Would you buy a knife with great performance if you ignored the maker? Knife Art Basic 210mm Gyuto

[@thecat1515.]

Good job !!!!

[@KitchenKnifeGuy]

Thank you

[@Steelforfood]

I think there is a definite place for knives like this. For people who want a recommendation for a knife that doesn't break the bank, but also has a different style than the most basic Japanese knives.

[@KitchenKnifeGuy]

That’s what I like about the more and more knives I try. There’s something out there for everybody and any budget. Pleasantly surprised at how well this performed and super comfortable in hand.

[@sonkekoster3105]

Look's like a really good knife!

[@KitchenKnifeGuy]

It’s a really solid performer. I’d be curious to know other people’s thoughts who have tried it. So long as consistent and I’m sure Lukas over at Knife Art DE is doing quality control; then this knife cut so much better than I expected as you saw in the demo.

[@stevenderringer2570]

Great review. Nice blade with some good height. I like knives from prominent smiths the same as the next guy, but sometimes I’ll take a risk on something like this because I’m intrigued. I’m rarely disappointed with the purchase. This looks like a solid performer.

[@KitchenKnifeGuy]

Honestly profile is on point. A fan of the more pointed tip too not all gyutos have. Like I mentioned, I’d understand why people may be reluctant to buy a knife from a smith who is undisclosed. Is it my grandma making a knife out of rusted nails? But that’s the beauty of what I can try to do for the community, I got to try it instead and can comment if any good and I really really like it. Other than the handle that in my climate was immediately too dry and is an easy fix, this is a sick clean looking gyuto for the money. So long as smith is consistent in producing these, totally worth the money in my opinion. A knife I’d happily tell my neighbor upgrading from stainless steel knives to get.

[@trhyer]

Based on appearance, the maker appears to come from a brand which does a lot of DTC sales. Will be interesting to see how they develop in coming years. If it’s indeed the same brand, their main weakness thus far has been consistency of delivered products - some absolutely amazing performers mixed with lemons. Glad you showed the onion test in this one! It was a great demo.

[@KitchenKnifeGuy]

Between you and I and I’m sure anyone else who has their eyes on the kitchen knife world we know very much who this is. The reason pepper might be skeptical for a smith to make themselves unknown is fair. However what I find is, the shop is the ones whose reputation is on the line. If they chose to do business with this smith, since we don’t know the smith (I mean we do 😆) the shop is the one taking all the risks. Which means I’d like to think they’re quality controlling the knives coming in before putting their store stamp of approval on them and selling them under their name. So that’s the benefit of that relationship. In the meantime smith can work out their kinks. Knives that aren’t meeting standards don’t get sold under store brand and hopefully improvement ensue. It’s a pretty healthy way of going about it I think. Thank you 😊 my knife demos are always a mix of what I have available and what I think the knife needs to try and cut to be useful to you guys the potential customer.

[@jiahaotan696]

I feel like another KZbinr has very recently covered their knives as well lol. Why do YT knife channels operate in trends or is it just coincidence that their marketing reached out to the both of you at roughly the same time? haha I've been very interested in purchasing a custom from them direct.

[@KitchenKnifeGuy]

@jiahaotan696 I think it’s largely coincidence and shows how we’re also all connected if you ask me. I think I know what knife you’re referring to as well from Hendras channel.

[@JimCaputoMusic]

That's a very pretty knife and the geometry looks good. How was the out of box sharpness on a 1-10?

[@KitchenKnifeGuy]

Yeah man I was actually super impressed even though I approached with skepticism. I’d say easily a 7.5. Nothing is a ten but for comparison I’d put my Denka at 9.5.

[@dimmacommunication]

To me the maker means nothing, quality is what I want. If I was rich I would buy knives from new makers to give them a friendly boost.

[@KitchenKnifeGuy]

Holistic approach. The key here though is consistency. Making a great dish because of beginners luck and having years of experience to back up your craft are two different things. Biggest risk of not knowing the maker is that in my opinion. If quality is consistent then it’s fair game.

[@dimmacommunication]

@@KitchenKnifeGuy I subscribe to your channel :) I see you have plenty of japanese knife/makers reviews. I see you focus a lot on very expensive makers, imho I would never pay 1k for a shirogami steel. ZDP-189 maybe yeah 600-700, but only cause it's an " exotic " steel. I respect the " hustle " of makers putting up big prices cause they have famous names, that's fair game to me. A great maker that now has become hard to find is Moritaka Hamono, it was ultra high value pre covid now doubled the price 🥲

[@KitchenKnifeGuy]

@dimmacommunication man you’re so on point about Moritaka. I recommend them a lot but stock is so low where it used to be so high. And price went up like everywhere else. As for me, I’ve never once asked a smith to send me a knife. It just so happens I do have a reputation for liking the finer things so think that’s the type of maker I mainly attract.

[@dimmacommunication]

@@KitchenKnifeGuy About moritaka: I think youtubers started to like it and then demand skyrocketed. So they don't do direct sales anymore,probably too much to handle in person so they sell to 3rd party sellers to relieve the stress of selling and focus on work. If I remember correctly they had health troubles the previous years so I was never able to buy. Concerning knives I wasn't accusing you on getting free ones ( imho nothing to be ashamed, I would like to get some free knives to review honestly, but nice ones, I will never lie on camera to get something free ) but imho you concentrate on the top prices but some really nice ones are 300-400 $, not in the 1000$ range, trust me. Moritaka was the perfect example, it was the 100$ ballpark.

[@KitchenKnifeGuy]

Oh don’t worry. I didn’t feel accused of anything. Was just explaining myself because I’m all about honesty and transparency. Yeah that’s the big difference with me. I’ve been a Japanese kitchen knife enthusiast for twenty years then a KZbinr. Not the other way around. Makes a difference I find in how I view the content and who I am speaking to. The user. Hope you’re enjoying my videos and find them helpful.