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How to Select Your Knives |
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Steel or Stainless-steel? |
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Steel |
Stainless-steel |
| Sharpness |
○ |
Very hard and sharp. |
× |
Since it is softer than steel, its sharpness is not as good as steel's. |
| Endurance |
○ |
Keeps an extreme edge for an extended period of time without re-sharpening. |
× |
Comparatively, it becomes dull in a short period of time. |
| Rust Resistance |
× |
Without proper care, iron-steel knives can rust. |
○ |
Stainless-steel doesn't rust. |
| Ease of Sharpening |
○ |
Easy to maintain a great edge even for a novice. |
× |
It is not well honed and needs frequent re-sharpening. |
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Though steel knives require a little more maintenance than stainless-steel
knives, we are confident that the cutting performance of steel knives is
superior and well deserve the extra care.
We do make made-to-order forged steel-stainless steel knives. However,
the tip of the blade can get rusty and dull earlier than iron-steel knives
because of the chemical reaction between stainless steel and wedged steel.
Though high carbon stainless-steel knives have been developed recently,
the blades can slip when cutting foodstuffs and have a bad sense of thrust.
In contrast, our "triple structured" (iron-steel-iron) steel
knives cut into food very well. Also, they are very easy to sharpen. Especially,
our Aogami super steel knives cut very well, and the sharpness lasts long
with once-a-year resharpening. Steel knives rust easily when new, but with
a little maintenance, they are much less likely to go rusty if used every
day over a long period of time. We recommend simple, easy maintenance.
Please click here to learn more.
~Customers comments~
"With a fully ripened tomato, the skin can be peeled easily."
"A loaf of bread hot from the oven and soft sponge cake cut very well."
"We can't use other knives anymore."
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Double-edge or Single-edge? |
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There are structural differences between double-edged and single-edged knives. |
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Special features of a double-edged
knife
* It is easy to use because the cutting edge cuts straight down without
wanting to twist.
→ It is suitable for tasks such as cutting cabbage into fine strips because
the cutting edge goes straight down.
* A double edge is more robust than a single edge and less prone to chip
or nick because both sides of the edge are equally supported, so the hard core of steel is supported on both
sides.
* There is no distinction between right-handed and left-handed blades,
because the cutting edge is in the center rather than either the right
or the left side. However some specialized blades are not completely symmetric.
Special features of a single-edged
knife
* It is necessary to have a certain amount of experience to use it because
the cutting edge cuts obliquely rather than straight down and you need
to compensate for this.
* A section of the food can be finely sliced when it is cut obliquely.
Food adheres to the cutting edge and falls more cleanly away from the blade,
away from the front bevel.
→ It is suitable for slicing raw fish into sashimi.
*The cutting edge gets dull more easily because the blade is thinner and
the edges are usually more acute. Also, the core steel is exposed on one
side. More care must be taken to sharpen it precisely.
*There is a distinction between right-handed and left-handed blades.
*If the cutting edge rusts badly, maintenance becomes very difficult or
even, in the worst case, impossible.
In conclusion, a double-edged knife is superior to a single-edged knife for cutting most kinds of food. It is a more versatile design for a knife that can be used for many purposes. Because of this versatiliy, especially for home use, we recommend a Santoku. MORITAKA HAMONO knives are double-edged (50/50 bevel) and have been skillfully developed for general users with the focus on both sharpness and durability. We use the best steel (Aogami Super Steel) to make knives with slightly convex (Hamaguri) blades that are both sharp and prevent food sticking to the blade.
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Blade Steel |
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Yasugi Speciality Steel (YSS) produced by Hitachi Metals Ltd. is the best
steel for cutting tools and is renowned around the world. We select the
highest quality Aogami Super Steel (AS) and second highest quality Aogami
#2 Steel in YSS range for our core carbon steel because of their extra
durability and longer edge retention.
*Aogami #2 steel We use Aogami #2 Steel for "Standard Series" and "Aogami
#2 Series" knives. Aogami #2 Steel is made by adding chromium and
tungsten to Shirogami (White Steel, the purest of the carbon steels), which
makes the material more durable and provides corrosion resistance and is
mostly used for making high-grade kitchen knives and outdoor knives. Its
HRC is approximately 60.
*Aogami Super Steel We use Aogami Super Steel for "Aogami Super Series" and "Damascus
Series" knives. Aogami Super Steel is the highest grade YSS steel
that contains high percentages of carbon, chrome and tungsten to increase
hardness, improving edge retention and corrosion resistance. Combined with
our expertise, this allows us to produce a knife that will keep a fine
edge longer than any other on the market. Its HRC is approximately 65.
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Kurouchi or Migaki? |
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Kurouchi The surface of the blade is blackened by an oxide film when it is put
in the fire, made red hot and hardened. Though the black part can gradually disappear with repeated sharpening,
we leave it into unpolished because, being coated by the oxide film, it
doesn't rust easily.
Migaki With Migaki blades, the oxide film is polished to a beautiful finish.
It looks beautiful but can be more difficult to maintain than Kurouchi
because the polished surface becomes rusty much easier.
We recommend Kurouchi to those who require easier maintenance.
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Knife Shapes and Uses |
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| Shapes |
Uses |
| Kawamuki |
This versatile knife can be used for paring fruit, vegetables, or chopping
seasonings. |
Santoku
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This is a multi-purpose knife, designed for cutting meat, fish, or vegetables.
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| Nakiri |
This knife is designed for cutting vegetables, paring Japanese radish, etc. |
| Yanagiba |
This long, narrow classic knife is for slicing sashimi. |
| Kodeba |
This knife is best for filleting small fish. |
| Deba |
This knife is ideal for filleting whole fish and cutting chicken bones. |
| Petit |
This knife is a paring / small kitchen knife perfect for cutting vegetables. |
| Gyuto |
This knife is a multi-purpose Western style knife, designed for slicing
meat, fish etc.
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| Kiritsuke |
The use of this knife is similar to the Gyuto. It has a triangular edge.
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| Honesuki |
This knife is a poultry boning knife. |
| Chinese Cleaver |
This is a knife used for cooking Chinese food. We make Chinese Cleavers to specification. |
| Sobakiri |
This knife is for cutting handmade soba noodles. The blade has a dead straight
edge. |
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The Perfect Present!!  |
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Cutlery has been used for various celebrations and ceremonies since ancient
times because it cuts off misfortune and creates good fortune. Even nowadays,
it is used for cutting wedding cakes, etc. Moritaka Hamono's cutlery is
the perfect gift.
*Please feel free to ask us for free engraving service and gift wrapping!!.
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| ↑Engraving service |
↑Gift wrapping |
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