Admired of late: Japanese knives from Hinoki, a year-old Australian brand whose aim is to produce a high-quality, handmade collection of the only 30 kitchen tools that most homes would ever need. Each tool is made by craftspeople using high-quality materials and age-old techniques, to produce objects that “inspire the mind, stimulate the senses, and ultimately enhance the way we live.”
Hinoki’s first product is a Japanese chef’s knife, whose blade is made at a family-owned forge in Osaka, Japan, that has been making knives for three generations. The knife’s solid wood handles are made from trees grown in the United States and Europe, and carved by hand in Australia.
Photography courtesy of Hinoki.
Above: Hinoki’s first product, the S1 Gyuto Chef’s Knife. It’s available in three handle finishes, including black, shown here; $499 AUD. Above: The knife with a solid American walnut wood handle, from trees grown in southwestern Missouri. Each knife is made by hand; construction begins in a forge with temperatures around 1,000 degrees Celsius, where the steel is hammered into shape. The blade then goes to the in-house sharpeners, who hone the edge on a variety of wet stones. Above: A light wood handle of solid European oak. The knife is styled after a Japanese gyuto, a general-purpose chef’s knife. It’s suitable for both left- and right-handed use, and the blade and handle are carefully balanced. Above: The black handle is made of solid American walnut wood treated in the traditional shou sugi ban Japanese technique of charring wood to increase its life span and make it less susceptible to fire. (Read our primer on the craft in Remodeling 101: Shou Sugi Ban Charred Wood.) The knife has a blade made of white carbon steel, which is turned black “using a jealously guarded technique.” Above: Each knife is packaged in a handmade box tied with a ribbon. Initials can be carved into the blade at no extra charge. Above: Ever heard of the superstition that giving a knife as a gift is bad luck to the recipient? With each gift order, Hinoki includes a specially designed box to mitigate the problem: It has a small envelope in which the giver can insert a coin, which the recipient can then offer back to the giver as “payment” for the knife, “thereby preserving your relationship and ensuring all cutting and severing remains in the kitchen.”
Above: Keep the Hinoki knife in a Companion Knife Sheath, made in Australia of vegetable-tanned leather with a hand-sewn leather stitch. Available in gray, black, and natural saddle leather; $80 AUD. Above: Oil is necessary for the maintenance of carbon steel. Hinoki’s Companion Knife Oil is an Australian-made blend of Japanese camellia oil and bee propolis, both natural inhibitors of rust and corrosion; $22 AUD. Find more kitchen essentials in our Remodeling 101: Kitchens guide to Small Kitchen Appliances, Kitchen Storage and Organization, and Kitchen Cabinets and Hardware. For more kitchen tools, see:
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