HOSHANHO 8 Inch Japanese Gyuto Chef Knife 9 Layers 10Cr15CoMoV High Carbon Steel Kitchen Knife Professional Hand Forged

I really like my Shun Santoku, so I wanted to try a Kirsituke chef knife next. It looked like it would be a versatile slicing knife. I then went online to read about this type of knife and was told differently. I was told that this is a specialty knife only good for certain things like slicing sushi and intricate vegetable work. I was also told that this type of knife is only used by the Head- master chef who specializes in Japanese cuisine. As if it's some type of dangerous weapon that you have to be specially trained for. That's when i started taking a closer look at this item from Hoshanho. This knife from what i could see looked like it had a slight curve on the belly instead of just a straight edge as with some other Kiritsuke knives. It was also a little longer than the more common 7 to 8-inch models you see. On top of that it was on sale for $37.99 so I figured why not. I'm happy to say that my instincts were right and what I read online about this being a non-versatile specialty knife wasn't true for me at all. This knife really is great for slicing and dicing meat and vegetables. Great for julienne cuts as well, but because of the slight curve on the belly you can also rock chop. Also, I think a 9-inch blade is the all-around perfect size for me. It's Good for larger items but also good for things like shallots and small peppers. Using this knife was a fun, interesting and refreshing experience for me. Although it's true that this knife excels at the down/ forward slicing movements, it's also good on the vertical side cuts and is not a bad rock chopper either. There's nothing that I can do with an 8-inch chef knife that I can't do with this. I would say a chef knife is a better rock chopper, but the Kiritsuke is better for slicing hands down. This Hoshanho blade is between a 12- and 15-degree angle making it very sharp. You are also getting good steel for what you are paying. I should also point out that I cook very little Asian cuisine. Mainly Mexican, American, Italian and some Indian. Read more

Below is my review for the HO series. The last knife I purchased is the kiritsuke. I am very impressed by the Hoshanho HO Series knifes. I bought and tried the first knife (a gyuto) a few weeks ago and I was very impressed by everything about the Hoshanho HO Series knife, so I expanded my collection and now I own the nakiri, santoku, deba and kiritsuke, all of which are the HO Series. All of these knives are made in a very consistent way, high means that the good things and the not so good things are present in all of them in extremely similar ways. The two main pros about them are the excellent price v quality balance and the sharpness. They are undeniably cheap knives when compared to any of those Japanese knifes such as Shun and even some other high end Chinese maker such as Cangshan. However, the quality of the knives is surprisingly high and very consistent as I mentioned before. They are relatively lightweight and fit very well in my hand. Really comfortable to use them. As all high carbon knives, they obviously require great care both when using it (prone to chipping if misused and to oxidation if not immediately cleaned, dried and - I do this one - very lightly oiled for storage until next use). Having said that, the sharpness right of the box is amazing and after several times I used them they have maintained the sharpness. It feels like all not-so-hard vegetables are like butter when I cut and slice them. I haven’t tried it with a pumpkin for example, so I can’t tell how they’ll handle the harder veggies. The only con I can think of is that the handle, although very comfortable and balances, is not perfect. The finishing touches are not excellent but, let’s be fair here, I knew it wouldn’t be perfect for this price. All in all, I’m an extremely happy customer, so much so that I started with the gyuto and rapidly expanded my collection to several other Hoshanho HO Series. I wished I was sponsored by them but I am not LOL. I also wished to buy the yanagiba/sashimi knife but as of now it is not available in my region. I do recommend this knife as long as the buyer keeps two things in mind: they require really good care and the finishing touches on the handle reflect the low price. All else is excellent. Read more

My husband has been looking at this knife for a while and he finally purchased it. I have been using it as well and I have to say it is so easy to use and it’s super sharp! Great knife to have in the collection and it looks great. Read more

only one issue with the handle. The brass part is not flat with the wood. Over all its a great knife Read more