Impressions on Watanabe Nakiri Pro KU 180 mm

These are my personal impressions and experiences so far with the Watanabe nakiri 180mm. I should probably start by saying that this is my only experience with nakiri so I don’t have a reference point in that sense, and my experience with Japanese knives in general is very limited at best. Also worth noting that I’m biased to favour this knife because it was a gift from my wife :cool2:.

Before even talking about the knife I think it is worth mentioning that Shinichi was great to deal with. He communicated daily and took the time to answer all my questions (believe me, not a few) and try to accommodate any requests I had. He even tried to steer me away from purchasing a stone he thought I didn’t need. Once the order was finally placed he shipped it within two days and it arrived very quickly. I think it is remarkable that with all the work he seems to do he still takes the time to answer every little question from a potential customer.

Back to the knife, I have had it for a month now and have been using it consistently so I have reasonably adapted to it by now.



Out of the box impressions and Fit & Finish:

It was very sharp OOTB, the sharpest OOTB knife I’ve received, ready to cut and felt nice and hefty in hand with a plus of being good looking in my opinion. The cutting edge is 175mm long and it is 62mm high at the heel which has the added benefit of making scooping produce from the cutting board very efficient.

Finish on the blade was nice overall, spine was eased and sorta polished while choil seems to have been only chamfered a bit (see pic), however it doesn’t have a sharp edge and I don't find it uncomfortable in use (albeit only used for sessions 1h or less).



Handle is the stock chestnut and plastic ferrule with a very noticeable step connecting them. I love the wood though.



The KU finish is extremely stable and very unique (I like it), it is a glossy finish and a bit iridescent. Yes, I’ve used acetone to wipe the blade so it shouldn’t be the protective cover some knives come with. The finish on the bevel looks very good without grind marks perpendicular to the edge… well, if I try hard enough I can see a couple of tiny marks but it takes some effort. The scratch pattern is quite fine and parallel to the edge, with enough focus it can be noticed on the cladding. I don’t know how even the bevel is as I have yet to put it flat on the stones and suspect it will take me a while to do so.

Feeling in hand, grind and profile

The knife feels substantial in hand, blade heavy with the balance point right at the middle of the maker’s mark.



The grind is clearly asymmetric (see pic) and seems convex to me. The profile has a very gentle curve that picks up a bit towards the front. I've come to love the profile and I find that it encourages a certain cutting motion in which I let the “tip” hang lower than the heel and do a rocking motion but without putting the tip on the board, it works very well for me. That way I have a bit of leverage when cutting hard produce like carrots and also the weight of the knife does most of the work when using the back half of the blade.





Cutting performance and food release

This was my first nakiri and it took me some time to get used to it unlike the gyutos I’ve tried so far which I could pick up rather quickly. I think the adjustment was related to both the height as well as the shape. First time I tried to cut a piece of butternut squash the knife seriously wedged (got stuck) and the carrots cracked, I was like… What the heck??? (only a lot more profane and in Spanish) Then I kept on trying and realized that sometimes the cut went very smoothly which led me to believe the problem might be my technique. So I kept trying different things and now, a month later, I'm reaching for it often and it has become my go to knife for squash, carrots and sweet potatoes. But again, I’m biased so keep that in mind.

Two things I realized were that at first I was trying to be way too light touch (almost scared of hitting the board with the edge) when cutting with the knife and also that subconsciously I used more leverage when cutting hard produce with my gyutos which are narrower and longer. With the nakiri, at least at the beginning, I had to make a more conscious effort to raise my shoulder a bit and make the knife start the cutting motion at an angle with the tip lowered instead of parallel to the board (I think a result of the different shape). Another trick that seems to work well is making the thrusting motion a bit more pronounced. And I also realized that keeping the produce firmly in place is more important than I had thought, as the knife tends to wedge whenever I slack in that regard. This may be common knowledge to people cutting for hours a day but you don’t realize it as a home cook until you really play attention or encounter a situation where it makes a real difference. Apparently the leverage that the longer blade of the gyutos offered was more forgiving of that sort of things (letting produce move a bit out of alignment).

After having adapted to use this knife it is the smoothest cutter in my kit, cutting with it feels feels even slightly smoother than with my Koishi gyuto. What I mean by smoother is that the feedback is silky while cutting and the cuts on butternut squash and carrots look shiny. With the Koishi I have the impression that I can feel a bit of texture from the bevel but it could all be my imagination (and it may go away if I ever get around evening the grind marks).

Food release is good, not as impressive as Munetoshi but good. I think the tall and smooth blade face might be playing an adverse role there. Food creeps up the blade more than I like when push cutting but it’s not very strongly attached and if I chop or draw a bit almost no food sticks to the blade.

Reactivity

The cladding is stainless and the blue core is not very reactive in my experience, it has taken a subtle patina with blue and orange hues but you have to turn it around for the light to hit it right if you want to see it. The most notable indication of the patina is actually in the lamination line which has gotten some texture and darker colour from the patina and looks pretty cool.



Edge retention and ease of sharpening

I think this is the area where I am most impressed. It feels easier to sharpen than anything else I have. Only a couple of days after receiving the knife I knocked the spine of a gyuto against the edge of the nakiri causing a couple of very small chips (microchips? don’t know, I could see them with the naked eye if I looked very carefully). The chips were very small and only I could tell they were there but I decided to sharpen the knife on a Kitayama 8000 until I couldn’t see the chips and then stropped on an Uchigumori followed by colour newsprint. That didn’t take long (very quick actually), and the knife came out crazy sharp to the point that it could cut hanging hair (several times and with different sections of the edge), I was giddy. I’ve tried getting my other knives that sharp without success so far. I don’t care if that is not needed for cutting veggies, it is fun to do.

After that the knife stayed razor sharp for days and to this point almost a month later it doesn’t need any sharpening, I’ve stropped it once or twice again to keep it razor sharp but only a couple of passes trying to emulate Cris Anderson’s technique. I can’t really comment much on actual edge retention since I don’t use my knives that much being a home cook but at least I can say that it is more than what I need.

Final remarks

Overall I would say that I enjoy the knife a lot to the point that it has given me a great lust for a Watanabe gyuto 240mm. I am glad we went for 180mm and not 165mm as I really enjoy the length and heft. The price is also a winning point at ~$180 + shipping, to me that seems like a good bang for my buck. The handle will go eventually for aesthetic reasons but it doesn’t bother me in use (should be replaced by a handle from Anton that is on its way here).

 

I've said it about 500 times already but I'll say it again...everyone needs to try a Watanabe Pro nakiri at some point in time. The 180mm is one of my favs!