Gyutou

“Feels fantastic when you pick it up: comfortable, light, ready.” “A dream” for cutting up chicken and dicing onion, with its “very slim, sharp tip” and an acutely tapered blade that made it feel especially light as well as slightly flexible. With a blade more curved than most of the Japanese knives, it assisted a rocking motion that effortlessly “pulverized parsley into dust.”

“Exceptional slicing, with no effort,” “excellent balance,” “the best-feeling knife in my hand,” raved some testers, though others disliked its squared-off collar. Rigid enough for squash, it sliced raw chicken skin without catching, but its straight blade was not conducive to rocking. As light as the Masamoto but less tapered, it has a stiffer, substantial feel that appealed to German-knife users.

Our favorite inexpensive chef’s knife rivaled fancier, pricier knives yet again. Though “clearly not as amazing,” it had “no trouble going through anything,” with a “good curve” for rocking. While its profile is slim, the blade is stiff enough to cut squash easily. Rounded, textured plastic handle is “grippy, very comfortable.” “This knife even looks friendly.”

“Lovely, sharp, precise, light, and slim. Gets down to business.” However, its straight blade won’t rock, and some deemed its balance blade-heavy. Large hands found the grip too small, and knuckles knocked. Struggled with squash, but “effective” in butchering chicken, where it was “good at getting into little corners and tight angles.”

This “santoku-like” knife had less taper from the spine, adding solidity, but subtracting agility. “Blade feels a little fat; it catches on the onion, wedging it apart,” said testers; “not as precise or as nimble as I’d like.” While most found it comfortable, it “bottomed out” in a “jarring” way, banging the board rather than rocking. But it cut squash “like a hot knife through butter,” with “perfect control.”

Its extreme design—the lightest, thinnest, most dramatic taper—was loved or hated. In greasy hands, the metal grip felt slippery, a deal-breaker to some. Others found it “nicer than expected.” “I was really surprised by how much I liked working with this”; “it leapt to my hand.” “Very easy to make thin, even slices,” “exceptionally well balanced.” Tackling squash, “it didn’t hesitate.”

“Very nice, sharp, light. Overall, a good knife.” Slightly rough edges made the grip less comfortable. Stiffness made the blade seem substantial, but while it “went through chicken and skin very easily,” it struggled with squash, cutting irregularly. Being the “straightest knife of the bunch” made rocking awkward; larger hands’ knuckles hit the board. In sum: “Not quite as super-sleek as others.”

“Beautiful, obviously well-made,” “sharp and fairly maneuverable” (and top-rated in edge retention), but we hated its long handle, finding hands “too far from the blade” and the knife “too heavy,” “the least balanced.” “It’s weird, like they took a Japanese handle and stuck it on a Western knife. If this is fusion, they got a little too much of both and not enough of either.”

Named “Stealth” because it is more than 8.5 percent lighter and 20 percent thinner than the company’s regular chef’s knife, it still outweighed the rest of the lineup. Universally disliked and rated “poor” for edge retention, its heavy, wedgelike blade did wonders with squash—its only virtue. It was “too heavy,” “too awkward,” and “clunky,” “like a toy.”