Last year, during our expedition through Japan, we sought out artisans crafting knives not only of exceptional quality but also suitable for less experienced cooks and those seeking their first Japanese knife.
Our visit to Kataoka in Niigata prefecture, beginning with a conversation with the President, led to a fascinating exploration of their manufacturing process. We were deeply impressed by their dedication to detail. It's was a much smaller production than for example Global knives but big enough that their pricing is very well balanced in regard to quality. So it's a much better pick than Global knives in our opinion.
We're confident that Kataoka's knives, particularly their Brieto series, make an excellent entry point into the world of Japanese knives. The Brieto knives are remarkably well-balanced, incredibly easy to maintain and sharpen, and feature a welded handle design, simplifying cleaning and care (of course, Japanese knives should never be put in a dishwasher). In partnering with Kataoka, we've focused primarily on their stainless steel series.
Beyond the basic Brieto line, we've also curated a selection with a Granton edge, a clever design enhancement that allows for exceptionally smooth cutting of diverse food items—preventing ingredients from sticking.
We highly recommend considering these Brieto profiles for your collection:
- Santoku: Versatile all-rounder for mincing, dicing, and chopping various ingredients.
- Gyuto: The quintessential Japanese chef's knife, ideal for slicing, dicing, and mincing.
- Petty: A smaller knife meticulously crafted for intricate tasks like trimming and finely chopping vegetables.
Manufacturing process of kitchen knives
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Pressing First, a metal plate is cut into the shape of a knife using a press. |
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Straightening In order to remove any distortion that may have occurred during the punching process, the blade is passed through a press roller to smooth it out. |
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Hardening Next, the blade is heated to 1050℃ in a furnace. It is then cooled to below -73℃ (sub-zero treatment) which changes the structure of the steel material and makes it denser, resulting in a hard blade. |
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Hardness Testing After hardening and tempering, the blade is subjected to a hardness test. |
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Grinding The edge of the heat-treated blade is polished with a polishing belt to set the shape of the knife. This is done gradually while pouring water over it to avoid overheating. |
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Welding The blade and the ferrule of the handle are welded together by a precise robot. |
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Polishing The polishing process is mainly divided into three steps. First, the welded joints are polished, then the handle, and finally the finish polishing. This smooths out any scratches on the surface of the knife blade and gives it a clean finish. |
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Personalization The completed blade is engraved with an inscription using a computer-controlled laser. |
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Blade sharpening A skilled craftsman sharpens the blade to each knife by hand. This is the most crucial and delicate step in the knife-making process. We insist on doing everything by hand, without using any machines. |
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Quality check Edge of each knife ich checked, any distortion or bend is corrected to achieve optimal blade angle. |
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Final Inspection Finally, the finished products are checked for scratches or dirt and then hand-packed one by one. |
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