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[pmillen]

Introduction
At no point should you get the impression that I have anything more than a rudimentary comprehension of Japanese knives and Japanese knifesmiths.  I don’t speak Japanese, I am not a metallurgist, I don’t have a time machine, and I am a middling cook.  But I have been fascinated by knives, having almost a reverence for them, since I started working alongside my father in his custom butcher shop.

A few years ago, I refocused my attention from US manufactured knives to Japanese knives.  Japanese knifesmiths had started making major changes to their wares as the Japanese diet changed because of Commodore Matthew Perry’s arrival in Japan.

On a quiet 1853 July evening, he and his fleet of gunboats chugged into Tokyo Bay to pressure Japan, which had kept its borders closed for hundreds of years, to trade with the United States.  Soon after, Japan opened its doors and through them came elements of the Western lifestyle including red meat in the diet.  The single purpose, single bevel, Japanese knives used on fish and vegetables weren’t suitable.  Bladesmiths responded with new designs.   The most popular is their version of the chef knife, the gyuto, for preparing proteins and vegetables.  They also adopted the chef knife’s double bevel (50/50 grind).

Japanese knives have always had lighter blades with narrow bevels (15° per side, 30° combined); Western knives have always had wider bevels (20° per side, 40° total angle).  Where a Western utility knife can take on beef and cabbage, there is a separate Japanese knife for each.  Even though each Japanese knife is meant to do less, many argue that specialization makes them better at what they do.

Because Japanese and Western knives lead different lives, they do not dull or wear down in the same way.  Western knives—moving from chicken to dicing onions—require a durable edge made of softer steel that won’t crack or chip if the knife encounters a bone.  Japanese knives have been less forgiving, made with a harder steel that’s brittle and prone to chip, under the assumption that the cooks know what they are doing, at least enough to keep the vegetable knives away from the fish.

A Western knife stays sharp as long as you hone it often.  Old Japanese knives stayed sharp as long as you didn’t misuse them.  The first is designed to take a beating and to bend instead of break, and the second was designed to keep its edge when properly used—but they chipped.  But relatively recently, Japanese knife fragility has been reduced as Japanese metallurgists developed an incredibly hard steel providing excellent edge retention and resistance to narrow bevel chipping.

I’ve wanted a knife, or knives, made from Japan's best high carbon steel, Hitachi’s Aogami Super (Blue Super), since I first heard of it.  Blue Super is renowned for its edge-holding, behind the edge thinness, and resistance to chipping.  It occupies the apex position on the knife steel list.

I looked for a knife with a specific core (edge) steel, Aogami Super (Blue Super).  I passed on all Damascus finished knives because (1) I didn’t find any using Blue Super steel for the core and (2) they add about $200 to each knife—I tried to be at least somewhat prudent/sensible.  The Damascus look doesn’t add anything useful, and they aren’t truly Damascus blade construction, they just look like it.

I bought these four Mcusta knives immediately after learning of them.  They are forged in the modern Japanese way; the edge steel is the core steel (hagane) sandwiched between layers of soft cladding (jigane).  They are Mcusta’s top of the line.

Product Names


From top to bottom–

• Mcusta Zanmai Beyond Aogami Super Sujihiki with Hinoki Twisted Handle (9.4" blade)
• Mcusta Zanmai Beyond Aogami Super Kiritsuke Gyuto with Hinoki Twisted Handle (8.3" blade)
• Mcusta Zanmai Beyond Aogami Super Nakiri with Hinoki Twisted Handle (6.5" blade)
• Mcusta Zanmai Beyond Aogami Super Petty with Hinoki Twisted Handle (4.3" blade)

Product Purpose
These are kitchen knives.

• The sujihiki is the Japanese answer to the Western slicer.  Japanese Sashimi or Sushi Chefs almost always use a Yanagi blade, which is the traditional Japanese single bevel edged knife made precisely for this purpose.  The double beveled Sujihiki is the Western equivalent of the Yanagi.  Its long, narrow, graceful blade is particularly useful for finely slicing meat or fish.  The long blade allows the meat or fish to be cut in one single drawing motion, from heel to tip.  Don’t saw with this knife.  If you must make a second pass, lift it, move it forward and initiate the second cut like the first, with the blade’s heel.
• The gyuto is the Japanese take on the Western chef knife.  It’s curved blade profile allows the Western rocking-sliding cutting motion (cilantro, onions, parsley).  I lean toward categorizing this one as a wa-gyuto (a gyuto with a Japanese handle) but it has the kiritsuke’s pointed, diamond-shaped tip.  Thus, the Kiritsuke Gyuto name given by Mcusta.  Maybe it should be called a wa-Kiritsuke Gyuto.
• Nakiri translates to “vegetable knife,” and it’s great for that use and not so great for anything else.  It’s one of the oldest, most continually used knives in Japan.  It’s best at slicing and lateral chopping (celery, carrots, zucchini).
• Petty knives are a standard accompaniment to the chef knife.  It’s the Japanese adaptation of the Western utility knife.  This is a wa-petty (Japanese handle).  Japanese petty knives are the same size as the Western utility knife, 4" to 6", but have a thinner blade that’s ideal for fine work.  To me, it’s a paring knife.

Product Pros and Cons
Pros

• These knives are beautiful.  I love looking at them.  They live on a magnetic knife rack and are a welcome addition to the kitchen décor.  When you need a knife, why not reach for one that brings you joy?
• They are handcrafted cutlery—hand forged, hand ground, hand sharpened, and hand assembled.  The unique octagonal twisted Hinoki wood handle with nickel silver collar between the handle and blade (kuchiwa) showcases Mcusta’s refined production qualities.  Every step of the production process is faultless.  They’re perfect.
• They are incredibly sharp and they stay sharp.  Mcusta ground a 6 to 7° (12 to 14° included angle) sharpened edge.  That’s twice as sharp as the typical Japanese kitchen knife.  Straight razers are sharpened to 7 or 8°!
• The thin spine and beautiful thin grind, gives them laser-like cutting performance.  When your hand-ground nakiri juliennes a carrot into matchsticks, it feels as though you’ve sliced butter with a hot knife.
• These knives are not inexpensive (see MSRP, below) but they are a great dollar-value.  They outshine more costly knives by far.

Cons

• I’m overly protective of these knives.  I cringe when someone else uses one and I don’t react well when they’re misused.  I suppose that this is a con on me.
• If honing is ever required, Aogami Blue Super is too hard (65–67 HRC on the Rockwell hardness scale) to respond to a smooth butchers’ steel.  A fine whetstone or leather strop is best.  Unfortunately, stropping will take longer and require a different skill set than a few strokes on a smooth honing steel.
• The handles are hinoki wood (Japanese cypress).  The wood is straight grained and rot resistant.  (The world’s oldest surviving wooden structure is made of hinoki.)  Unfortunately, the smooth finish makes the handles slippery when greasy, even when using the chef’s pinch grip.  I sometimes have to grip with a small towel (not often).
• These knives must be cleaned, dried, and oiled after each use because Blue Super is not stainless.  Therefore, over time, discoloration (patina) will develop on the core steel cutting edge that is not clad by the stainless steel.  That’s the nature of carbon steel - not a defect.  The stainless cladding covers most of the blade, making maintenance easier while providing the Blue Super core’s advantages.  I may see the thin band of patina at the cutting edge as an attractive contrast someday.

My Impressions and Other Thoughts

• The knives come in an attractive wooden box.  It makes a nice presentation (the Japanese way) but I wonder at what cost to me?
• These knives came out of their boxes with frighteningly sharp blades.  I’ve not had to regrind an edge nor strop them to maintain them that way.  Not many people have held a blade this sharp.  I know that you think you have—I don’t think so.  That seems like the worst kind of condescending knife snobbery statement.  Please believe me when I say that I mean it in the kindest most factual way.  I say it because knives with an Aogami Super Blue core are exceedingly rare, and no other steel can be sharpened to a comparable fine edge.  I wouldn’t be surprised if a scientist told me that the edge tapers to only one steel molecule.  They’re so sharp that I’m reluctant to hand them to inexperienced users because checking the edge with a fingertip can easily result in a cut.  I’ve been told that a human hair dropped onto the cutting edge is severed—I tried it—it didn’t work.  Maybe when new out of the box.

Would I Recommend this Product
I would recommend them to anyone who will understand their idiosyncrasies. 

MSRP
Sujihiki, $365.00
Kiritsuke Gyuto, $336.00
Nakiri, $276.00
Petty, $228.00

EDIT:  Punctuation

[Kristin Meredith]

Wow!  What a great and thorough review.  I learned so much.  In fact, I learned enough to know I don't have the skills and patience to use these knives, but I so appreciate knowing about them.  Thank you Paul and I hope you enjoy these spectacular knives for a long time!

[BigDave83]

Very informative post about these. I like and have to many knives, and would love to have a set of these, but the way I hack and chop at things they would be ruined in no time, so I would just have to display them. Also I am a cheap A so I could not see me dropping that kind of money on something I would surely enjoy, but also destroy them in the process.

Thank you for sharing these with us.

[Bentley]

Now that's a review!  I should have the Weber sent to you!

[Brushpopper]

I love sharp knives and they love my fingers.  We couldn't have anything that sharp here.  I keep my Pampered Chef knives very sharp and I too cringe when my wife grabs one because she doesn't treat them well.  Thankfully she has one old Chicago Cutlery knife she likes because I seldom sharpen it for her and she likes it that way.  It doesn't cut fingers as bad when it's dull she says.

[pmillen]

I learned enough to know I don't have the skills and patience to use these knives...

Except for the patina forming on the barely exposed Super Blue cutting edge, they should look and cut the same as the day you took them out of the box.  They aren't indestructible, I suppose the dishwasher could ruin the handle, but your typical kitchen knife use and clean-up is sufficient.

They aren't fragile.  To the contrary, Super Blue is the toughest knife steel available.

[pmillen]

It doesn't cut fingers as bad when it's dull she says.

My dad repeatedly told me that I was more likely to cut myself with a dull knife than a sharp one.  I could never figure out the reasoning behind that statement but I never asked.  He wasn't fond of "Why?" questions, especially in a production environment.

I do know this about using a dull knife—in butchers' jargon you're "pushing a dull knife."  Your hands and forearms will cramp unbearably after a few hours of it.

I have a sentimental attachment to a 45-year old replica of a Chicago Cutlery butcher's knife from dad's shop.  I found it, new, in a strip mall discount kitchen supplies shop.  It was a regularly used carving knife until few years ago.  I should resurrect it.  It'll still do the job—but it's ugly (beautiful when considering functionality).



The Chicago Cutlery knives are examples of aWestern knife's edge made of softer steel that won’t crack or chip when hitting bone, the edge just bends over slightly and is easily straightened by honing on a butcher's steel.

[Brushpopper]

I was always told you'll cut yourself worse with a dull knife also but I can't get her to understand that.  My uncle owned a slaughterhouse and I spent a lot of time there as a kid.  I sure wish I had some of the knives those guys used.

[pmillen]

Here's their home–

[pmillen]

Now that's a review!  I should have the Weber sent to you!

That's very kind of you to say, Bentley, but I couldn't write a good smoker review.  I can most easily talk and write about things I know and I don't know smokers/grills as well as you.  You are certainly better equipped to write those performance reviews.

[pmillen]

For those of you who are interested in a different Japanese knife set with a super blue core, Yu Kurosaki, a well-known name in the knife community, has released one.  The cladding is pebble finished stainless steel, it should be easier to care for than the polished Mcusta knives.

His knives can be easily found via an Internet search.