Bunka recommendation

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justinms66
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Joined: Sun Sep 19, 2021 12:38 pm

Bunka recommendation

Post by justinms66 »

Hi thank you very much in advance! I'm Looking for a bunka recommendation. Need dishwasher safe, that can stay wet sometimes. Not too heavy.

1)Pro or home cook?
Home

2)What kind of knife do you want? (Gyuto, Santoku, Petty, Paring, Sujihiki, etc.)
Bunka

3) What size knife do you want?
7-9”

4)How much do you want to spend?
$180 max.

5) Do you prefer all stainless, stainless clad over reactive carbon, or all reactive carbon construction?
Not sure, but prefer wet/dishwasher safe.

6)Do you prefer Western or Japanese handle?
Japanese

7)What are your main knife/knives now?
N/A / cheap

8)Are your knife skills excellent, good, fair?
Good

9)What cutting techniques do you prefer? Are you a rocker, chopper or push/pull cutter?
push/pull

10)Do you know how to sharpen?
No


I was looking at this but was unsure about wet/dishwasher effect. Thank you!
https://www.chefknivestogo.com/yubl2bu181.html
d_rap
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Re: Bunka recommendation

Post by d_rap »

Welcome Justin.

Pretty much any knife in the CKTG web store should not be cleaned in the dishwasher. The one you link has a reactive core steel and reactive cladding. A knife like that will need to be kept clean and dry even as you work at the board.

If you look at some of the stainless clad stainless core steel bunkas, those will be much more suitable to leaving wet or with some onion or meat juice for a while on the board, although it's still a great idea to rinse them off.

Dishwasher? Just don't think of one of these knives as a "dish"; they need a different kind of care. But they re-pay that love many times over.

Since you don't sharpen, maybe look at one of the knives with a stainless or semi stainless core steel, particularly one that's going to have good to excellent edge retention, something in HAP-40 sg2 even vg10. AS has good edge retention, but it's reactive.

You can add the finish sharpening that the store offers and be good to go for quite a while with some of those steels.
David
Radar53
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Re: Bunka recommendation

Post by Radar53 »

Hi there Justin and welcome to the forum.

Just to reinforce the "avoid the dishwasher" scenario. You're now getting into hi performance tools and dishwashers can use some very aggressive cleaning products. Just as an analogy, a general recommendation for people with Ferraris is don't subject them to automatic car washers.

Have a look at this page and maybe come back with two or three that take your fancy.

Bunka Knives ~ https://www.chefknivestogo.com/bannobunkas.html

and to add to David's list you could consider other stainless / stainless options eg R2 (also called SG2 as above), AEBL (13C26, PS60), ginsan (ginsanko, gin3) and there are others.

As you don't sharpen, it's worth getting CKtG to do full sharpen before delivery so you can benchmark what the true performance can be. That leads onto the fact that, as with all knives they will lose that fantastic edge with use over time, so you will need to develop a plan to keep it in really good order. That may be learning to sharpen yourself, sending it out to one of the professional sharpeners on the main page of this site or finding a specialist that is somewhere near you.

Welcome to the rabbit hole.

HTH
Cheers Grant

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Miles
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Re: Bunka recommendation

Post by Miles »

7-9inch bunkas will be labeled either a 180/185mm bunka or kiritsuke 210,240.

I think this one fits your request
https://www.chefknivestogo.com/kosldki21.html

Most folks will encourage you to learn to sharpen since all knives get dull and it’s pretty annoying to get your knife sharpened unless your fine with not having it for a couple days. It’s not as tough as you’d think probably get one/two stones and a diamond flattener. For learning to sharpen a carbon core knife is the way to go white or blue.

This is a little short but it’s blue 2 carbon stainless clad. Great value
https://www.chefknivestogo.com/kosldki21.html
justinms66
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Re: Bunka recommendation

Post by justinms66 »

Very helpful info thank you! I will keep it away from the dishwasher but it's helpful to know i can target fully stainless steel and it can be a little wet while i'm working.

https://www.chefknivestogo.com/kapsbu18.html
https://www.chefknivestogo.com/kosldbu17.html
https://www.chefknivestogo.com/tavghadawasa.html
https://www.chefknivestogo.com/takuvghateco2.html

I can't tell, are the last two also fully stainless steel or only partially?

Thanks you!
d_rap
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Re: Bunka recommendation

Post by d_rap »

:x
justinms66 wrote: Mon Sep 20, 2021 5:22 pm I can't tell, are the last two also fully stainless steel or only partially?
Both fully stainless: VG-10 core and stainless cladding.

And yes you could leave either of those a little wet or oniony, etc., while you were working. Of course as you probably know the word "stainless" is relative. VG-10 for example if you cut onions and leave it for hours might begin to patina slightly. But yes over all those will be easy knives to care for.
David
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XexoX
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Re: Bunka recommendation

Post by XexoX »

justinms66 wrote: Mon Sep 20, 2021 5:22 pm Very helpful info thank you! I will keep it away from the dishwasher but it's helpful to know i can target fully stainless steel and it can be a little wet while i'm working.

https://www.chefknivestogo.com/kapsbu18.html
https://www.chefknivestogo.com/kosldbu17.html
https://www.chefknivestogo.com/tavghadawasa.html
https://www.chefknivestogo.com/takuvghateco2.html

I can't tell, are the last two also fully stainless steel or only partially?

Thanks you!
Both descriptions say they have a VG-10 stainless steel edge steel and a stainless steel cladding. So it sounds like they are both stainless steel.
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FisherMAn1298
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Re: Bunka recommendation

Post by FisherMAn1298 »

I must add to the echo of my fellow members, no dishwashers PLEASE! If you can go $30. higher this steel https://www.chefknivestogo.com/kohabu17.html will hold its edge SO long and comes out of the box screaming sharp! I can atest to that fact, I bought it 4 weeks ago. You won't have to worry about sharpening for quite awhile. When it's time your answer to that problem lies here too. Welcome to the forum, beware the knife addiction! Next thing you know you'll have 10 of them! I love the last on your list, the teflon coating looks evil!
This one is carbon steel with stainless cladding.https://www.chefknivestogo.com/miskbu16cu.html. Just $100. but it's a great knife. One of the first I purchased. Another one sharp out of the box. Good luck!
In the immortal words of Ken Schwartz-"Master The 1K."
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