When I was 16, I worked as a prep cook at a local banquet hall. On rare occasions, the chef would take out his personal knife roll and let us slice crudités with something other than the dingy, plastic-handled, dull kitchen knives that we were normally stuck with. I can still remember the distinct heft of the 8-inch chef’s knife as I slid it out of the cover, with the chef remarking, “Wüsthof makes the best knives.” Good enough for me. Years later I asked for a Wüsthof set as a college graduation gift and fell in love with their balanced handles, sharp edges, and high-quality steel. Or, at least, I fell in love with some of the knives in the set. Turns out, my Wüsthof block was full of random knife shapes I rarely reached for, meaning the two that I liked had worn down from heavy use over time. Fifteen or so years later, I realized my mistake and replaced the entire nine-piece block set with a simple three-piece option from Tojiro.
To put it simply, Tojiro knives are razor-sharp out of the box, comfortable to hold, and lower priced than similarly performing knives. The simplicity of this Tojiro set means that all three knives have specific purposes in my kitchen and get regular use. In general, you should probably avoid knife sets to avoid paying for knives you’ll never use, but in this case, Tojiro has an excellent take on every knife in the set. The paring knife peels and turns with ease, the petty knife is ideal for fine dicing, and the gyuto, a Japanese-style chef’s knife, can slice, chop, and mince with the best of them.
I used to agonize over picking the absolute best products with hours and hours of research, but now I’ve pared back my selection process to two basic questions: Can I afford it, and will it make cooking easier? This Tojiro set slices right through that criteria with ease, and if that’s enough for you, great! Don’t worry, though; the old me still exists somewhere deep down inside and he’s here to break down in detail why these knives truly outperform their price point.
The key to their sharp edge is the steel
If you spend any significant amount of time researching chef’s knives anywhere on the internet, you’re likely going to fall down a metallurgy rabbit hole so deep it will convince you that you’re ready to compete on Forged in Fire. But here’s all most people really need to know: A knife’s steel is key to its performance, and steel is a combination of two elements, iron and carbon. High carbon content in steel makes it easier to sharpen and more likely to hold a sharp edge over time. But it also makes it susceptible to rust and discoloration, so other elements like chromium, molybdenum, and nickel get added to create stainless steel. Most legacy knife brands create their own custom steel formula designed to balance sharpness with rust resistance, and often that proprietary metal is what you’re paying for (even a modestly sized Wüsthof classic block set can cost close to $700). Tojiro’s DP line is actually a combination of two types of steel: a higher-carbon VG-10 core sandwiched between two layers of stainless steel cladding. This sandwiching, which is actually an ancient sword making technique called san mai, yields a razor-sharp blade edge while also making the blade corrosion-resistant and easy to maintain. But because VG-10 isn’t a proprietary alloy (it’s available to most any knife maker who wants to buy it), Tojiro’s knives are generally cheaper than other legacy brands.
Edge-testing for Tojiro’s knives regularly finds them as some of the sharpest, and for me, these knives cut right through the skin of a squishy tomato with just the weight of the blade alone. Sometimes, when I’m on a long work call, I grab a few sheets of printer paper, wander into the kitchen, and marvel at how effortlessly each blade slices through the entire sheet. The sharpness of these knives makes dinner prep, well, fun. Instead of reluctantly reaching for a garlic press, I now revel in any chance I get to dice a clove with my petty knife. Core a tomato? Why not? The paring knife can pop one out with just a quick turn. What used to feel like fiddly detail work is now, actually, quite enjoyable. But the sharpness isn’t the only factor for their sublime usability—the design of these knives is what really seals the deal.
Tojiro knives have really practical design details
Tojiro’s DP knives have a hybrid design that includes a full tang (in which the metal runs the length of the entire blade) and a bolster like a Western-style knife, but that bolster is set further back on the handle, similar to a traditional Japanese-style knife. This gives you more space to find the perfect spot for a comfortable pinch grip compared to the full bolster on most Western-style knives, which can be bulky and limit where your hand fits. And speaking of handles—a bonus for this Tojiro set is that even the paring knife handle is long enough for your entire hand. That makes it ideal for when you choke down on the knife’s grip to chop with it.
That’s right: I said chop with a paring knife. Another Japanese-style knife design element is the taller blade heel, which gives you enough knuckle clearance with both the paring knife and petty knife to chop right on the cutting board. This adds to the versatility of each knife and massively reduces the need for other, more specific knife types.
With my old set, I was constantly rotating between different knives while trying to prep all the vegetables for a soup—now, if I’m feeling lazy, I can peel, slice, chop, dice, and mince with any of the knives in my lineup.
What really sold me on the versatility of these knives, however, was the drop-point tip, where the blade’s spine curves down toward the point of the knife’s blade instead of the belly curving upward to meet the spine. Because of this precise tip, they’re great for detail work or for resting on the cutting board while pulling toward yourself for a precision slice (think watching a sushi chef execute exact cuts of fish). And with just a gradual swell on the belly of each blade, you can still utilize a soft rock chop for mincing herbs.
Should you get this Tojiro knife set?
It’s hard to know when it’s time to replace your knives. My old Wüsthof set was in great shape 15 years after I got it—I just needed something to energize me in the kitchen and simplify my countertop (I also snagged a magnetic knife strip for simpler storage). The Tojiro set did all that, but it comes with some trade-offs. For one, harder steel like VG-10 is more brittle. That means that if you try to muscle through a bone with the gyuto, you might chip it. But the hardness of VG-10 means that these knives have excellent edge retention and won’t need to be sharpened as often as other types of stainless-steel knives. Honing the edge every few uses will keep the blade sharp for months, and when it is time to break out the whetstone, The Tojiro DP knives take an edge quickly.
Some other reviewers also noted that the spine, heel, and other non-sharpened edges of the blade might have some burrs left from the factory. But if you find that pinching the blade pinches you back, the burrs can be quickly sanded off with a fine-grit sandpaper. Otherwise, there really isn’t a trade-off for Tojiro’s price point and performance. And 15 years from now, if I’m being honest, I doubt I’ll be on the lookout to replace them.