Chef's knife

Chef's knife, gyuto, with a 204 mm long blade.

Steel: Stainless VG-10 with 2 layers of stainless cladding (HRC: 60-62)
Blade length: 204 mm
Blade height: 44 mm
Spine thickness: 2 mm
Weight: 153 grams
Blade finish: Mirror-polished tsuchime with a misty transition towards the mirror-polished core steel.
Handle: Mono ebony

This knife series is the result of close collaboration between Hatsukokoro and one of the largest and most respected knife manufacturers in Seki city, Japan. We are highly impressed with this knife series, which delivers both a beautiful finish and very thin and fine edges with consistent quality. We strongly recommend this knife!

The blade is made of high-performance VG10 stainless steel. Around the core steel are 2 layers of softer steel, hammered (tsuchime) and mirror-polished. The shiny finish transitions into a misty kireha that meets the polished core steel, creating a pleasing contrast. The handle is octagonal and made of ebony.

Important:
Please note that the edge is hard and very thin. Therefore, be careful not to subject the edge to stress, especially sideways. When using a Japanese knife with a thin blade, the edge should always be in motion when cutting. Under no circumstances should you push the blade through an ingredient without the edge being in motion. Nor should you twist or wiggle the blade to pry ingredients apart.

If you press, twist, or wiggle the blade, in short, force it, a lateral stress can easily occur on the thin edge. An edge usually tolerates quite a lot when cutting straight down, while moving forwards or backwards. This is because you have the entire blade above the edge supporting it, absorbing and distributing the stress. With a sideways force, only the paper-thin edge is present, and very little material to absorb the force. The hard edge will therefore flex as much as it can, but when the load becomes too great, a chip will come out of the edge, or a piece of the tip will break off. We often see this type of damage if you cut hard cheeses, avocado pits, frozen fillets, bones, butternut, etc.