Gyuto knife, Aogami Super with stainless steel cladding, kurouchi and tsuchime finish - Anryu Hamono

Anryu Hamono is now headed by Katsushige Anryu's nephew, Takumi Ikeda. Their family has been blacksmithing for pretty much 150 years. Ikeda-san continues to be a key player at Takefu knife village, and his level of experience and craftsmanship definitely shows in the fit and finish of these knives. He mainly works with Aogami (blue paper) Super steel, and the performance of his knives continue to impress us.

SHAPE: Gyuto. Japan's answer to the chef's knife with a thinner profile. Gyuto translates to cow sword. 

STEEL: Aogami (blue paper) super steel. This is very similar to white paper steel but with tungsten and chromium added to it which helps with edge retention and slows down rusting. The super part indicates the highest amount of carbon steel - at up to 1.5% - out of the blue series steels. This has then been hardened to 63-64 rockwell making it very hard and capable of retaining an edge for a very long time. The blue steel core has then been wrapped in stainless steel making maintenance easy.

FINISH: Kurouchi. This is a traditional, rustic finish achieved by leaving the furnace scale from the forging process on the blade rather than polishing it off. It has the advantage of reducing the reactivity of the surface of the knife and gives the blade a stylish, matt black finish.

Tsuchime. This is a hand hammered finish that is not only beautiful but also functional. The small depressions stop food sticking to the knife. This finish comes in many different forms from the traditional round hammer marks to more modern patterns.

HANDLE: Octagonal wenge handle with black buffalo horn ferrule

LENGTH: 180mm and 210mm in length.

MAKER: Anryu Hamono.

BEST FOR: Amazing quality and finish for the price - snap 'em up!

SAUNDERS SAYS: “Stunning fit and finish, great heat treatment, what more could you want?" 

These knives are hand-forged so there may be slight variations in measurements and finishes.