Looking for a "Beginner" Sushi Knife for "Home Use."

L

LasagnaBurrito

Joined
Jun 17, 2015
Messages
27
Cross Posted:

http://www.cheftalk.com/t/86186/looking-for-a-beginner-sushi-knife-for-home-use
http://www.knifeforums.com/forums/showtopic.php?tid/943862/


Hello all!

This is my first post here, I hope to learn a lot, so thank you for having me.

I am on a search for a good quality sushi knife as a gift for a family member who loves to make sushi. The sushi is always great, but we always end up having an issue "slicing" the rolls, and the rolls "falling apart."

I came into this basically being told by them that I needed a "single sided knife" as that's what allows the sushi to slice easier, without getting stuck/ripping apart.

Before coming here I spoke to 2 other people. The first was with an older gentleman who is a sushi chef.

He had first sent me to http://korin.com/Knives/Style-Sujih... specifically the Sujihaki section, and told me I needed a 270mm length knife.

After doing some research I found that there is a huge amount of information about knives, and each part of the knife has importance.

I found this guide http://www.allaboutsushiguide.com/s...

and this information about Knife Steel http://www.midwayusa.com/technicaln...


We then spoke again, and he found this knife for me http://www.ebay.com/itm/18176055945...

I used the information in there to try and find similar knives. I asked him why not a Yanagi, and he mentioned the "Experience," and said that I should get used to this knife first. The Western-Japanese styles also seem to be cheaper than the Japanese equivalents.

I also found a few nice, cheap ones on Korin's site that were similar in specs to the ebay one.

I spoke to another person who said he liked Tagiharu knives, and liked the Western-Japanese Knife, with Traditional Handle that I picked out here http://korin.com/Togiharu-Wa-Sujihi... . He also seemed to say that it didn't matter what knife I get, but made indications about "beating up the knife ""from a chef's point of view""" Which i'm not sure means if I would cause issues like chipping, at home, or if he's speaking about the face paced work environment? I don't know.


------------------------- ------------------------- ------------------------- ------------------------- ------------------------- ----------------------


So with the little background I provided, I want to now ask the forum for their opinions since I didn't get to ask all the questions I would have liked from the other guys, but I appreciate their input greatly.


I want to mention that I am coming to this now looking at spending around 300$ for a knife, as well as any accessories that I also seem to need i.e., oil for carbon steel, rags??, sharpening stones, etc, etc.



So here are my questions.



1. For a beginner knife does the specs of a Sujihiki, dual sided 70/30, 270mm knife work out good, or is there something else someone would recommend? It seems in general it's "personal preference" but for a beginner there is always a good starting point it seems. Does the ebay (not sure if a good place to buy knives) link above look like a good choice, or should I start with something else?

2.a Is there a big difference with "experience" as the first guy mentioned? Does it matter if I get a Sujihiki or a Yanagi at first?

2.b Seeing that it seems these knives can last a really long time if proper care is taken, would it be a better investment to get a really good knife to keep for a long time, or get a cheaper knife and upgrade later?

3. Does anyone have brands they recommend more over the others? The second guy said if he had to choose between the brands I was looking at, he would go with a Suisin. Masamoto is one brand that is interesting to me though.

4.a Does the handle matter i.e,. Western handle, vs Traditional round/octagon handle? Does the round/octagon matter as well? I really like the look of the traditional handle over the Western handle, so I really want to get that if possible, which is why I liked the Togiharu Wa that had the Traditional Handle that I posted abovfe.

4.b Do we hold the knives differently with different handles?

5. Is there a Steel that is recommended? In the above ebay link there is a chart that outlines properties of a bunch of types of steel, which is helpful, but not too sure if it's accurate. It seems like you have a trade off between corrosion resistance, sharpness, how long it's sharp, etc; however i am looking for a steel that would be resistant to the elements, but is overall a good sharp knife that we wont have to keep sharpening over and over again... But if there are steels that are just much better, that do rust/corrode I would be interested at looking at those as well.

6.a For sharpening stones http://korin.com/Knives/Sharpening-... there is a bunch of choices, but I'm not sure what's what? It seems from reading the description that the rougher stones can produce a sharper knife, faster, but you can mess up easier so it's better for pros, or those who know what they are doing? Is there a stone someone can recommend me for a beginner? I did like the option of the dual sided ones, but not too sure if that's a good choice for me.

6.b Do you buy a stone based on the knife you get, or are all knives similar? I would assume the steel would play into it? I also see something called HRc (Hardness Rockwell Scale) so from what I read up it seems the higher the number, the harder the steel? Would that impact what stones we get, or is that just letting us know how tough our knives are?

7. I was watching Korin's videos where one of the guy's mentioned to use a cloth with some of this oil and then wipe it once (he does it twice, after saying once, so I'm not sure if he took a dry portion of his cloth to the knife afterwards, which seems to defeat the purpose of putting the oil on in the first place)? It seems this special oil is used for carbon steel, or other corrosive steels that will help preserve the steel. Should we buy this regardless of the steel, or is it only for select steel? http://korin.com/Tsubaki-Knife-Oil?...

8. On the knives I noticed for the Western style they use "Dual sided" but are Labeled 50/50, 70/30, and 90/10. I cannot find information on this, but this link is very informative about knife edges. http://kitchenknifeguru.com/knives/...

From the link it shows a Western knife with a "V" and then a Japanese knife with 1 side being flat. I'm assuming that as we get further to the Traditional knife (50/50 70/30 90/10), it's going to get flatter on one side, and possibly sharper on the other? So is Traditional 100/0?

9.a I am curious about cloth usage. Is there a specific cloth that we should use? Korin has this one on their site, but I'm not sure if we need one exactly like this(material), or what? http://korin.com/Cleaning-Cloth_2?s...

9.b I also have seen chefs do this, and read up a little about it, but I see them wipe their knives clean a lot. One site mentioned you should wipe your knife dry whenever you can, so it doesn't leave moisture on it(to rust). Is this something you do every time you cut into something, or when you take a "break" from cutting?

9.c I also read, I think it was in this link http://www.allaboutsushiguide.com/s... but it mentioned that after each slice through fish, you should wet your knife with a damp cloth so that the food doesn't get stuck to the knife. I read that higher quality Traditional Yanagi will have a concave edge on the flat side, which is supposed to prevent sticking. Also, isn't wetting the knife a bad idea, and completely contradicting to what 9.b says about drying your knife? Or do you have multiple cloths to wipe your knife at various situations???

10.a Guy #2 mentioned about beating up the knife, but how delicate are the knives, and what are things that can go wrong that we should avoid? I'm careful with my equipment no matter what I'm doing, so I want to be extra careful with this knife. I read you can chip the knife, but I'm not sure if I read that happens whiling sharpening, or if you can do it while cutting or something.

10.b This ties back to 2.b where I asked if the first knife should be basic, or if we should get a nice knife, that will last long. Does the delicacy have to do with what quality of knife I should get at first also? Are higher quality ones less delicate, more delicate, the same?

11. Looking at 2.b and 10.b it comes to ask what is a good price point? A lot of people say you want to spend at least 100$, but I see knives into the thousands. I saw some on amazon for 10$, I saw some others for 50$ in other places, but they just seem like jokes knives. I figured 300$ would be a good price to start with, but it seems I could get away with some of the cheaper ones? What would you recommend?

12. One of the knives I posted was from the "Tagiharu Wa" series. It seems that there are a few companies that have a "Wa" series. I also notice there are others like "Ao Ko" that are shared as well. Does each represent something, and is it something we are supposed to look at, or is it just a name, and it doesn't matter when looking for a knife?

13.a From what I read in the allaboutsushi link it said that the first knife we should get is a Yanagi, is this what is recommended? It seems to be what I need.

13.b Would people recommend a set over just 1 knife?

13.c Are there other uses besides sushi that I can use this for? Seems like the Yanagi is meant for slicing fish and meat, so I can see it as an every day knife if carefully maintained!

Those seem to be all of the questions I have now. I'm not sure if I am missing anything, but I would appreciate any feedback, comments, or whatever from people about them. I know I posted a lot of questions, but it seems that Sushi knives are really complicated, and there are so many different options it's driving me crazy haha.

Any help to clear up some of these questions is greatly appreciated.


Overall just looking to get a great starter knife that will do it's job, will last long, and be a great gift. Price doesn't matter, but like I said 300$ was my starting point, so not too sure if it's a good one or not. If it comes down to it I might pay more if people say that knives under a certain price point aren't worth it, or that some knife at some price is a really good deal and would be an awesome knife to buy for me.

I guess that's it, hopefully the post isn't too long, thank you again for having me, have a good night.





Addition to this post: I posted this on another forum where someone mentioned I should be looking at a Gyuto, but then changed to a Gyuto/Sujikihi, so I think I still need to be looking at a "Slicer/Sujihiki" and not a Gyuto.


I'm so very confused, and the few people who tried to help me didn't really give much info, or help with choices...


There seems to be so much to choose from, I'm just numb from it all.

Thanks sososososo much all!
 
Actually, there is a very specialized knife that is made specifically for slicing rolls that looks very different than the typical yanagiba or sujihiki. With that said, just get them a nice mid range suji from some place like Japanese Chefs Knives, JKI, CKTG or Korin. You can also use it on lasts and such.
 
jdm61 said:
Actually, there is a very specialized knife that is made specifically for slicing rolls that looks very different than the typical yanagiba or sujihiki. With that said, just get them a nice mid range suji from some place like Japanese Chefs Knives, JKI, CKTG or Korin. You can also use it on lasts and such.
Click to expand...

I actually did end up seeing a specialized knife, but it seems that a sujihiki is what I should go for... I don't think a Gyuto would be what I'm looking for, but could do the job?


I don't really know anythign about brands, or anything like that, doy ou have a recommendation? I've been looking mostly at korin but found a few others like JKI and such...


So hard to know which to go with....

Any advice to steer me in the right direction?

I was also told I shouldn't spend more than 200$ for this first knife, but I'm willing to spend up to 300 or so if need be. Just don't know what a good starting price is.
 
What do you have already that is not doing what you want, and what is it that you want this knife to be able to do? Do you just need a knife that will slice your sushi rolls? Because sharpness and technique are (within reason) more important than the kind of knife you use. I make a fair amount of sushi at home, and have had suitable results with a gyuto, funayuki, sujihiki, and even a German chefs knife. Many sushi chefs use a yanagiba to slice rolls, but you do not need the features of a yanagiba to do this. I believe the knife that jdm61 is talking about is a sushikiri, which is essentially a variation of the nakiri. There are also lots of steels, both carbon and stainless, that will be fine for your purpose: 1095, w1, w2, 52100, 440c, 154cm, s30v, s35vn, zdp, vg10, and lots of others will be more than adequate for your purposes. You don't need hitachi white to slice a sushi roll. You can spend $200-$300 if you want to, but you don't need to.
Different sharpening applications can call for different sharpening stones. Kitchen knives are basically all going to use the same stones.

Chris
 
No, I meant a sujihiki. I have the Hattori FH 270mm series western handled "forum knife" in VG-10 from Japanesechefsknives.com. You can get it for $242 shipped from Japan with micarta, cocobolo or ebony scales in a nice little hinged covered wood box and it will be here in a week. I bought it because it came highly recommended and I liked the blade shape and wanted a pattern. At the other end of the spectrum, you can get a Richmond Artifex western handled 270mm suji in AEB-L for like $89.
 
Hesparus said:
Oh, well I guess there are at least two different specialized knives for cutting sushi rolls. (And is anyone who knows about Japanese cutlery really surprised?) Here is the one that I'm thinking of:
http://yhst-27988581933240.stores.y...shikiri-knife-240mm-white-ii-steel-bl240.html
Click to expand...

Yeah, that's the one I saw haha.

But yeah, to answer your first question, we don't have any "specialized" knives. He's been wanting a Sushi knife for a long time. He was looking at ones from "William Sanoma" for around 50$, but I figured getting him something that would be better for a little more would be best.

I guess there could be many knives that "Do the job" but I figured that having something that looks and feels like a Japanese sushi knife would be best. It might be good to get him an overall kitchen knife though, as Sushi isn't really somethign that's made (it's mainly do to the fact the rolls break apart a lot).

I want to get him a sushi book, knife, sharpening stone, and maybe a couple of other things to get him started.


Would going for a sujihiki be a good starting point, or would a knife like a Gyuto be better for these purposes, and then be able to use for other things as well?

I know it's probably weird wanting a knife that you will only use for 1 task, but everyone has their own likes I guess...

OVerall I'm just really confused, and overwhelmed with all of this :).

Thanks for the help!
 
If you don't have a good main chef's knife, that is going to be a much more important purchase than a specialized sushi knife. If you really want a dedicated sushi knife, though, nobody here is going to argue.
Why are your rolls falling apart? Is the nori tearing when you cut it? If so, this could be an issue of the knife's geometry, sharpness, or your cutting technique. A new knife may or may not solve this.
A gyuto or other type of chefs knife can and will work for cutting sushi rolls. You can think of a sujihiki as just a really short gyuto. If you do decide to get a sunihiki right now, you might want to get a gyuto, too (or a santoku, or whatever it is that you prefer as a main chefs knife).
Chris
 
Just a quick reference to confirm what I have seen:

http://www.secretsofsushi.com/sushi-and-sashimi-knives

When I go out to sushi, the chefs usually use a Usuba for the vegetables, and a Yanagiba on the fish, as well as the rolls.
Based on that, if you are going to get him one sushi knife, I would make it a Yanagiba.
But the Sujihiki is probably more versatile and a little easier for the beginner.
I really like the idea of the book, knife, and stone. You can also buy little kits that include the bamboo rollers and some chopsticks with a book. I saw 2 last week at Barnes & Noble.
If you get him a specialized sushi knife, he's going to need to spend some time learning how to use it.

If you're more looking for an all-around useful kitchen knife, but not as focused for sushi, a Gyuto or Santoku will probably be a more all-around useful option.

I received great service from japanesechefsknives - but the available options may make your head spin.

Personally, I have a Miyabi Morimoto Gyuto in German stainless, and a Masamoto CT-series carbon steel 120mm petty. I chose the western-style handles because a) I have large hands and heard many of the traditional handles are a little thin and b) the rest of my knives they'll be sharing drawers with are western-style (primarily Henckels) and my family will use them too.
I don't make enough sushi for it to matter much, but both of these have done wonderful work on raw fish and vegetables, and the Gyuto does just fine cutting rolls.
One thing to note - the Miyabi came razor-slicer-crazy sharp. The Masamoto had a barely-working edge on it. I think it's one of those where they expect the user to put his desired edge on it and sharpen it up before initial use.

I was trying not to jump on the Santoku craze that hit a couple years ago. My Mom bought me one anyway (also western-handled.) It's now the knife I turn to when I need to cut something "iffy" and don't want to risk one of those thin, hard Japanese specials (melons, pineapples, bone-in meat where I'm not intending to cut through the bones, boney fish.) It's not my favorite, but my wife likes it and it's been remarkably useful in the kitchen.
The stainless takes about zero maintenance - just clean it up at your leisure and put it away.
The carbon steel developed a dark patina after about 2 uses. It's still changing. When we were away last month my idiot houseguest/dogwatcher left it in the sink overnight. 100 passes on a scotchbright pad got most of the rust off, but I can still see patches where it had accumulated. I haven't wanted to take steel wool to it yet. Still cuts great - but they do take a little more care.

I also have some japanese whetstones - a 1k and 6k King, and 400 grit and 2K Naniwa Super stones. The Naniwa are much higher quality in feel and performance.
I like sharpening in 3 steps. Where you start really depends upon how bad the edge is, how much you like the current profile, and how long you want to spend at it. You usually roughly double the grit as you move up. The coarse grit is to profile the edge and set the burr, the medium helps refine the edge, and the fine is to further refine and polish up the edge. But that's a whole 'nother thread.

I hope that helps, at least a bit.
Good luck!
 
Last edited:
Hesparus said:
If you don't have a good main chef's knife, that is going to be a much more important purchase than a specialized sushi knife. If you really want a dedicated sushi knife, though, nobody here is going to argue.
Why are your rolls falling apart? Is the nori tearing when you cut it? If so, this could be an issue of the knife's geometry, sharpness, or your cutting technique. A new knife may or may not solve this.
A gyuto or other type of chefs knife can and will work for cutting sushi rolls. You can think of a sujihiki as just a really short gyuto. If you do decide to get a sunihiki right now, you might want to get a gyuto, too (or a santoku, or whatever it is that you prefer as a main chefs knife).
Chris
Click to expand...

Yeah, it makes sense to get a main knife, but I'm new to all of this, so I wasn't sure if he would use the knife for just sushi, or if the knife could be used for other things...

I think he mentioned that the nori might tear, and I think that maybe ingredients would fall out (I guess that's probably due to the nori tearing). I also understand that technique and sharpness is important, but the knives we have are crap, and most likely cheap crap..... I don't know about his "technique" but my dad has been cooking for a long time. That doesn't mean he's an expert in everything, so are there videos or anything you could link to show proper technique for cutting? Are the sushi rolls cut differently than other things?

What I was told, by him, is that it has to be a "super sharp" knife that is sharpened on "one side." This is what led me to the Yanagi, but then I was told that it doesn't matter if it's sided, or dual sided, but I'm curious why traditional Japanese knives are single sided? I also hear that the other side being flat, or "concave" will help the stuff on the other side "not stick."

Yeah, it seems that the Gyuto is just taller. I might go with that if that's what people here say. I really don't have much room to argue, nor do I want to upset any members as I want everyone to be honest with me, and let me know what I should get. Just because I think it's cooler, doesn't mean I have to get it...

I also noticed the Santoku was similar in description, but it's a lot fatter... I think he would like a Gyuto more, but do you have an opinion?

So I guess I'll go look for Gyuto's, preferably with a Wa handle. Do you have any recommendations?

There are 4 sites that I have looked at knives.

www.Korin.com

http://www.japaneseknifeimports.com/

and

http://japanesechefsknife.com/

I was first shown Korin, and it's the nicest looking site, IMO, but I don't know about their knife selection/prices? Though they do say they will "Price Match."

What about Steel choices? It seems "Carbon Steel" is teh choice of many.

Thank you for your time, and any other information you could share with me :)


tjswarbrick said:
Just a quick reference to confirm what I have seen:

http://www.secretsofsushi.com/sushi-and-sashimi-knives

When I go out to sushi, the chefs usually use a Usuba for the vegetables, and a Yanagiba on the fish, as well as the rolls.
Based on that, if you are going to get him one sushi knife, I would make it a Yanagiba.
But the Sujihiki is probably more versatile and a little easier for the beginner.
I really like the idea of the book, knife, and stone. You can also buy little kits that include the bamboo rollers and some chopsticks with a book. I saw 2 last week at Barnes & Noble.
If you get him a specialized sushi knife, he's going to need to spend some time learning how to use it.

If you're more looking for an all-around useful kitchen knife, but not as focused for sushi, a Gyuto or Santoku will probably be a more all-around useful option.

I received great service from japanesechefsknives - but the available options may make your head spin.

Personally, I have a Miyabi Morimoto Gyuto in German stainless, and a Masamoto CT-series carbon steel 120mm petty. I chose the western-style handles because a) I have large hands and heard many of the traditional handles are a little thin and b) the rest of my knives they'll be sharing drawers with are western-style (primarily Henckels) and my family will use them too.
I don't make enough sushi for it to matter much, but both of these have done wonderful work on raw fish and vegetables, and the Gyuto does just fine cutting rolls.
One thing to note - the Miyabi came razor-slicer-crazy sharp. The Masamoto had a barely-working edge on it. I think it's one of those where they expect the user to put his desired edge on it and sharpen it up before initial use.

I was trying not to jump on the Santoku craze that hit a couple years ago. My Mom bought me one anyway (also western-handled.) It's now the knife I turn to when I need to cut something "iffy" and don't want to risk one of those thin, hard Japanese specials (melons, pineapples, bone-in meat where I'm not intending to cut through the bones, boney fish.) It's not my favorite, but my wife likes it and it's been remarkably useful in the kitchen.
The stainless takes about zero maintenance - just clean it up at your leisure and put it away.
The carbon steel developed a dark patina after about 2 uses. It's still changing. When we were away last month my idiot houseguest/dogwatcher left it in the sink overnight. 100 passes on a scotchbright pad got most of the rust off, but I can still see patches where it had accumulated. I haven't wanted to take steel wool to it yet. Still cuts great - but they do take a little more care.

I also have some japanese whetstones - a 1k and 6k King, and 400 grit and 2K Naniwa Super stones. The Naniwa are much higher quality in feel and performance.
I like sharpening in 3 steps. Where you start really depends upon how bad the edge is, how much you like the current profile, and how long you want to spend at it. You usually roughly double the grit as you move up. The coarse grit is to profile the edge and set the burr, the medium helps refine the edge, and the fine is to further refine and polish up the edge. But that's a whole 'nother thread.

I hope that helps, at least a bit.
Good luck!
Click to expand...

I haven't really noticed what knives they use, except for the yanagi.

Yeah, you think I should get a yanagi/suji over a Gyuto? I'm not sure if it's worth it to get him something he wuld use more, or just something "special for sushi..?"

It seems the suji is what I would get him, but want a Wa handle :).

I was just checking over Korin's site, and saw some extras which I thought would be great for him! He already has a roller (It's wood), and we have a few pairs of chop sticks, though Korin's site does have a bunch of CHEAP soup spoon which we love, so I might get a bunch of those. Ours are ceramic, and Korin's seem to vary. I was possibly going to get a book at B/N, was it this one? http://korin.com/Complete-Book-of-Sushi There are a few other choices too, so I wasn't sure what would be good... http://korin.com/Tableware_2/books for some reason there seems to be way wya way way more books than the last time... A ramen book? SIGN ME UP HAHAHAA.

Yeah, that's the thing... I'm not too sure if I should just get him a sushi knife, I think an overall knife would be better, and I think he would love it either way, as long as he can CUT his rolls hahaa.

Yeah, all of the sites have ridiculous amounts of options, I have no idea what to doooo, or what to get hahaha :(.

I've been interested in "Masamoto" as they seem to be one of the top companies, but I heard on another forum that the quality control has been awful lately so that sucks...


Yeah I heard that Carbon Steel is the way to go, because of how sharp it is, but it needs a lot of care. I found this http://korin.com/Tsubaki-Knife-Oil?sc=27&category=280115 which apparently is supposed to be put on the knives, when storing, to prevent rust. I heard that it changes color from maintaining, crazy after 2 uses though... That sucks she used your knife, and left it in the sink!!!!!!! Good luck wiht it, hope you fix her up :)

what stone should I start with in terms of grit #? I'll look at the Naniwa stones, thanks for that!

So do you have any preference of what I should look for, company wise, on these Gyuto's?


I hopefully want to buy everything from one place so I hope I can do that :).


Thank you for your time I really appreciate it, and anything else you can share :).
 
Many of the dual bevel Japanese knives like the Gyuto are actually based on European patterns, particularly the French ones like the Sabatier, but without the thick bolster. The single bevel knife will supposedly give you finer slices, but they are harder to maintain. That is a primary reason why Japanese pro chefs tend to use the single bevel usuba for veggies, but most home cooks use similarly shaped but thinner double bevel nakiri for the same tasks.
 
jdm61 said:
Many of the dual bevel Japanese knives like the Gyuto are actually based on European patterns, particularly the French ones like the Sabatier, but without the thick bolster. The single bevel knife will supposedly give you finer slices, but they are harder to maintain. That is a primary reason why Japanese pro chefs tend to use the single bevel usuba for veggies, but most home cooks use similarly shaped but thinner double bevel nakiri for the same tasks.
Click to expand...

Yeah it seem sthat I wouldn't want to get a single sided knife at first. I guess I'll start with a Gyuto, and after he's mastered that I'll grab him a yanagi or a suji, but preferably the yanagi, unless I should get the suji first....


Any recommendations on what I should go for? Idk anything about ocmpanies except the ones I see on these sites. Tagiharu, Suisin, Masamoto, etc.
 
http://japanesechefsknife.com/SearchedBySteelandBladeType.html#JPTK Carbon Steel

http://korin.com/Knives/Style-Gyutou_2?sort1desc=F&sort1=Item_ONLINECUSTOMERPRICE

So far these are the options of Gyuto's, note the first link has many choices, but can pick which Gyuto, the site's layout isn't all that good.


JKI is down, so no info on that, so not sure what to go with...

I want a Wa Handle, so if I go with Korin the only one is the Togiharu, while JCK seems to have a lot more choices less than 200$.


Thoughts?
 
Also check chefknivestogo. The have 'em sorted by type, and a search function.
Some overlap with jck, but also some less expensive models. And lots of wa-gyuto in different lengths and steels.
 
I just stumbled on Yoshihiro, as well. No experience with them, but they are in the price range and look like decent value.
Some folks buy 'em for the price and keep 'em 'cause they love 'em.
Who knows...
 
JCK's semi-stainless gyuto is nice. i have one of those. For stainless, i think that one made from AEB-L would be hard to beat for the money. That says maybe the Richmond line at CKTG.
 
I've been making sushi for almost a decade.

The single bevel (yanagi) is best for slicing fish.

For cutting rolls, you want a thin sujihiki.

Yanagis were not meant to cut rolls, they can, but will degrade the edge very quickly. Only the tip of the yanagi is making contact with the cutting board.

For a good sujihiki, kikiuichi, tojiro, misono all make great suji, I'm sure there's more but I'm listing what I've used and what worked well.


At work I use a yoshihiro yanagi (fish) konosuke sujihiki (rolls) konosuke gyuto (everything else).
 
tjswarbrick said:
Also check chefknivestogo. The have 'em sorted by type, and a search function.
Some overlap with jck, but also some less expensive models. And lots of wa-gyuto in different lengths and steels.
Click to expand...

Thanks, I'll check them out.

jdm61 said:
JCK's semi-stainless gyuto is nice. i have one of those. For stainless, i think that one made from AEB-L would be hard to beat for the money. That says maybe the Richmond line at CKTG.
Click to expand...

I heard that the way to go is Carbon, I was hearing some negatives about Stainless, thoughts?

HwangJino said:
I've been making sushi for almost a decade.

The single bevel (yanagi) is best for slicing fish.

For cutting rolls, you want a thin sujihiki.

Yanagis were not meant to cut rolls, they can, but will degrade the edge very quickly. Only the tip of the yanagi is making contact with the cutting board.

For a good sujihiki, kikiuichi, tojiro, misono all make great suji, I'm sure there's more but I'm listing what I've used and what worked well.


At work I use a yoshihiro yanagi (fish) konosuke sujihiki (rolls) konosuke gyuto (everything else).
Click to expand...


Thanks, this is interesting information. So a Gyuto wouldn't be good for rolls, or what do you think...??


Haha so many opinions... Still just as confused :(
 
Hesparus said:
If you don't have a good main chef's knife, that is going to be a much more important purchase than a specialized sushi knife. If you really want a dedicated sushi knife, though, nobody here is going to argue.
Why are your rolls falling apart? Is the nori tearing when you cut it? If so, this could be an issue of the knife's geometry, sharpness, or your cutting technique. A new knife may or may not solve this.
A gyuto or other type of chefs knife can and will work for cutting sushi rolls. You can think of a sujihiki as just a really short gyuto. If you do decide to get a sunihiki right now, you might want to get a gyuto, too (or a santoku, or whatever it is that you prefer as a main chefs knife).
Chris
Click to expand...

HwangJino said:
I've been making sushi for almost a decade.

The single bevel (yanagi) is best for slicing fish.

For cutting rolls, you want a thin sujihiki.

Yanagis were not meant to cut rolls, they can, but will degrade the edge very quickly. Only the tip of the yanagi is making contact with the cutting board.

For a good sujihiki, kikiuichi, tojiro, misono all make great suji, I'm sure there's more but I'm listing what I've used and what worked well.


At work I use a yoshihiro yanagi (fish) konosuke sujihiki (rolls) konosuke gyuto (everything else).
Click to expand...

http://www.chefknivestogo.com/kowh2su24.html

I was looking at this, but noticed it was OOS :(.


there seems to be a lot of choices of konosuke, and many choices of others :(.

No idea what to get, or what's good lol, why is this so hard~!!!!!!

Thanks for all the help!


EDIT: This one looks good too http://www.chefknivestogo.com/tagrchwa27.html

The reviews sound great too, but again not too sure about it :(.


UGH lolol :(.


I also need help with stones, one member mentioned what he uses for what, but I was confused exactly what any of that meant :p.
 
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