are not for forging), send it out to Pete for the HT and handle it with local wood.

Rick

 

[chev]

Zinggggg - ya got me - I'm a dullard.

With that said, however, I still can't decide and maybe, just maybe I should have been more specific:

I'm looking to buy a work horse in the $100 to $300 price range. The reason I can't decide because there are just too many reviews out there and I know to many chefs who have too many opinions - which I respect - but - need some outside advice.  

The reason I'm looking at the knives in my original post is that they seem to fit the bill.  I don't know.  I'm not a metallurgist. I'm a writer, a chef, and therefore an idiot.

I am interested in all of the knives I've listed above but am open to suggestions.  Though, given the options I've listed, which one will be the best in terms of the following: durability, ease of sharpening, comfort, and value. I need something that will get me through deboning 50 chickens and smile at 50 pounds of potatoes without even thinking about a hone or a stone. 

So, if anyone has and useful input about which types of metals are best - I'm not opposed to taking good care/regular care of something - if it means a better experience - please chime in.  I really, really, don't know.  

 

[rick alan]

Well again Chev, never intimated you a dullard, just sounded like you were after-hours clowning around.  We appreciate some of that around here.

In all seriousness, for something that takes a very good edge and holds it, there is nothing like the PM steels, SRS-15 and HAP40 in particular.  They are not chippy like some PM steels, and they sharpen relatively easy.  The Kagero is nice and thin at the tip, the Kohetsu's overall grind is a bit thinner than the Kagero as I understand, maybe a minus for you here.  The Kagero doesn't have much belly, but no real flat spot either, a very gentle curve to the rear.  The Kohetsu is more Sabatier in profile, has some flat toward the rear.

Rick

 

[mike9]

I'd go with the Kohetsu in HAP40. You can get western, or wa (cheaper) and being in Detroit (my home town) if ordered from CKTG you ought to have it before the middle of next week.

http://www.chefknivestogo.com/kohagy24.html and http://www.chefknivestogo.com/kohawagy24.html respectively. I have heard nothing but praise for this steel.

 

[rick alan]

By comparison the 240 Kagero and Kohetsu are $100+ more. And at that price why not the bigger Hiromoto and one of the PM knives to go with it? The Hiromoto I believe will take as good an edge as the other two, but the PM knives will require sharpening about 1/3 as often.


Rick

 

[chev]

I really don't know why buying a knife is so hard.  I mean - I spent $200.00 on a pair of glasses which are as important to doing my job as this knife will be and didn't struggle as much there. Jeesh.  Could be the extenuating circumstances right now in my life that are making this purchases difficult too.  

I'm still torn between the HAP 40, the Richmond SRS-15, and everyone over at CKTG is raving about the Kanehide TK.  I may just buy the Kanehide for the $125.00 and use it for a year and spend more later.