The month's main arrival: our own AUS10 monosteel line
Five of August's eighteen arrivals were knives from one Kakumei AUS10 monosteel line. On 6 and 7 August we listed five knives across four shapes in the Kakumei AUS10 monosteel range, and a hardwood saya for a sujihiki followed on the 12th. Every knife in the range is built the same way: an AUS10 stainless blade fitted to a stainless handle, with no wood and no seams anywhere. The all metal build is meant for wet, corrosive kitchens. It cleans up easily, and the whole knife can go through a dishwasher, which almost no other Japanese-style knife in the shop can.
The trade off is worth knowing before you buy: the steel runs on the softer side, so the edge will need sharpening a little more often to stay at its best. For a busy household, that is usually the right side of the swap.
The five knives:
- a 210mm gyuto and a 180mm gyuto, the all purpose chef shape in two lengths
- a 165mm santoku, the three purpose shape for vegetables, fish and meat
- a 150mm petty for trimming and peeling
- a 145mm honesuki, a boning shape for working around chicken joints
Two more blades the same week
On 9 August two more blades landed. Tsunehisa's Ginsan migaki santoku, also 165mm, runs silver 3 stainless at HRC 60 to 62, one of the easiest steels of its kind to sharpen, and its slightly thicker spine carries a convex grind so food peels away as the cut goes through. Hatsukokoro's Kurogane gyuto, 210mm, puts a Blue 2 carbon core under soft iron cladding and a kurouchi finish, at HRC 61 to 63, with wild hammer marks showing through the black surface.
And the rest of the month
Away from the blade shelf, Ichiyama's cat and sea life bowl sets, a Ginpo clay pot for IH cooktops, a Nambu cast iron teapot and an Edo Kiriko whisky glass by Junichi Nabetani all arrived this month too. If you are still weighing shape, steel and handle, our kitchen knife guide explains each of them, the 210mm gyuto page has the spec table, and the new arrival shelf collects the latest listings.
