This knife has quite a title but the words do indicate certain features about the blade. I’ll cover what each of those three words mean as far as the knife is concerned.
1. Honyaki- This word means that the blade was forged from a single piece of steel and differentially heat treated to produce a hamon line, indicating a tougher spine and harder cutting edge. This can be achieved a number of different ways but must be a forged mono steel blade, and be differentially heat treated. The purpose for creating honyaki blades is to achieve a high degree of hardness at the cutting edge which translates to sharpness and edge retention, and a tougher spine, promoting flexibility and shock absorption.
2. Kiritsuke- The term kiritsuke comes from traditional Japanese knives which have a single bevel design. However the term can be found in western double bevel knives as well. Many think that kiritsuke means that a blade has a “k-tip” or a sharp angular tip that is somewhat at a 45* angle, and this isn’t wrong, but it’s not the most important aspect of a true kiritsuke knife. A real kiritsuke has a a much flatter cutting edge and is ideal for push cutting and garnishing as well as any other tasks that a standard chefs knife can handle.
3. Gyuto- Gyuto translates to “beef sword”. This is a fun term but it’s not the only thing a gyuto is good for. The gyuto is your standard western chefs knife that has a double bevel design and typically a bellied cutting edge ideal for rocking on a cutting board. This is a go to knife that can be used for many general kitchen tasks, from veg prep, to slicing and everything in between.
So by looking at the title of the knife we can deduce that this piece has been forged from a piece of mono steel, differentially heat treated and features a western style double bevel blade, flat cutting edge, and k tip design.
