Gyuto knife, Aogami Super carbon steel with stainless steel cladding, Kurouchi Tsuchime finish, Wa handle - Sakai Takayuki

Sakai Takayuki have a long and distinguished history of producing truly excellent knives using expertise that has been passed down generations.

SHAPE: Gyuto. Japan's answer to the chef's knife with a thinner profile. Gyuto translates to cow sword.

STEEL: Aogami (blue paper) super steel. This is very similar to white paper steel but with tungsten and chromium added to it which helps with edge retention and slows down rusting. It differs from the other blue paper steels with the addition of Vanadium and Molybdenum.The super part indicates the highest amount of carbon steel at up to 1.5% out of the blue series steels. This has then been hardened to around 65 rockwell making it very hard and capable of retaining an edge for a very long time. Due to the non stainless nature of this steel care must be taken to dry the knives properly after use. It is worth noting that this knife has been clad in stainless steel meaning only the exposed core edge will discolour making maintenance a lot easier.

FINISH: Kurouchi. This is a traditional, rustic finish achieved by leaving the furnace scale from the forging process on the blade rather than polishing it off. It has the advantage of reducing the reactivity of the surface of the knife and gives the blade a stylish, matt black finish.

Tsuchime. This is a hand hammered finish that is not only beautiful but also functional. The small depressions stop food sticking to the knife. This finish comes in many different forms from the traditional round hammer marks to more modern patterns.

HANDLE: Octagonal Zelkova wood handle with mahogany ferule

LENGTH: 210mm

MAKER: Sakai Takayuki