Originally posted on September 12, 2022 @ 7:51 am
If you are looking for some detailed comparisons difference between Santoku vs Gyuto Knives, you must be in the right place!
Santoku and gyuto knives are two types of knives that are used in the kitchen. These knives have different blade shapes. The popularity of these blades has grown over the last few decades because they offer a versatile option for those who want to simplify their cooking experience.
While both have their different uses, they can be used to perform several tasks in the kitchen. The Santoku is a Japanese-style utility knife for chopping vegetables. It has a wide blade with a straight edge, and it will typically also have an indentation near its tip where one could place their thumb for control while cutting or slicing food. A Gyuto Knife is similar to a chef’s knife but features more curves on its blade, making it perfect for easy slicing through meats and other proteins.
However, there is still much debate about which knife is best: Gyuto knife vs Santoku? This article explores the differences between these two types of blades and what you should consider when deciding if one type is better than the other for your needs. What do you think? Which knife would be better for your needs- Santoku or Gyuto? Let’s get started by the definition of each type below!
Table of Contents
What is a Santoku Knife?
A Santoku knife is a multipurpose Japanese chef’s knife that usually has a shorter length than long chef knives (less than 21 cm) and has flat blades with wide edges. As a result, they are not well suited for piercing because they lack the sharp tips on regular Western kitchen knives.
A long, straight blade is best for chopping. The wide blade also helps transfer food and makes them good Santoku knives with a preferred use of slicing or dicing ingredients. These qualities make Japanese knife blades especially thin, hard, sharp ones that can only be used in the right or left hands. In addition, they are asymmetrically ground, providing an extra-sharp edge on their hollow side.
Nowadays, there are many options when it comes to Santokus. For example, you can find knives with different combinations of length and metal type; some even have rounded edges for rocking cuts which is a style that purists argue isn’t considered a “true” Santoku anymore.
What is it used for?
- Slicing
- Mincing
- Chopping
What Is a Gyuto?
Gyuto is A chef’s knife with a 6-10″ long blade and a wide blade with pointed tips, the curve between the tip and midsection for rocking tends to be flat towards the heel. They are great all-purpose knives since they can do just about anything well or even get away without using any other knives in your kitchen kit!
Although Gyutos and western-style chef’s knives come with the same double beveled edges, they are different shapes. Thus, we can not say that a Gyuto with a Western handle from a Western Chef’s knife just because they have the same blade shapes.
What is it used for?
- Slicing
- Mincing
- Chopping
- Cutting hard foods
Santoku vs Gyuto: Detailed Comparisons
Please don’t waste your time more, and we come up with the main session here. Let’s check out the similarities first.
Gyuto vs Santoku Knife Similarities:
Materials
With both knives, you can choose from many materials for the blade and handle. For the blade, options include carbon steels, stainless steel, or ceramics.
If a Japanese style is preferred instead of wood as a material, there are different woods to select, such as bokuto hickory hardwood. On the other hand, the Western-style pakkawood makes it possible to have an ergonomic design that gives great comfort while keeping its durability at a high standard against damages caused by frequent use over time.
Knife shape
The blades of my knives are wider near the heel, getting narrower towards the short side. The flat part on the opposite is also wide enough to support your hand while chopping and bring it down with a minimal rocking motion.
Furthermore, at its tip, there’s a curve for more efficient rock-cutting motions and sharp enough to cut into foodstuff or carry out precision works like carving fruits and vegetables in patterns and designs when presenting dishes that you serve up for guests during dinner parties, etc.
Versatility
There is a wide range of knives that serve different functions. Some examples include Nakiri, Deba, and Yanagiba; these knives all have unique purposes, such as filleting fish or slicing raw meat for sushi rolls.
These specialized tools work well at what they’re designed to do. Still, they can be inconvenient when trying to complete other tasks like cutting bread or chopping vegetables because you need another knife in addition to the one explicitly suited for those jobs.
Difference between Gyuto and Santoku
The Gyuto is an all-around kitchen knife, but the Santoku also offers some great benefits. We dive into the features of both knives to help you figure out which one would be better for your cooking needs in our comparison below!
| Santoku | Gyuto | |
| Use | Slicing meat, vegetables, and cheese | Multi-purpose |
| Size | 6-7-inches | 7-8 inches |
| Blade | High carbon stainless steel | High carbon stainless steel |
| Edge | 13-15 degrees | 13-15 degrees |
| Bevel | Single | Double |
- Usage
Let’s talk about knives. We’re talking, of course, about the legendary weapons that slice through anything in their path and can be used to cut up meat or vegetables with ease. As a single living person, I find Santoku knives lightweight and convenient for quick kitchen tasks.
Both have excellent qualities for this purpose: they do a great job cutting tough-looking pieces of meat into manageable portions, but there will be some differences in professionals using them. The shape is one thing; the other has more to do with how much control you’ll get while wielding either knife–or maybe even something completely different!
The Gyuto, known as the Japanese version of a chef’s knife, has many similarities to its Western counterpart. This makes it a fantastic choice for all food types and allows you to show off your finesse with knives without worrying about damaging or chipping them!
- Blade design
The Gyuto has a sharper edge and less downward turn-down than the Santoku, making it suitable for cutting meat. On the other hand, The Sawtooth’s blade is blunt with a bit of curve in its spine, making vertical chopping easy on vegetables.
- Cutting motion
I like to think of knives in terms of how they correlate with cutting motions. Looking at the spine and edge, it’s easy to tell which knife is best for a particular task.
Thanks to its piercing blade tips and curved edge, the Gyuto is one of the best contenders for rock chopping. This technique involves cutting through foods with a hard texture by holding the knife tip in place and slicing downward. The sharp blades are also great for potatoes, carrots, and large fruit with tough skin cut cleanly into uniform pieces.
When slicing and dicing, you can effortlessly maneuver the Santoku knife with its broad blade. This type of knife excels at chopping vegetables since we only have to apply pressure instead of sliding it across our food surface repeatedly.
- Knife Length
The size of your Gyuto depends on the length you want to work with. The average is between 10″ and 20″. Santokus, however, are generally 6-8 inches long. Gyuto is the most common type of knife, but if you need a longer one, there are also larger models around 11-12 inches long. Santoku knives tend to be 7″ on average.
The Santoku knife is the most common Japanese kitchen utensil. Homemakers have used it for 80 years, and its compact size makes it easy to use on a cutting board.
- Sharpness
There are two types of knives you can choose from to get the same results. The first is a Ryoba-edge model, which has an edge that ranges between 10 and 15 degrees on either side for equivalent sharpness at 30° in one direction – this means it’s like having double the blades!
I prefer going with something more traditional like a santoku knife—there’s nothing wrong with sticking to what works best for you as long as your blade always cuts cleanly without tearing or shredding food into pieces.
- Weight
High-carbonate steel, VG-10, AUS-10, and carbon stainless steel are some materials from which Japanese knives can be made. Both the material used to construct them and their size contribute to their weight.
The Gyuto knives are larger and heavier. For this reason, it is preferable to use the Santoku knife in household settings, while a large-sized one can be optimized for business use.
- Price
When selecting different types of knives in my home or any other place, the financial factor should be considered before deciding. Both have their advantages, so let’s take time to see how they stack up against each other financially speaking first.
Gyuto knives are usually more expensive than Santoku knives, and this is due to their larger size.
A List of Pros and Cons for each type of Knife. Which Is Better?
Here is the list of pros and cons for each knife.
Santoku:
Pros
- Multi knife for handling all foods
- Come with the steady feel
- Made of long-lasting materials
- Having lifetime quality
Cons
- It is not for beginners
Gyuto:
Pros
- Easy to transfer foods
- Having a wide blade for chopping with ease
- Perfect for rock chopping
- Can reach the deep laces with the pointy tip.
Cons
- Features a high price
Which Gyuto vs Santoku Knife should you buy?
Gyuto knife vs Santoku knife is roughly the same. They have slight differences, but they work for most food prep tasks, so getting another isn’t necessary if you already own one.
However, if you cut many onions or other similar vegetables, get a Santoku knife. This knife is better at chopping those types of foods up quickly thanks to its small size, making cutting easier with less chance of missing your target area on whatever item needs to be chopped up into smaller pieces.
If you’re on a tight budget and want quality, Japanese knives may be the way to go. A Santoku can save some money over its big brother chef’s knife or Gyuto if it has all the essential features for your usage.
However, there is no reason even to consider this type at all if you’ll mostly use them as rockers-and-choppers because they lack many natural cutting techniques like those found in other types of blades such as long pointed tip Chef’s. Knife or traditional Wa style blade called “Gyuto.”
If you’re looking to save money and only use a knife for basic slashing tasks, like chopping vegetables or meat, then consider Japanese knives; however, if your usage is more versatile such as using the knife in many ways (e.g., slicing). Don’t bother with this type of blade because it lacks other essential features on traditional blades designed for general-purpose cutting techniques rather than simple rocker-and-chopper motions typical of Santoku knives.
Related: How To Dispose Kitchen Knives – Tips and Guides
Where to buy quality Kitchen Knives online or offline?
You can buy food from the store or online on the Amazon site to get the best price.
FAQs on Gyuto vs Santoku Knife
1). Is it worth buying Japanese kitchen knives?
The answer is “yes.” This is because Japanese kitchen knives are always made of high-quality stainless steel, durable and sturdy blades.
2). Can I rock a Santoku?
Unfortunately, Santoku is not for rocking, and it is for slicing. So if you want to rock, get the chef’s knives.
3). Are Santoku knives suitable for cutting meat?
The santoku knife is an excellent all-purpose chef’s knife that can be used for slicing and chopping meats, vegetables, and cheese. They are easy to maneuver with their design of no bolster which gives them the appearance of knives from different cultures such as Middle Eastern or kukri blades.
Conclusion
It is not easy to determine the better knife between Santoku vs Gyuto, but you might consider buying both Santoku and gyuto knives if your budget allows. Then, the next time someone asks for a recommendation on the best knife brand or style for them.
This article should give you some more insight into what they’re looking for so that you can help make an informed decision. If not, we hope it gives some valuable information about how these different knives are used to help inform future purchases!
Santoku and gyuto knives are both very sharp, high-quality Japanese blades that every kitchen should have!
If you’re looking for the perfect gift for a loved one or want to upgrade your cooking tools, these two types of knives would be great choices. They can be used in different styles of cooking, from making sushi to searing steak. You might consider buying both varieties so that you always have the right knife on hand when needed!
Refer:
- https://syosaku-japan.com/blogs/default-blog/gyuto-vs-santoku-whats-the-difference
- https://www.koiknives.com/blogs/japanese-knives/gyuto-vs-chef-knife-which-one-is-the-right-option-for-you
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