Handle
- The handles on the Tojiro DP knives are made out of Micarta, popular, widely used, durable and dependable handle material. Micarta resists well both, elements and the food acids. Tojiro DP line is considered a western style, and what that means is that those knives has traditional western style handles as opposed to traditional WA type Japanese handles. I'm perfectly comfortable with both, on my gyutos I prefer WA handles, but for example, my Sanetsu ZDP-189 steel Gyuto does have a western type handle, and I like it very much. Western handles are quite common in modern Japanese kitchen knives, especially as the Japanese Kitchen Knives become more popular in western world, in fact many makers offer the same blade design in both, traditional Japanese and western handle variations. For the record, DP line comes in western type only.The knife has a full tang construction and the handle slabs are attached to the tang with 3 rivets. As mentioned in the general section, fit and finish are very good, there are no gaps between handle slabs, tang and the rivets and the bolster. One other reason I find that important is that, the food particles can't easily get in the gaps if they exists and become breeding ground for the bacteria. The handle finish is quite smooth, and feels nice in hand. Obviously that would be less secure compared to rough finish, however excessively rough grips are also very rough on hands, especially for prolonged use. And the knife being relatively small gyuto will prompt more prolonged use, simply because the blade is shorter.
I didn't have any grip security issues of comfort problems, even while I was cutting 18lbs of veggies for the salad. The handle is flattened on the sides, which also helps with positive grip, unlike D type handles which are a bit more prone to rolling in hand. One advantage D and WA type handles have over Tojiro DP handle in most of the western handles is flat handle butt which I find much more effective for crushing garlic cloves and such. I suspect that alone won't be a deciding factor for you though, but worth mentioning ;)
Usage
- I didn't have the knife for long, just a weekend, during which I had to sharpen and test it. Testing was done using the usual assortment of vegetables, about ~18-20lbs of it. Typically, when I cut that salad, I use 2 or 3 different kitchen knives, a paring knife, a gyuto or a chukabocho, etc. However, when I am testing the knife for the review I go through the whole process using test knife. To be honest, that(using a single knife) does slow the process, but gives me better understanding of the knife overall performance. Obviously, that one knife for all isn't always feasible, e.g. I honestly don't see a point in cutting all that green mass using a paring knife ;) However, for a chef's knife it's doable, and that's exactly what I did.Cutting test started out with Brussels Sprouts. About 2.5-3lbs. Cut off the end, and then cut the sprout in 4 pieces. I've tried two styles, using Tojiro DP F-807 Gyuto as a paring knife and on the board. Obviously, cutting on the board was more convenient, due to the knife size, even though I repeatedly said above 180mm is a small knife, small for a gyuto, but definitely not small for a paring knife. Still, the knife was very much usable as a paring knife, i.e. cutting in the air, no contact with a board. I've seen experienced chefs using blades well over 200mm to peel an apple, so it's all a matter of skill :) And comfort of course, for a given level of the skill. In short, I was happier using it on the board. There was no detectable edge degradation after this part, using standard cherry tomato test(cut a single cherry tomato using knife's own weight, measure edge travel distance to complete the cut). About 2.5".
Next up, Kale and Collard greens, cutting out the stems, then rolled the leaves together, which produced roughly 5" diameter roll. That is where the short blade(180mm) was clearly inferior to my preferred 270mm gyutos. I had to raise my hand high, sometimes I was unable to cut through the roll in a single, fluid motion, etc. About half way through, I just unrolled the reminder, and produced two smaller rolls, which then posed no problem to deal with. Next was broccoli, minced the crowns, and then proceeded with stems, which are really rough, at least as far as vegetables go. Tojiro DP F-807 Gyuto handle the task with honor, no hiccups, thin blade and very sharp edge do wonders. Stems were cut into ~10mm cubes. Next, carrots, which are also far from gentle on the edge. Cut the ends, and the middle, then lengthwise. Followed by asparagus and celery, which were first cut from both ends, and then minced. Again, Tojiro DP F-807 Gyuto worked fine, but I'd rather use longer blade, especially when I was cutting celery stems lengthwise. Eggplant and cucumber were a breeze, and the knife was literally falling through both.
Slicing red radish into 1mm thick slices was easy, and here the result is a bit more interesting. For a single item, Tojiro DP F-807 Gyuto was more convenient than the 270mm gyuto would be, but not by much, at least not for me, but I could tell the difference. However, for speed and efficiency, typically, I put 4-5 radishes next to each other and slice them together. In that case 270mm gyuto is a clear winner, since 180m blade is simply to short to cover all 5 items.
The reminder was mostly soft leaves, including Green Onions, Italian Parsley, Cilantro, and Basil. Everything was finely minced. Again, on its own, Tojiro DP F-807 Gyuto more than performs, comparing to 270mm gyutos it's slower and requires a bit more work. Next, 4 bell peppers, which were cut into ~10mm cubes, Tojiro DP F-807 Gyuto simply glided through. And the last, marinated, quartered Artichoke hearts. Those suck quite a bit, as far as cutting goes :) Outer layers are tough, and to make matters worse, very slippery. Both of those factors make them difficult to cut and a very good test of your knife's cutting performance. As long as you manage to hold those things(wet artichoke hearts) in one place, a sharp knife will be able to cut with no issues. Tojiro DP F-807 Gyuto performed very well, and in this case blade length was immaterial, perhaps shorter blade more convenient for many.
Well, that was the veggie test, and at the end of it, the knife was still able to perform cherry tomato test within 2.5"-3" blade travel range. A very good result, and inline with what I have seen and experienced before, described in VG-10 steel kitchen knives reviews, as you can see I've tested many.
Conclusions
- 180mm Tojiro DP F-807 Gyuto is a well made knife, at a very affordable price. At least, as far as quality Japanese knives go, Tojiro DP is a real bargain. There are plenty of VG-10 steel knives out there which perform just the same, but cost more. If you like a different design, a more aesthetically pleasing cladding, high end handle materials, whatever else, then those are available as well, from the same Tojiro and lots of other makers: Shun, Miyabi, a lot of custom makers. Otherwise, Tojiro DP should fit the bill, very good build quality, very good performance.Specifications:
- Blade - 180.00mm(7.09")
- Thickness - 1.88mm
- Width - 43.30mm
- OAL - 310.00mm(12.2")
- Steel - VG-10 steel at 60-61HRC
- Handle - Micarta
- Weight - 176.50g(5.97oz)
- Acquired - 06/2018 Price - 70.00$
Related reading:
- Tojiro - F-809 DP Gyuto Knife Review
- Akifusa(Ikeda) 240mm Gyuto Knife Review
- Kumagoro 240mm Hammer Finish Gyuto Knife Review
- Shigefusa 270mm Kitaeji Gyuto Knife Review
- Watanabe 270mm Honyaki Gyuto Knife Review
- Sanetsu 270mm ZDP-189 Gyuto Knife Review
- Aritsugu 270mm A-Type Gyuto Knife Review
- Tadatsuna 270mm White Steel Gyuto Knife Review
Last updated - 06/25/19