Denty Mokume Gyuto 272mm

This fresh delivery from Austria’s Benjamin Kamon is no slouch. Then again, no work of culinary art in chef knife form from this talented designer and meticulous craftsperson is ever less than superb. Shaped from the high-performance blade steel ApexUltra, a coveted tungsten-carbon culinary steel developed by Benjamin’s countryman and collaborator Tobias Hangler, the 272mm / 10.7″ blade enjoys Benjamin’s well-known and long-refined geometry from heel to tip. Wonderfully honed convexity as the symmetrical bevels slim to a very hard (67 HRC), extremely sharp, and quite thin zero-edge, one which lacks a secondary bevel, adds cutting performance and food release. A full distal taper along the rounded, polished spine, sees the width of the upper portion of the blade material slim from over 5mm above the choil, to barely 2mm at the mid-point, then to a glass-thin 0.5mm an inch from the tip, and further still, if that is possible (it is). Benjamin’s shaping of the material combined with his precisely controlled heat-treatment and hardening process results in only a touch of lateral flexibility even in the final inches. Dynamic, large, and versatile, this blade is designed to perform every cut in the kitchen. For a dash of good looks, and to further aid in food release, Mr. Kamon’s trademark ‘Denty’ forge-finish is present throughout the blade’s flats. A matte, forced patina over the material’s surfaces, as well as a rainbow of temper-induced colors at the choil, complete the blade’s aesthetic style. With the rainbow disappearing into a mokume tunnel, a head-turning handle begins. In his ‘Advanced Western’ profile that sees a combination of facets and gently curved faces converge, the handle shape includes a swell to cradle the fingers in the front, and a slim, tapered back half for versatility and comfort in any grip and for any style cut. In this case, stabilized masur birch is matched to end caps of copper-bronze-brass mokume, all secured with matte gray stainless steel hardware. A custom saya is included.