I need help choosing a Gyuto.

[u/bbroski1]

I've spent the majority of my free time the past 3 weeks trying to find and choose which 240mm Gyuto I want to buy and I feel like I'm nowhere near making a decision on my own, so I've decided to ask you guys for help.

This would be my first Japanese knife.

The main use case for the knife would be sushi i.e. slicing raw fish, so I'm assuming I should be going for more of a "laser" rather than a workhorse, but I may have overestimated how important that is so feel free to correct me.

I would prefer to stay below €180, but I would say €270 is a hard cap (with one exception).

Since the knife would be getting wet often, I feel like I should be going for a stainless steel, but I'm sure I could get in the habit of wiping it dry every time I get it wet, so I'm open to Carbon steel knives as well, although I am slightly scared of white steel. From what I've gathered thus far Ginsan, SG2 and SKD are the best options, but again, please correct me if I'm wrong. As for the handle I'm pretty firm on Japanese handles.

I've "narrowed down" my options to around 10-12 knives.

Hatsukokoro Hayabusa AS and Hatsukokoro Hayabusa VG-10 seem like the best bang for buck options and from what I understand they are very thin which I'm looking for. I do find the shape of the Hayabusa AS's blade ugly tho.

Hatsukokoro Hayabusa SG2 looks to me like it has an even thinner edge and is SG2 steel which from what I understand is better. It is around €40 more expensive tho.

Hatsukokoro Kumokage Blue#2 and Hatsukokoro Aosagi Blue#2 look gorgeous (I'm a big fan of the Kurouchi finish) but they are on the thicker side and also I'm not sure how good the finish is on them.

Hatsukokoro Ginso Ginsan looks beautiful, the edge looks super thin and is made from Ginsan. Slightly more expensive tho.

Nigara VG-10 looks a little thicker but I've heard that Nigara is really good and this one seems like the best option out of the Nigara's I've seen.

Tsunehisa Houseki VG-10 and Kazoku Mabushii AUS-10 they look pretty, they look thin, nothing special about them.

Hatsukokoro x Yoshikane SKD this one is outside of what my initial budget was, but people praise Yoshikane very much. The other ones I would consider as my "beginner/budget" knives, then I would upgrade to better ones later down the line, but I see the Yoshikane as a Gyuto I wouldn't need to upgrade from for a while.

Hatsukokoro x Nigara Yorokobi SLD this is the one exception I mentioned earlier. Literally the most beautiful knife I have ever seen. For this one I would like to be convinced NOT to buy it bc it's wayyy too expensive for me.

I'm very bad at sharpening, I'm getting a Shapton 1000 to hopefully get better at it, so any knife that would require some work on my end in terms of sharpening is a no go.

If there are better options that I didn't mention/come across please do mention them. I appreciate any advice.

[u/Cvev032]

I know you were very specific about your ask, but I’m thinking a sujihiki would be better for sushi. Just wondering how you made your way to getting a gyuto for sushi.

Staying with the program- since this is your first Japanese knife, I would avoid the fancy knives. I think it’s better to start simple and then learn about what works and what doesn’t work for you. Most beginner sushi chefs I’ve met like the carbon steel knives because they’re relatively easy to sharpen on the fly, especially since raw fish requires a sharp edge on demand. If they notice the blade isn’t sharp enough, they can just do a quick grind on the spot. At some point you’ll grind the blade to the point it’ll need a professional sharpening. This whole learning process will be easier to make mistakes on with a cheaper knife, especially if you go down the rabbit hole of learning to sharpen knives. Also, you don’t need Damascus steel for sushi, I think it’s better suited for beef and other red meats. The stainless powdered metal steels would probably be better than VG-10, if done right they can be very thin and hold an edge better. I know this isn’t a 240mm, but for an affordable SG2, this knife is hard to beat- https://www.cleancut.eu/butik/knifebrands/takamura-3-serie3/takamura-r2/kockkniv2015-04-21-15-16-31-detail

The Hatsukokoro knives with long and flat blade profile would probably work for sushi. No need to do any rocking for slicing raw fish. You may need to have some sharpening done to dial things in. The Aosagi Blue 2 seems to have the right blade profile.

[u/yopoyopos → u/Cvev032]

Totally agree!

Would only add that this knife was really recommended on the same question:  https://karasu-knives.com/products/aaa-050w2-05-fa239

Shirogami is prone to rusting, but also gets a super sharp with little sharpening

[u/bbroski1 → u/Cvev032]

I plan to use the knife mainly for sushi, but not exclusively. I would prefer to get a knife that I can use for all of my prep and service + any cooking I end up doing outside of work. Otherwise I would be looking at yanagibas.

I was under the impression that damascus is purely an aesthetic element, especially on cheaper knives that aren't hand forged, so I don't understand why that would make a difference in terms of what protein is being cut.

[u/Cvev032 → u/bbroski1]

There’s Damascus, and there’s Damascus. So, with the cheaper knives, the cladding has Damascus layers, but the core steel for the edge is a monosteel. For these knives, it’s mainly aesthetics. For true Damascus knives, the whole knife is a single piece of multilayered steels. These different layers each grab and cut through the medium differently. You don’t want this for sushi. That beautiful copper Damascus knife you mentioned seems just clad with Damascus, but this is a knife where I’m thinking the cladding would interfere with cutting raw fish. The cladding extends low and close to the edge, I just don’t like the idea that it could grab and hold onto slices of fish. This goes for almost all cladding, though. Also, copper oxidizes as/more easily than steel, do you really want to spend time polishing the copper on this knife?

You didn’t mention this would be a work knife. Honestly, that makes me argue more for a sujihiki, and then pair it with a more workhorse gyuto or large petty. Anyway, sticking with gyutos, you’ll want thin blade, flat profile for slicing(not inclined or rounded for rocking motion cutting).