Gyuto: Masamoto KS or Mizuno Tranjeno Hontanren Series

Buying a new Gyuto @ 240mm for work. ~50-60 hrs/week. Line cooking at the primary place 3-4, prepping for the weekend at my second job two days a week. I've narrowed it down to these two. The Masamoto, well...I've always liked Masamoto knives. The Mizuno - I had the luck of being able to borrow a 270 from another forum member for a week and it was a super nice knife, It was not factory though he had done some thinning on it already so I'm not entirely sure what these are like stock - waiting on a couple photos from Koki at JCK to compare the geometry.

I can see they have pretty different profiles, I do enjoy the flat spot on each. The only other large difference is weight (the Mizuno is about 20g heavier) and the Masamoto is solid W2 steel, the Mizuno is B2 core with soft iron cladding.

Have any of you had any first hand experience with both knives? What do you all think

 

I use a KS as my main gyuto and like it, but the geometry is far from stock. It is not the best, most sexiest, knife in the world. I would definitely not recommend it for extended prep sessions, it does not have the best retention. What it excels at, for me, is when two minutes before service the sauté cook tells me she hasn't chiffonade parsley and I still have to make a slaw for the last minute special. You can blaze through stuff and still get good cuts, but it'll want a touch up pretty quickly. It's a sprinter, not a cross country runner. That is what I use a gyuto for, so it is perfect for me. It also runs long, with a long emoto, so if you are used to a short knife it will feel huge.
I have not used a mizuno gyuto so I can't give you a direct comparison. I can directly compare a ks yanagiba with a honantren yanagiba and infer some things about their gyutos. Note: everything that follows is NOT about the gyutos and may not apply. They are about the same in f&f, with the Masamoto having a slightly nicer Saya and handle. The grind on the Masamoto is better, the shinogi on the miz had one weird spot on it and the heel was slightly overground. The Miz stays sharp much longer, and stands up to board contact much better than the KS, or my KS gyuto for that matter. The Masamoto gets noticeably sharper, and takes a nicer kasumi finish (on the stones I'm using). It also touches up the ubevel easier, again on my stones, maybe not on all stones. I like the tip on the Masamoto a little better than the Miz, but do not dislike the profile on the Miz at all.

I do not know how much of this applies to the mizuno gyuto, as I have not used one. Either way I think you will be happy with what you buy, maybe get both! That's what I did with the yanagiba and don't regret it a bit, they both get used more than any other

 

I've owned both. The Mizuno is going to be fairly fat, OOTB. If you aren't willing to thin it, or send it to somebody to thin it, I'd get the Masamoto, but there is a fair amount of variability with the KS, in my experience.

 

JCK have a sharpening service what do you think? Is it worthwhile?

 

I own both and love the ks although I've had 3 the older seemed the best of the bunch. There is just something about it I love along with the great profile. However I like the mizuno a little bit more. Just think it's alittle better cutter and edge retention but thinning and keeping up with it is a must. I couldn't live without either

 

I doubt their service includes major thinning.

 

Everyone should own a KS at some point, I love mine.

 

I was going to bite on the last KS that koki had, but somebody bought it before my paycheck. Mizuno is on the way now.

 

It arrived today (actually yesterday but I didn't check the mail since the office is closed when I get home).

I've been told it would need some hefty thinning, but I am not certain it does, at least not right away. the profile looks very nice, much like the 270 I tried out for a week, but not nearly as thick. Very smooth grind on the righthanded bevel side with a mostly flat back side (much like my Masamoto). The spine and choil were nicely rounded and polished, which ive never experienced in a new knife its nice to know that I am getting what I pay for. Feels really good in the hand both pinch and hammer grip.

It came without much of an edge, but I had the 220 grit soaking to set an edge on it already so thats no concern. CAnnot wait to try it at work today, not sure how much action itll see today is poussin day so mostly buchery and such today. Thursday Friday it will see its paces though. We need to make onion syrup this week I think, which involves 50# of onions, so I'm wondering if I should force a patina on it before that. Any ideas? I dont like what onions did to the 270..

These pictures don't do it justice, entirely. I also asked Koki to pick me out a slightly taller and thinner one out of what they had.

choil


spine