In case of the Gyuto and Santoku, you can do almost any tasks with one knife. It is suitable for home-cooking. As Santokus have become more popular, knife manufacturers have begun to produce them with a wide range of options, meaning that you can find a Santoku with pretty much any combination of length, metal, handle, and grind. These are still kitchen knives and although there are some differences between common western knives – they still serve the same purpose, which is to cut. Santoku knives are prized for their handy, user friendly size and gyuto/chef’s knife like versatility. Comparison of expert ratings. Both the santoku and gyuto knives are an excellent all round utensil to have in the kitchen – whether its for commercial or at-home use. The Japanese word Santoku means The knife of three virtues or knife to solve three problems. So, knife makers came up with the idea of Santoku. For detailed discussion about the bevels, click the photo below. You know what I mean by【Fig.1】below. The gyuto knife … You simply can’t find these features in most Santokus. (2) Shape: As I told you, the shapes of both knives are similar. The Gyuto is the Japanese version of the classic Western Chef’s knife. Syosaku Japan Multi-Purpose Knife Hammered Damascus VG-10 16 Layer Mahogany Handle, Santoku 7-inch (180mm) - Ships from USA MSRP: $199.99 Was: $199.99 When we talk about Santoku vs Gyuto, then the shape is a major difference between the two of them. They have done a lot for different tasks. As a result, they’re not very well suited for piercing. The heel side of the blade is reasonably flat. Second, Santokus have no curve or belly. You can break out your chef’s knife for tasks that need the longer blade and use the Santoku to power through quick chopping jobs. probably don’t ring any bell. The Santoku knife is a great alternative to the western chef’s knife, and is often hotly contended against the Gyuto as the perfect gateway into the world of Japanese knives. 4. Few Japanese houses had a kitchen spacious enough to handle long kitchen knives. A gyuto is your good all purpose type of knife. Both Gyuto and Santoku are versatile Japanese kitchen knives. When discussing the difference, always do within the same maker and the same series. It’s nearly impossible to tell a slightly thicker Gyuto with a double bevel and a western-style handle from a western chef’s knife. But due to the longer blade length range of Gyuto, people have an impression that Gyuto is heavier. Santoku knives are true all-purpose workhorses. It started from meat handling. These knives are super excellent for the tasks they are designed for. Both knives certainly serve many purposes in the kitchen. The only real exception is cutting hard foods (like pineapples or bones). Chef knife (Gyuto) Most popular and essential knife for chefs. Santoku knives are larger, multi-purpose knives. Funayuki is a broad classification of knives that can refer to a range of different design features. With or without a bolster. Santoku’s turned down spine is known as a sheep's foot blade, or sheep’s foot tip. Well balanced and easy to work with, this is a knife you will find yourself reaching for time and time again. So you can chop down with a minimal rocking motion. There are few single bevel Gyuto or Santoku. Gyutos are slightly better all-purpose knives (due to the piercing tip and the belly for rocking), but Santokus can still be used for most kitchen tasks. The Santoku has a scalloped edge that leaves air pockets in the food it cuts to prevent the slices from sticking together. Gyuto vs Santoku. Yoshihiro VG-10 Damascus Santoku Multipurpose Japanese Chef Knife. Santoku. The Nakiri is specialized in cutting vegetables. But all are NOT the inherent differences between the Gyuto and Santoku. At less than $40, the Victorinox is a great value knife. Do you use more vertical chopping down techniques than rocking motions? It’s largely a matter of personal preferences. You will find that a gyuto is capable of performing any task that the santoku can. But Gyuto knives and Santoku knives are suited for various food prep jobs and are highly efficient in preparing meals. These qualities make Santokus especially good for chopping. About the knife length, they say a little shorter than the width of your cutting board is easy to handle. The Gyutos, like the Santokus are fairly light. Secondly, it has no arc so that it provides some knife technical issues. The very tip is sharp enough to cut into your foodstuff, and for precision works. They’re often shorter and thinner than your chef’s knife, meaning you’ll be a bit more agile as you work. But apart from the blade length range, some people might not notice them. You can pick your favorite Santoku from the link below. Common Blade length: 21cm (8.2”) Santoku knife An all-purpose knife with a round tip. They are produced one at a time manually by highly skilled master artisans. Santoku was invented in Japan, based on another Japanese kitchen knife Nakiri. It can be used with a variety of different cutting techniques to achieve a wide range of kitchen tasks and is suitable for cutting the vast majority of meats, fish, vegetables and fruits. As a result, knife techniques that involve rocking the blade back and forth are pretty much out of the question. They tend to be fairly flat towards the heel, enabling easy chopping. But they are very inconvenient for other purposes. hence, it has a shaper tip than santoku and that makes it perfect for meat and rock cutting. Unfortunately, pricing in Europe is around 100 Euro for 180mm and 120 Euro for 210mm. Gyuto is a Japanese copy of western style Chef’s knives, originated in Germany or France. If you’d like to know more about the three knife types appeared in this article, click the following links. They are just the matter of how knife manufacturers design the knife. Syosaku Japanese kitchen knives are handcrafted in Sakai Japan, where more than 90% of Japanese professional chef knives are produced. Truthfully, I think a shorter Gyuto (+/- 21cm) or chef’s knife is going to be slightly better than a Santoku for most use cases. Lastly, we mention the differences according to the above discussion. They are made of a hardened steel, are sharpened on both sides, but maintain edges around 22-26 degrees. On the other hand, a Gyuto knife has an 8 inches long blade that helps to chop sizable vegetables or fruits like watermelon. PS Don’t forget about proper maintenance (getting the right cutting board will help too!). The Gyuto and chef’s knives are almost identical. Do you have a plan to buy (or already have) a longer knife? Before discussing the differences, let’s start with the similarities. Before the Santoku, the Nakiri was the most popular kitchen knife. Since “Gyuto” is just a fancy term for a Japanese-style chef’s knife, the comparison between a Gyuto and a Santoku is the same as the comparison between a chef’s knife and a Santoku. The Santoku is a knife used primarily for veggies but it is a multipurpose knife in the kitchen. It could be debated that either one of these knives could be one of the most useful in your kitchen. They are the response to the demand from Western countries for kitchen knives. There are some differences coming from the origin. Many people prefer the Gyuto style of knife, which (roughly speaking) combines features of both Santoku knifes and French knives. In other words, it started from meat handling. With time, there was less demand for such products (apart from occasional buys for collection reasons), so blacksmiths focused on producing kitchen knives. Blade Shape This is an area of difference between a santoku knife vs a chef knife. Why santoku translates to "three virtues." Others have a hollow grind for extra sharpness. It feels a little chunkier in the hand than our top pick, and it cracked one slice of carrot before sailing through a dozen more slices without any problems. In the case of Gyuto, the shape is not very much curved as in the case of many knives we see used in the western kitchen. Are you interested in kitchen knives with some more Japanese vibes. You can read more about the origin of Santoku by clicking the photo below. JapanBargain 1552 Gyuto Sushi 7-inch Chef Knife. On the other hand, the long, straight blade of a Santoku is particularly useful for long cutting strokes. Overall, though I feel like the best answer is to simply choose both. For the blade, you can have carbon steels, stainless steels, and ceramics. They’re comfortable, light, and fast. And Santoku is more suitable for chopping down. Now that you know the differences, it’s time to consider the merits of each knife. It has a slightly less sharp tip, and relatively flatter part of the edge. The wide blade helps for transferring food, too. It can cut most things but aren't recommended to cut frozen thing and cut vegetables like squash. Please click Accept Cookies to continue to use the site. Latest Posts. As per the previous … Some Santokus feature an asymmetric grind, meaning that they can only be used in either your right or left hand. I will explain why and how to choose a Japanese Gyuto or Wa-Gyuto knife.The Gyuto is basically the Japanese version of the western chef's knife. Like I mentioned earlier, Santokus can also be cheaper than chef’s knives. Many people felt Gyuto was too different from the Nakiri, and not easy to use. The Best Mid-Level Santoku Knife: Tojiro DP Santoku. I often have the question. Bread knives are for cutting bread, and so on. You can have the most beautiful cut with the highest efficiency. Santokus are a truly versatile and multi-use knife in the kitchen, and are lighter, thinner and more adept at producing perfectly thin slices than a western chef’s knife. However, it also has a pointed tip which is really useful for getting into tight spaces and also allows the user to rock slice thanks to its slightly curved blade. I actually like these a lot since they relax the curve of a gyuto which makes them better for vegetables but less good for slicing. Now, it sounds like they are very similar, doesn’t it? Gyuto vs Santoku Gyuto Knife: Can be much longer than a santoku(up to 360mm)Always has a pointed tip which can prove useful for a number of thingsSlightly curved profile that's nice for slicing and rock chopping Santoku Knife:Never bigger than 7 inchesFlat profile which allows it to connect with the board completely, m Originally the funayuki was designed as a multipurpose knife for use on fishing boats. The cookie settings on this website are set to 'allow all cookies' to give you the very best experience. Tac Force Knives Review – Top 7 Best Tac Force Knives [ Update 2020 ] Best Knife Set Under $200 – Top 7 pick for 2020. You can call both knives a Multi-Purpose knife. Santoku was invented in Japan, based on another Japanese kitchen knife Nakiri. They both are great kitchen knife. The Suisin High-Carbon Steel Gyuto knife is a smaller gyuto knife, at only 8.2 inches. Because the single bevel is not convenient for multi-purpose knives. Santoku Vs. Gyuto: Features Compare. You can also have the Japanese style natural woods, and many more. However, to get the features of Santoku and Gyuto knives read the full content to the end. (3) Blade length: Theoretically, you can make a Gyuto or Santoku with any blade length. 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