JAPANESE KNIFE - First Time Japanese Knife Buyers Guide

oh hey there i didn't see you come in my name's gage i'm the owner of sharp knife shop uh so you're looking for your first japanese knife well you're in the right spot i'm just going to take you over here to the wall of knox and uh we'll start talking about how you're going to choose your first japanese knife so uh i'll meet you over there in two seconds okay first thing we're going to talk about is the different types of steels they fall into three main categories stainless carbon and somewhere in between so first we'll talk about stainless these are knots that you're probably most familiar with if you have never purchased a japanese knife before as the name implies they are rust resistant and they will never develop discoloration or rust even if they're left wet and or dirty and not wiped down properly after use these knives are great for those who don't want to worry too much about maintaining their knot and they don't have to worry about wiping it down immediately after they use it the downfall to stainless steels is that they can be a little bit more difficult to sharpen and some argue that their edge retention isn't quite to the level of some carbon steels but we carry some really fantastic stainless steels that have really really incredible edge retention the next category we're going to talk about is carbon steels now carbon steel is my preference i personally really love how easy it is to sharpen how clean an edge it takes and how long these knives stay sharp for the downfall to carbon steels though is that they will rust or discolor if they're not properly maintained especially when working with acidic ingredients like tomatoes onions and citrus if they are not wiped down immediately after use before they go down on your board out of your hand they will rust which obviously is not ideal with that said they are very very easy to bring back to life should any rust or discoloration form one must simply scrub the rust off we carry a product called a rust eraser here that works just as the name implies just like a pencil eraser you just scrub the knife down free from rust if it ever does occur now the middle ground is stainless clad knives so these knives are made in three layers of material they have two stainless layers on the outside and a layer of carbon through the middle there is a faint wavy line close to the edge of the knife that you'll notice and this is where the stainless steel comes to an end and the carbon steel pokes out beyond that so only a very small sliver of these styles of knives can rust or discolor they're a great option for those who are a little bit apprehensive to get into a fully carbon steel or iron clad knife but they want all the benefits of that carbon steel with a little bit easier maintenance so if you're looking for something sort of in between a stainless and a carbon steel knife a stainless clad is a great way to go all right so now that we've talked about steel it's time to think about what shape of knife that you want to get into the gito is the japanese equivalent to a chef's knife so it is arguably the most versatile knife shape out there it's great for slicing because of its because of its length it's great for chopping vegetables large and small and it's even great at the more intricate work provided you are comfortable with its length they range in size typically from about 180 millimeters up to about 240 millimeters the smaller the knife is the easier it is to wield but the less versatile it is the longer the knife the more versatile it is but the more difficult it can be to wield okay now a slight variation of the guitar is the kuritsuke it's very similar in size and shape as you might be able to tell here the one or the big main difference is the shape of the tip this is referred to by some as a k-tip by others as a reverse tanto tip whatever you call it it adds a little bit of extra dexterity to the tip of the knife and gives the user a little bit of extra travel for their guide finger when they're doing more intricate tasks like brunoise shallot and garlic they also typically have a flatter profile to them so they're great for slicing and great for that up and down push and or pull chopping motion next we're going to talk about the sand toku the word santoku translates to three virtues which refers to slicing dicing and chopping or meat fish and vegetables depending on who you talk to basically the name tries to imply the versatility of the knife which is what's made it the most popular knife in japanese home kitchens today so a variation of the sand tofu very similar to the yuto and the kritsuke is the bunka as you can tell very similar to the santoku but again differs in the shape of the tip again we're seeing this k tip or the reverse tanto tip and the same sort of uh points applied to the bunker as did to the currency k it adds a little bit of extra height to the tip of the knife which gives you a little bit more travel on your guide finger especially helpful when doing more intricate tasks like relic next we're going to talk about the nikiri the fury is a super fun shape it's uh this square guy here which is mistaken a lot for cleavers these knives are not meant to go through bones however they are in fact vegetable cleavers they've got a really nice flat profile to them so using that up and down chopping motion is really made easy with one of these and they've got a very very nice tall blade which gives you lots of travel for your for your guide finger when you're using that up and down chopping motion you can also flip the knife over and use the spine and scrape stuff across your board really easily and because of the large surface area it works really well as a scoop for lack of a better term i like to refer to this knife as my stir fry knife because if i'm ripping through a bunch of veggies and scrape them into a pan when making stir fry the nakiri is what i reach for the next shape we're going to talk about is the patty knife the patty knife is a very versatile uh doodle knife meant more for those smaller tasks and those random tasks that come up throughout the day they're great for breakfast and lunch preparations when you're cutting up small fruits maybe slicing a tomato or cutting a sandwich in half for lunch and then they can be put away and the larger santoku or nakiri or bunka they're a great knife to pair with any of the other knives that we've talked about today and i would argue that for the average home cook a petty knife paired with any of these other knives will be able to take care of 99.9 of what you're going to do in the kitchen the penny knife is also great for a lot of butchery tasks as well and again when i was cooking professionally i used my petty knife to break down chickens and rabbits and even even debone larger pieces of meat like pork shoulder okay last thing we're going to talk about is the handle style two main types that we carry here at the shop those are the wah style or japanese style handle or the yo or russian style handle there's no advantage or disadvantage to either handle but i do find that most people that come into the shop and have a chance to handle both styles usually gravitate towards the japanese boss style handle i find them more comfortable personally as well i love the way they fill up my hand and you can grab them from sort of any orientation and they'll still feel relatively comfortable the western style handles are good though for those who are looking for something a little bit more in line with the european style knives that they've been using their whole life okay now to finish off here we're just going to talk about our shipping and return policies so shipping if you place your order before 2 pm we will ship your knife out the day that you place your order our ups guy comes and picks up knives around 3 p.m so that gives us a little bit of time to get everything packed up and ready for him we're very easy with returns and we know that buying a knife online can be a bit of a daunting task so if you receive your knife in the mail it's not feeling the way you want it to or there's anything wrong with the knife feel free to reach out to us at any time let us know the situation and we'll be sure to remedy it for you by either shipping out a new knife or allowing you to return the knife and exchange it for something else or get a full refund just make sure that the knife is unused and it's under and in its original packaging now if you have any more questions or you're hoping to get more nuanced explanation about the different steel types whether they be stainless or carbon maybe you're hoping to get some information about the profile of a knife how it looks on a cutting board never hesitate to reach out to us we're always happy to help we are available via email or phone give us a call or shoot us an email anytime we're also very responsive on instagram and like i said we're happy to answer any questions you may have so thanks for watching guys if uh again if you have any more questions either leave them in the comments down below or contact us via one of those other channels and until the next video stay sharp

Channel: Sharp Knife Shop

Views: 332,658

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Id: Q6WYBq31HcM

Length: 8min 27sec (507 seconds)

Published: Thu Aug 27 2020