牛刀 · cow sword · from €1,180

Gyuto

The chef’s knife. A long, gentle belly and a fine tip — the one knife that does nearly everything.

Blade240 mm

Measured heel to tip.

At the heel50 mm

Knuckle room over the board.

Weight182 g

With an ebony handle.

BevelDouble

70/30 grind.

(01) — Drawing

The gyuto,to scale.

Every knife is drawn before it is forged, and measured against the drawing after the stone.

(02) — The shape

Born in Meiji Japan as a knife for beef, the gyuto became the knife of every professional kitchen in the country.

Ours is thinner behind the edge than a Western chef’s knife: it falls through an onion instead of wedging it apart.

The belly rocks for herbs; the flat heel chops; the tip does the work of a petty.

(03) — Steel

The same shape in three steels. Carbon for the keenest edge, stainless Damascus for the easiest life.

Drag to turn the knife

The same gyuto, three steels

Steel	Hardness	Price
Shirogami #1 white paper steel	63 HRC	base
Aogami #2 blue paper steel	62 HRC	+€120
VG10 Damascus stainless, 67 layers	61 HRC	+€380

Gyuto · in the kitchen

(04) — The rest of the roll

Three virtues: meat, fish, vegetables.

A square blade for vegetables.

The small one.

The willow-leaf blade for raw fish.

The santoku’s sharper cousin: a reverse-tanto tip for fine work, a flat edge for everything else.