Mutsumi Hinoura Gyuto 210mm Shirogami Kurouchi – Chef’s Knife

About the Gyuto

Gyuto knives were originally designed for cutting larger pieces of beef, which is where their name came from – it literally means “a cow sword”. Now, they are the must have knife in the kitchen as they are very versatile – they can easily cut meat, vegetables and fruit.

The knife can be used for almost every task in the kitchen. It cuts tofu, chops squashes, dices tomatoes, and slices steaks. That is why it is the must-have item in every kitchen knife set collection, small or big. The Gyuto also makes a very good carving knife that can double as a multipurpose knife for everyday use.

Timeless

After years of handcrafting knives, the Hinoura family has developed unique skills and knowledge, which have been passed from generation to generation. Hinoura’s unique bladesmithing techniques allow producing knives that will keep fine edges longer than any other knife on the market.

Mutsumi Hinoura knives have good distal tapers and wide kiriba style bevels, and really wonderful heat treatments. He has a lot of experience with hunting and outdoor knives, and their kitchen knives carry some of the same qualities of toughness. This limited edition Mutsumi Hinoura Petty 135mm with Shirogami #2 steel core and stainless cladding with Kurouchi finish was built to last. 

Craftsmanship

The Hinoura family are a well-known Japanese family of blacksmiths that have been making knives for over 120 years. Mutsumi Hinoura has been training and working with his father, master smith Tsukasa Hinoura, since 2001, in Sanjo. Each knife is unique as it has slightly different appearance and size because the blade is handcrafted and the handle is a stabilised natural maple wood in shades of blue and green. 

Maintenance

Shirogami #2 is very responsive to sharpening stones, taking an extremely fine, biting edge easily. With the soft iron cladding, Hinoura-san’s shirogami knives are wonderful to thin as well. Shirogami and iron are both reactive, keep these dry when not in use to avoid rust. Please remember that the core is not stainless and should be dried after use (check our maintenance tips here). It will develop a dark patina with normal use, but any orange rust should be removed with a light abrasive or sharpening.

Like most equipment, knives need a little love and care. You need to sharpen them regularly and depending on the type of steel, dry them immediately after use. These are 3 general rules you should follow:

1. Don’t put your knife in a dishwasher, ever.
2. Store your knives either on the magnetic knife strip,  knife stand, or sheathed in the utensil drawer.
3. Don’t slide your knife, blade down, across the cutting board to clear away what you just chopped.

Also, check our full guide on how to properly maintain the knife and sharpen it.