What is a Gyuto, and what is it used for?

A gyuto is the Japanese chef's knife — a double-bevel general-purpose kitchen knife. The name literally means "beef sword," and it's still a fair job description: you use it to slice meat, chop vegetables, dice aromatics, and break down fish. If you own one good knife, this is the shape it should be.

Versus a typical Western chef's knife, a gyuto is thinner behind the edge, sharpened to a keener angle (roughly 15–18° rather than 20–22°), and usually made from harder steel — often above 60 HRC. That's what makes it slice so cleanly: less crushing, less tearing. The trade-off is a more brittle edge, so it asks to be honed and sharpened more attentively than a soft Western blade.

Blades run from compact 150mm to long 240mm, but for a home kitchen I'd start at 210mm — my sizing FAQ explains why.