Knife advice

[perton]

Hi all. First-time post here.
I've been looking for a decent knife for general purpose cutting meat and fish that is harder than my other knives, around 55 HRC.

I've read some posts here, but I wondered what people think about the Iseya G series VG 10 Damascus 150mm knife, which is 60-61 HRC. It's around half the price of other options I've looked at.
Any other advice on other options for a 120 to 150-mm boning-style knife would be appreciated.
Thanks.

 

[jc57]

I don't have personal experience with that brand. From some Googling and reading after seeing your post, they seem to make good knives. There are a number of decent makers competing in that segment for that style of knives - made in Japan, with the fancy hammered damascus blade look in VG-10 steel and pretty handles. I can think of three or four good brands in that same market space that are all probably all of approximately the same quality. Sakai Takayuki for example, several others.

They are all kind of like the Shun/Miyabi knives of similar design, but without the big corporate markups (and warranties).

I think you'd probably have a fine knife if you wanted that brand if the price is good.

I do question the use of a thin hard petty "utility" knife for use specifically as a boning knife. Boning knives tend to have blade shapes (and thicknesses) suited for their purposes, and a lot depends on the type of meat (beef, pork, poultry, fish) and the cuts of meat. Some are thin and stiff, some thin and flexible, some straight, some swept, some triangular (honesuki), some relatively thick (debas).

It may work fine but could be prone to chipping if encountering bones. There is a Tojiro DP 150mm honesuki that is reasonably priced (around $85) also in VG-10, just not with the eye candy. Good solid pick for that type of boning knife. Really optimized for breaking down whole chickens.

This video has a good overview of boning knife styles: