CJA EDGED ART / SCORPION FORGE
Testimonials
“The knife looks incredible and it cuts even better than it looks. It is easily the best gyuto that I have ever had a chance to use. Here are a few of the makers that I have or had in the past for comparison; Bill Burke, Michael Rader, Murray Carter, Heiji, Kagekiyo, Takeda, SIH, Ealy, Kato, Mizuno Tanrenjo, HHH, and I’m sure I’m missing some. One of the best parts of the whole ‘custom’ knife (I bought this as a stock/shelf gyuto without a handle, and Cris was happy to customize it from there) was the communication with Cris. If I wanted a zebra saya he would get a price for me haha. It’s a great journey you go on from start to finish.”
Samuel Farina
Professional Chef
“Coming from all German stainless to one of Cris’s knives is like going from riding a bicycle to driving a lamborghini. I’ve never felt a knife move through food like this before. I took it to work where I chopped enough veggies for 160 quarts of chicken soup, a case of broccoli, some spinach, stripped two dozen chicken breasts, and finished with a little parsley and basil. It put in a full day and kept going. When I got home I cubed some pancetta, halved some sprouts, and prepared some spuds for mashing. After everything without stropping or sharpening the knife still flew through an onion. I passed it over my 6000 stone as Cris had told me to do after each day and it was back to hair popping sharp.
I also wanted to mention dealing with Cris was really something else. I had a lot of questions for him, he always responded quickly, often going deeper than necessary into the subject to give me an answer. I feel like he went out of his way to make sure I was not only happy with the knife but with the process as a whole. I actually asked to be put on his list for another knife before I even got the first one.”
Anthony Pierce
Professional Pizzaiolo
“As for the Cris Anderson gyuto, I highly recommend the extra heavy version. I was rapping with Cris about how his knife compared to my older version Kato Workhorse and Billipp’s most recent knife. His knife can definitely hold its own up against those two. Vs Billipp & Kato: Both the Kato and Billipp have a little more ease in cutting carrots, but the Billipp suffers a tiny touch of wedging on onions. It’s hardly noticeable, but when compared to the Anderson it becomes a little amplified. The Anderson also falls through carrots extremely easy, and on its own you’d think it couldn’t get much better. But when comparing it to the Kato and Billipp, you notice a hint of extra effort needed when cutting large (6cm diameter) carrots. That has nothing to do with Cris’s grind or his knife being inferior in any way, it’s just that his knife possess an extreme distal taper, and his profile is much more pointed. Both of these elements makes the Anderson lack the forward weight that both the Billipp and Kato have. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, mind you. This fwd weight will make the Billipp and Kato cut carrots easier, but the Anderson profile makes his knife a little more versatile. I could travel to any kitchen with just my Anderson and perform almost any task with it. Would I break down sub primals with it? Not a chance. But I could definitely butcher seafood with it, along with an array of sashimi cuts and other slicing needs. This on top of the already outstanding regular gyuto chopping and dicing tasks, plus it’s ability to tackle delicate, intricate knife work makes the Anderson a fantastic all-arounder.Comparing the XH/XT (extra heavy/extra tall) Anderson with his regular style, I’m a bigger fan of his bigger blade. I’ve used two other gyutos from him, one being the www.kitchenknifefora.com passaround, and though they are both fantastic cutters I prefer the extra weight and height. His lighter versions are great for speed cutting/prepping. Very nimble and easy to steer without concern of being all over the place. But they do require some extra umph of your muscle behind them when cutting the denser veggies. Whereas his heavier gyuto doesn’t require extra energy to cut more dense veggies, but it’s not quite as fast as his lighter versions. Don’t get me wrong, his XH gyuto is fast, very fast, when you need it to be. I’d say it’s akin to a Ferrari with all wheel drive.”
Marc Dixon
Professional Chef
“Hiya guys! So this is my little ko gyuto, and I’ve been using it for around two weeks now in a pro environment. Thought I’d share my thoughts and experiences with Cris’s work.
So the first few days after I received the knife, I didn’t use anything else in my kit. The knife is super comfy in hand, and due to it’s length, is extremely nimble. The dual taper handle design is strange at first, but I quickly got used to it and now prefer it over standard octagonal and western shapes. It fits my hand super well and it encourages forward momentum, making it easier to do tasks where i’d rather have a longer blade. The blade itself, besides looking incredible, performs right up there with the best. I own DT san mai, Mizuno honyaki, Rodrigue, and a Kato workhorse gyuto. Cris’s f&f surpassed all of these and his “all-purpose” grind really stands out and shines as one of the best I’ve ever worked with. It is thin and falls through everything without flexing or feeling too light to accomplish heavy root veg or thick produce. I used it to break down a bunch of fruit, where it did an awesome job. It handled watermelon and pineapple like a champ. I honestly didn’t feel like I needed more blade due to how nimble this knife is in hand. I’ve also been using it as my line knife, where it has also been doing a fantastic job. Cooked proteins are easy, it even performs well on seared fish and large thick proteins like rib-eye medallions. All this being said, the area I thought it did the best in is edge retention. I haven’t had a single knife I’ve owned stand up to the hard plastic cutting boards the way this one does. I haven’t even felt like I really need to touch it up in two weeks of banging it on plastic for 10-14 hours a day. As of last night, it was still dicing tomatoes like a boss, not exactly with the same ease as when it first arrived, but certainly not to the point I feel it actually needs it. All this being said, I’m extremely pleased with my purchase from Cris. He’s incredibly down to earth and easy to deal with, he’s also an excellent communicator and someone I wouldn’t hesitate to buy from again. I’ll be updating this review and supplementing it with videos and more pictures as the weeks go on .
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!”
Julian Kurz
Professional Chef