Tojiro DP 8-inch Chef's Gyuto KNife

I was turned onto Tojiro by a fellow cook who had his knife bag stolen. He took a flyer on a Tojiro because it was only $60 at the time (this was 2007). I fell in love with his knife when he let me try it out. This is the best Cooks Knife you will ever own. I'm on my 6th year now of using it and it's still the most wicked blade I can think of. I wouldn't trade it for anything.

I'll update this review as time passes, but for now, I'll go over the basics.

I'm a chef, and I've used pretty much almost every brand of knife that's recommended or popular. This includes but is not limited to Shun (basic, premier, ken onion, Henckles, Messermeister, Cozzini, Togiharu, Kikuichi, Mac, Global, Wusthof, and probably a few more. I found out about Tojiro brand knives from intense research into knives following the theft of my knife kit and wanting a cheaper alternative to the Shun Premiers I was using previously.

Now, before I expand on this, let me preface the review with Chef's do not make a lot of money. In fact, we get straight nothing when it comes to being paid fairly for skilled labor. And we rarely make tips. If we spend money (that's not on alcohol or drugs) it's on our shoes and knives; the two things we use the most. I know chef's who swear by German steel, and I know chef's that swear by Japanese steel. They are very different, as German steel tends to be thicker and heavier, requiring less effort than a Japanese knife. I'm more of a fan of Japanese knives, so right away the effectiveness of your knife is going to be contingent on your style.

But holy hell this knife is sharp.

At the time I purchased it, this knife was 70 bucks with shipping, less then half for my Shun Premier I mentioned earlier. I took it out of the box and I didn't think much of it at first. It's aesthetically very run of the mill, which I was fine with, since it's my primary tool for my profession. I went about opening a little plastic bag with my new fish bone tweezers in it with this knife and as I was talking to my girlfriend I accidentally cut open the bag when I wasn't paying attention. I didn't notice the bag was already open until I consciously went to try and open it afterward. To my surprise, the bag was open, and it felt like the knife didn't even have to try to cut through it. I was stunned. I did not expect it to be this sharp right away.

I realize a plastic bag is not much compared to actual produce or meat, so I went to brunoise an onion and it just cut it so smoothly I wanted to weep forever. I was glad that my knives being stolen wasn't going to hinder me much longer then the three days I waited for this knife to arrive. Once it begins to dull down and I have to take it to the stone, I'll expand on how it hold up and comes back, as that will be the true test of the knife; its longevity.

Update 1:

I just steeled this knife for the first time a couple weeks ago once I noticed it wasn't cutting as effortlessly as usual. It got sharper than the original sharpening. This knife is terrifying. Like, it might be too sharp.

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