Your Preferred Two Knives Combo

[Kerneldrop]

If you had to narrow it down and choose just two.... which two knives will be on your board?

[cliff]

270 Ashi Ginga Gyuto (mine is in AEBL) and a Sukenari 165 Petty in Hap40.

[aporigine]

Doi blue 2 240 gyuto* and Vic 80mm parer

*This was a close call. My first choice was Shibata Kashima 240 gyuto, but the Doi is that tiny bit more of an all-‘rounder.

[Radar53]

* Kikuichi Swedish Warikomi Damascus Gyuto 240 AEBL ~ https://www.chefknivestogo.com/kiswwadagy24.html
* Shibata Kashima Gyuto 240 R-2 ~ https://www.chefknivestogo.com/shkar2gy24.html

and a very close runner up for third;
* Kurosaki Hammered Gyuto 240mm R2 ~ https://www.chefknivestogo.com/kur2hadagy24.html

[aporigine]

* Kikuichi Swedish Warikomi Damascus Gyuto 240 AEBL ~ https://www.chefknivestogo.com/kiswwadagy24.html
* Shibata Kashima Gyuto 240 R-2 ~ https://www.chefknivestogo.com/shkar2gy24.html

and a very close runner up for third;
* Kurosaki Hammered Gyuto 240mm R2 ~ https://www.chefknivestogo.com/kur2hadagy24.html

Are you saying your two knives would both be 240 gyuto?

[Kerneldrop]

Are you saying your two knives would both be 240 gyuto?

ha, heck yea. Just gotta choke up on that blade for making radish roses.

[jmcnelly85]

Gihei blue 2 240 gyuto and Richmond Aebl 150 petty can make for a very nice 1-2 punch

[Radar53]

Are you saying your two knives would both be 240 gyuto?

my apologies ~ I wasn't trying to confuse the issue. Just to clarify, I have probably 25+ JK's (whose counting right?) and generally have five Japanese knives in my rotation at any one time. Generally a couple of 240 gyutos, a 210 gyuto, a bunka, and a paring knife and those ratios can vary a bit. I also mix and match them differently, just to experiment and try & find the differences & subtleties between different knives, steels, grinds etc. My preferred combo of 240's is as per my original post

HTH

[aporigine]

Are you saying your two knives would both be 240 gyuto?

my apologies ~ I wasn't trying to confuse the issue. Just to clarify, I have probably 25+ JK's (whose counting right?) and generally have five Japanese knives in my rotation at any one time. Generally a couple of 240 gyutos, a 210 gyuto, a bunka, and a paring knife and those ratios can vary a bit. I also mix and match them differently, just to experiment and try & find the differences & subtleties between different knives, steels, grinds etc. My preferred combo of 240's is as per my original post

HTH

I read the opening challenge as “you get to only use two knives in your kitchen for a longish duration — what would they be?” Perhaps this explains my confusion.

That said … if you were limited to two knives to do every food-prep job you typically take on for, say, a year — what would those two be?

(I admit here that I considered answering the op with a pic of a katana and a wakizashi, but decided that would have been a bit of a jerk move.)

[billk1002]

The first one is a no brainer, my absolute favorite 170mm white 1 razor blade, Yoshimitsu Fugen White #1 Bunka 170mm, this knife very rarely leaves the magnetic board.
https://www.chefknivestogo.com/yofuwh1bu17.html

I rotate my 210-240 weekly, lately I have been using a Shiro Kamo Aogami Super Kiritsuke 210mm, nice and thin behind the edge, it is a pleasure to prep root vegetables with.


Now if I had to pick one knife to use for a year, I would go with something a little more versatile with a little more belly in it like this and the fact that it is SS is also nice.
Tsunehisa Nami AUS10 Gyuto 210mm
https://www.chefknivestogo.com/tsnaau1.html

[Kerneldrop]

(I admit here that I considered answering the op with a pic of a katana and a wakizashi, but decided that would have been a bit of a jerk move.)

So, these two?
https://www.chefknivestogo.com/mijakasw21.html
https://www.chefknivestogo.com/minisword.html

[trancher]

(I admit here that I considered answering the op with a pic of a katana and a wakizashi, but decided that would have been a bit of a jerk move.)

So, these two?
https://www.chefknivestogo.com/mijakasw21.html
https://www.chefknivestogo.com/minisword.html

Hey, if you get those, I'd definitely recommend the sharpening service.

[Kerneldrop]

270 Ashi Ginga Gyuto (mine is in AEBL)....

I saw an Ashi Ginga when I was on the quest for a sleek 180mm gyuto.
I found a 180mm in stock in stainless and White #2.
I didn't order because I don't know enough about Japanese Knives to know quality vs fake.
But it definitely has that sleek look I wanted.

[Kerneldrop]

Although they won't win a beauty contest if I just had to pick two...here they are:
Tojiro DP Gyuto 210mm
Tojiro DP Boning/Utility 150mm

I can beat these things up without concern.
I could easily make due with a 170mm Santoku instead of the 210mm.
I just need something for small batch veggies and meat processing. I break down a lot of poultry.

Where to store knives is more of a challenge for me than making do with whatever length and profile I have.
I settled on a tower rack as my best solution.

[cliff]

270 Ashi Ginga Gyuto (mine is in AEBL)....

I saw an Ashi Ginga when I was on the quest for a sleek 180mm gyuto.
I found a 180mm in stock in stainless and White #2.
I didn't order because I don't know enough about Japanese Knives to know quality vs fake.
But it definitely has that sleek look I wanted.

They're not the fanciest, thinnist, hardest, or most anything, but I think they are great all around, definitely on the thinner side of things, pretty tough, take a fine polish.

[Radar53]

I read the opening challenge as “you get to only use two knives in your kitchen for a longish duration — what would they be?” Perhaps this explains my confusion.

That said … if you were limited to two knives to do every food-prep job you typically take on for, say, a year — what would those two be?

OK, if it's framed like that then that's a whole new ball of wax. For solid use & general purposes I'd be looking at a gyuto that would be able to cope with everything from large cabbages, to bone-in roasts, to thick skinned pumpkins etc etc along with a smaller companion knife that can take care of the smaller stuff & finer tasks. They would have to be able to take good edges and hold onto them well. Also I wouldn't want to have to "baby" them. So the following would be my choices;

Richmond Artifex 240mm gyuto in solid AEB-L (ie not clad) ~ no longer listed or available
Shibata Koutetsu R-2 Bunka 185mm ~ here https://www.chefknivestogo.com/shkobu17.html

[aporigine]

I read the opening challenge as “you get to only use two knives in your kitchen for a longish duration — what would they be?” Perhaps this explains my confusion.

That said … if you were limited to two knives to do every food-prep job you typically take on for, say, a year — what would those two be?

OK, if it's framed like that then that's a whole new ball of wax. For solid use & general purposes I'd be looking at a gyuto that would be able to cope with everything from large cabbages, to bone-in roasts, to thick skinned pumpkins etc etc along with a smaller companion knife that can take care of the smaller stuff & finer tasks. They would have to be able to take good edges and hold onto them well. Also I wouldn't want to have to "baby" them. So the following would be my choices;

Richmond Artifex 240mm gyuto in solid AEB-L (ie not clad) ~ no longer listed or available
Shibata Koutetsu R-2 Bunka 185mm ~ here https://www.chefknivestogo.com/shkobu17.html

That bunka is on my do-want short list.

[Radar53]

[/quote]

That bunka is on my do-want short list.
[/quote]

I'm fortunate to have some stunning JK's, but this knife, more than any other, has really gob-smacked me. It's just a no fuss, all in one package knife, that does pretty much everything incredibly well. It's been "adopted" by my wife & is now hers and it gets used every day by both of us. It is regularly used on squash, pumpkin and other hard skinned veges etc as well as run-of-the-mill fruit & veg, hasn't been sharpened in well over a year, probably two, but just continues to do what it does best & that's cut things. It's a permanent member of my rotation.

[Kekoa]

I suppose that is pretty easy for me, I pretty much only use two knives for everything right now anyway:

Yoshimitsu Fugen 210mm Gyuto
Victorinox 4 in. Paring

The one thing that would mess with this set up is that I cut a lot of BBQ, and I don't like to use thin edged knives for that. I like to have a beater available for other tasks as well, so for that I have my Dexter stainless 8 in. Chinese Cleaver. I feel like it would be hard to get away without a full size beater, so if I had to stick to a hard two knives, the paring knife would go in favor of the cleaver.

[JASinIL2006]

Terayasu Fujiwara Denka 210mm gyuto
Masakage Yuki 150 mm petty