What is the Australian Gyuto Knife?
The gyuto is a highly versatile Japanese chef’s knife that is used to cut fish, meat, herbs, and vegetables. It is a Western-style Japanese knife and also one of the most commonly used Japanese knives in the preparation of Western cuisines. Like other Japanese knives, it is thin and lightweight and with superior edge retention. In this article, we delve into some of the frequently asked questions about the multi-purpose Gyuto knife.
What is the Gyuto Knife?
The Gyuto Knife is a Western-style Japanese chef’s knife. In Japanese, it is pronounced as Gyūtō Bōchō where Bōchō in Japanese means ‘kitchen knife’ while Gyūtō literally translates to ‘cow blade’ (gyu-cow, to-blade). It is Western-style in the sense that the blades of the Gyuto knives have been inspired by the blade profiles of the traditional European chef’s knife. The gyuto knife is an all-purpose kitchen knife that you can use to cut everything from fish to meat, vegetables and herbs.
Where does the Gyuto Knife Fit in Your Kitchen?
The gyuto knife is a multi-purpose kitchen knife so you can put into multiple cutting tasks in the kitchen, be it in the cutting of meat, fish, herbs or vegetables. You go for the Gyuto knife if you need an all-purpose chef’s knife that will literally do it all.
How long is the Gyuto Knife?
Gyuto knives come in wide-ranging sizes. The typical size range starts from 180mm to 300mm although you can still find small gyuto knives with blade lengths of just 150mm. The most recommended blade length for these knives is usually 240mm as this is a suitable size for most people. The other common blade length for gyuto knives is usually 210mm. Some gyuto knives can reach an almost-ridiculous 360mm. Ultimately, the most suitable size depends on your size and the ease and comfort with which you can wield the knife.
Keep in mind that a longer blade length for your kitchen knife will result in a forward balance which allows the blade to easily work for you. A longer blade is also suited for people who like rocking their knife when cutting.
What is the typical spine width of the Gyuto Knife?
Gyuto knives are thicker at the spines and thinner towards their double-bevel edges. Typical spine widths range from 2.2mm to 2.5mm. Overall, they still have a thinner spine than the majority of the European Chef’s knives.
What is the blade profile of the Gyuto Knife like?
Gyuto knives generally have very long blades although blade length varies from 180mm to 300mm. The most common blade sizes are 210mm and 240mm. They are long knives that are flat at the heels and which curve from the midsection towards their pointed tips. The flat heels, curved bellies, and pointed tips each lend themselves to unique cutting/chopping uses. This multi-faceted profile is part of what makes these knives highly versatile.
What is the Gyuto Knife Best Suited for/What Does it Cut?
The Gyuto is a multi-tasker and all-rounder that you can use for chopping, dicing, slicing, and mincing all kinds of foods including fish, meat, vegetables, and herbs. It is undoubtedly the best general-purpose Japanese kitchen knife.
Gyuto knives are built with a relatively flat heel that lends itself best to various chopping styles such as push-cutting, tap-chopping, or pull-cutting. The gyuto knife also has a belly that curves slightly towards the tip of the knife which is ideal for rock-cutting motion. This multi-taskers blade is pointed towards the tip which is useful for making precision cuts.
When you are using a gyuto knife to vegetables, you can use their flatter heels to thrust-cut or tap-chop your greens. The blade has a slight curve right from the middle towards its pointed tip which is suitable for rock cutting your herbs, greens, and other tougher produce. You can use the pointed tip of the knife to make precision cuts on your produce.
Gyuto knives will work on all kinds of meat. You can use this general-purpose chef’s knife to push-cut the muscular cuts from your meat or to pull-cut the softer meat.
What is the Gyuto Knife Not Suited For?
Compared to the classic Western chef’s knives, the Gyuto knife is thinner, lighter, and also sharper. There are advantages to this as these qualities make it easier to handle and use in all types of dishes. On the flip side, this very thin design as well as the carbon steel used in these knives makes them a lot harder than Western Chef’s knives. The Gyuto knife is thus unsuitable for heavy-duty kitchen work. You cannot use it to cut through bones or smash through garnishes as these tasks are likely to crack, chip, or simply damage the gyuto knife.
What is the Gyuto Knife’s Core Strengths?
If you are looking for a Japanese chef’s knife that is a jack of all trades, you will never go wrong with this all-rounder. It is a multi-purpose knife that will practically glide through anything be it fish, meat, vegetables, or herbs. You can even use it on fruits.
Because it is a general-purpose knife that you can apply on multiplicity tasks, it is the kind of knife that is worth the investment as you will literally use it almost every time you cook. It is not some novelty specialized Japanese kitchen knife that you use on some rare occasions and which spends the rest of its days lying idle in your knife collection, neglected and unused. The flip side is that the gyuto knife is not well suited for heavy-duty kitchen work. For that, you will have to look for some heavyweights.
The gyuto knife can also be used comfortably by both home cooks and professional chefs. As a professional chef, you will love the versatility of this knife. You will be enamored by the fact that you can apply it in all the specialized cutting and chopping tasks in the kitchen be it pull-cutting, thrust-cutting, tap-chopping, and rock-chopping among others. This versatility comes out of its blade design which has a mostly flat edge with a curve from the middle towards its pointed tip. This design makes the Gyuto knife a handy tool for virtually any kind of cook.
Who Should Use the Gyuto Knife/Who Does this Knife Match/Does it Suit You?
If you are just immersing yourself into the world of Japanese knives, there would be no better place to start than with this Western-style Japanese chef’s knife. They are versatile all-rounders that can be your perfect gateway into the awesome and rich world of Japanese knives.
They are great for both beginners and professional cooks. They will glide through everything be they meat, fish, vegetables, herbs, or fruits.
