I want to get a honesuki

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Honesuki Time

Okeya
0
No votes
Yamashin
2
29%
Neither one, and here's why
5
71%
 
Total votes: 7

Billhanna
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I want to get a honesuki

Post by Billhanna »

I only have a few knives right now, but I'm having fun making them all be white steel. Which one does the group prefer, and why?


TIA
Santas_101
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Re: I want to get a honesuki

Post by Santas_101 »

There are two honesuki’s I prefer. It’s the Moritaka and the Takeda. Both are Blue Super carbon steel, however you can find the Takeda in a stainless clad version on some websites. I personally own both. Most honesuki’s are single sided, however both of the ones I mention are not. They are double sided, which means it’s good for right and left handed users. They are thin behind the edge, so it’s easy to maneuver around joints and so on. They are also both have a very thick at the spine which is what you want from a chicken butchery knife. Hope that helps.
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Re: I want to get a honesuki

Post by Billhanna »

Yeah. I’ll definitely need double bevel due to the sin tax of me being a sinister lefty, and I’m not interested in single bevel sharpening.
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Re: I want to get a honesuki

Post by mikeltee »

I was going to get one for general butchering, but after much research, I decided against it as I see too many reviews stating its great for chickens and that's about all. 30 years in the restaurant business and the only birds I broke down were on Thanksgiving and sometimes Christmas. What do you plan to use it for if you don't mind me asking? I love the profile and if I had the money to blow I would just get one.
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Re: I want to get a honesuki

Post by mauichef »

Konosuke HD2 Honesuki inbound 😋🤙😍
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Re: I want to get a honesuki

Post by Qapla' »

Billhanna wrote: Mon Mar 08, 2021 10:52 am Yeah. I’ll definitely need double bevel due to the sin tax of me being a sinister lefty, and I’m not interested in single bevel sharpening.
A double-bevel honesuki meant for lefties? https://www.chefknivestogo.com/katkbokn15le.html
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Re: I want to get a honesuki

Post by Billhanna »

mikeltee wrote: Tue Mar 09, 2021 1:23 am I was going to get one for general butchering, but after much research, I decided against it as I see too many reviews stating its great for chickens and that's about all. 30 years in the restaurant business and the only birds I broke down were on Thanksgiving and sometimes Christmas. What do you plan to use it for if you don't mind me asking? I love the profile and if I had the money to blow I would just get one.
Two to three birds a week, at home. The kids (six and one) and wife (🤭) looooove chicken. The older one eats better when he gets a chance to help out.
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Re: I want to get a honesuki

Post by Santas_101 »

mauichef wrote: Tue Mar 09, 2021 1:35 am Konosuke HD2 Honesuki inbound 😋🤙😍
I got to disagree with you on that knife. When you mentioned it on the Konosuke thread I did some googling to find it on another vendor’s website. The spine is very thin with some flex in the blade. Why would you want that in a poultry butchery knife? It’s always been my understanding that you want one that’s thin behind the edge with a thick spine, which lends itself for better blade geometry that’s more rigid. I think we would all agree that Takeda makes some of the thinnest knives you can find. His honesuki has an average spine thickness of 5.5mm give or take. I’ve attached a photo to demonstrate what I’m talking about. I mean I get it that we all have our personal preferences, but if you are looking for a double bevel honesuki, a Takeda or Moritaka would be the way to go. It also should be noted that when Mark got in that Moritaka shipment last week, one of the first knives to sell out was their 150mm honesuki. Just saying...
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Billhanna
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Re: I want to get a honesuki

Post by Billhanna »

mauichef wrote: Tue Mar 09, 2021 1:35 am Konosuke HD2 Honesuki inbound 😋🤙😍
Enabler. :lol:

Blonde or black horn?
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Re: I want to get a honesuki

Post by mauichef »

Billhanna wrote: Tue Mar 09, 2021 4:30 am
mauichef wrote: Tue Mar 09, 2021 1:35 am Konosuke HD2 Honesuki inbound 😋🤙😍
Enabler. :lol:

Blonde or black horn?
Oh....definitely blonde! I think the other one is a Khii handle.
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Re: I want to get a honesuki

Post by d_rap »

Santas_101 wrote: Tue Mar 09, 2021 4:28 am I got to disagree with you on that knife. When you mentioned it on the Konosuke thread I did some googling to find it on another vendor’s website. The spine is very thin with some flex in the blade. Why would you want that in a poultry butchery knife? It’s always been my understanding that you want one that’s thin behind the edge with a thick spine, which lends itself for better blade geometry that’s more rigid. I think we would all agree that Takeda makes some of the thinnest knives you can find. His honesuki has an average spine thickness of 5.5mm give or take. I’ve attached a photo to demonstrate what I’m talking about. I mean I get it that we all have our personal preferences, but if you are looking for a double bevel honesuki, a Takeda or Moritaka would be the way to go. It also should be noted that when Mark got in that Moritaka shipment last week, one of the first knives to sell out was their 150mm honesuki. Just saying...
Ray was referencing the incoming Kono honesuki that Santas is commenting on; sorry I left that part of the quotation out.

I have had a single-bevel Ishikawa honesuki for a year now and I use it regularly to cut up chickens--but I also use it to filet smaller fish, cut up lamb and pork shoulders, cut chicken breast for stir fries, and more, including making small utility cuts and removing silver skin (to reference another current thread). Mine is just over 3mm at the spine but it tapers and thins out quickly and ends up being a thin and very flexible blade.

I think flex in a honesuki is a matter of preference. Few or none of us run a yakitori shop, but for a home cook I part my share of chickens, including head and feet-on chickens from the Asian grocery. Before I got my Ishikawa I used a flexible standard Western boning knife for years for the same task. Remember: most of your cuts parting a chicken are through forgiving joints, or between the ribs that separate the breast from the back. Easy, light cuts. And if I'm boning a breast or thigh, thin and flexible works beautifully. Admittedly, a stiffer blade would work great too, and I could see using a 50-50 bevel knife as well. But now that I have gotten used to this single bevel flexy honesuki, I really enjoy it. You should see it hug the breast bone for no waste boneless breast meat, the stand-out feature of a single bevel knife in boning applications.

If I am really cutting through chicken bones, cutting off a chicken head or laterally cutting through a leg, or splitting a breast through the breastbone--I am not going to use any honesuki--even Takeda's with it's almost deba-like spine. I'll grab a cleaver or a beater for those cuts. Just too much for any honesuki edge.

Bring it down to two stellar makers: Takeda and Konosuke. Two different takes on the honesuki: a thinner single bevel iteration and a thicker 50-50. I bet they both part chickens like nobody's business.
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Re: I want to get a honesuki

Post by Jeff B »

White is nice but you need some Blue steel. :ugeek:
If God wanted me to be a vegetarian he wouldn't have made animals taste so good.
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Re: I want to get a honesuki

Post by Billhanna »

Jeff B wrote: Tue Mar 09, 2021 4:05 pm White is nice but you need some Blue steel. :ugeek:
I'm thinking of getting the Holy Grail nakiri -Wat Pro- this summer, and maybe a Moritaka.
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Re: I want to get a honesuki

Post by Santas_101 »

If you want a real cool nakiri, Moritaka is making some blue super nakiri’s with their ichime finish, which they normally only put on just their hunting knives. The ichime process makes blue super even harder, but also more durable.
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Re: I want to get a honesuki

Post by XexoX »

Billhanna wrote: Tue Mar 09, 2021 4:23 pm
Jeff B wrote: Tue Mar 09, 2021 4:05 pm White is nice but you need some Blue steel. :ugeek:
I'm thinking of getting the Holy Grail nakiri -Wat Pro- this summer, and maybe a Moritaka.
His shop opens up again May 1st, I think it is. I want the watch he has on his website. Only 10 made, I think, translated to US dollars, about $2,400. I'll settle for a nakiri though.
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Re: I want to get a honesuki

Post by d_rap »

Just to circle back to this discussion for some clarification.

I pulled the trigger on the single bevel Konosuke HD2 honesuki, and, as advertised and discussed above, it is thin: mine is 2.55 mm above the heel. Unlike my Ishikawa, however, the Kono blade, while thin, is stout, with virtually no taper and therefore with actually very little flex. So although I would still maintain that thin and flexible is one flavor of very effective honesuki (e.g. Ishikawa), that's in fact not what you get with this new offering. It's a very solid blade.

I need to put it through its paces some before I say much more about it, but my first impression is that this is exactly what you would expect from Konosuke: a beautiful knife that does exactly what you want it to.
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Re: I want to get a honesuki

Post by Nmiller21k »

https://www.chefknivestogo.com/koweasho150.html

Get this one. It's steel, shape and length can also double for small board work as well, think shallots, garlic etc...
Great on trimming up beef cuts as well like silver skin, pretty good on venison.
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Re: I want to get a honesuki

Post by Billhanna »

708C89C3-DF9B-4674-A21F-B69957C22F9E.jpeg
3BCC8E1B-3F70-4DE9-8243-D7F3880FB764.jpeg
We got the Yamashin. The six year old helped.

BUT

He never wants to do it again. I think the heart and liver falling from the cavity shook him. He still helps cook, though.
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Re: I want to get a honesuki

Post by d_rap »

Nice (minus the liver part). Congrats. Great pics.
David
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Re: I want to get a honesuki

Post by Billhanna »

Thanks! A lot of whole birds in our future.
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