Miyabi Mizu SG2 8-inch Chef’s Knife Review

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It’s been some time since we’ve last looked at a Japanese style knife. Today we’re going to fix that and have look at the Miyabi Mizu SG2 Chef’s Knife.

Miyabi is a Japanese company (part of the Zwilling Group) well known for producing excellent Japanese style knives.

You might be asking what the “SG2” part means. Sometimes referred to as “Super Gold, the SG2 is a high carbon and high alloy powdered steel that’s often used as a core of knives with laminated blades.

Miyabi Mizu SG2 Chef's Knife (8-inch)
  • Premium SG2 Micro-Carbide Powder Stainless Steel with hammered ("Tsuchime") damascus finish
  • Cryodur heat-treatment process using ice-hardening results in a blade featuring a high 63 Rockwell...
  • Traditional Honbazuke sharpening method that originated from traditional Japanese sword making;...

Features at Glance

  • 8-inch razor-sharp blade
  • Made of SG2 steel – high hardness of 63 HRC
  • Hand-honed blade to a 9 to 12° angle
  • Damascus style finish
  • Micarta handle
  • Handcrafted in Japan
  • Lifetime warranty

The Blade

As it’s been mentioned above, the core of the blade is made of SG2 powdered steel which provides excellent hardness of 63 HRC. The core is surrounded with hammered stainless steel with Damascus textured finish. The Damascus finish is gorgeous; just look at the photos of the knife.

Unlike many other Japanese knives, the Miyabi Mizu has a double-beveled edge with both sides sharpened at the same angle. The curve of the blade is sort of a compromise between the curved Western-style blades and the straight Japanese-style blades.

The blade is razor-sharp out of the box. Because of its hardness, the blade will keep the edge for longer than knives made of softer steel. However, the hardness and the edge angle come with the downside of increased brittleness. Forget about chopping bones with the Miyabi Mizu. Unless of course, you want to destroy the edge quickly.

The length of the blade is 8 inches, which is about optimal for me, but there are also shorter and longer versions of the knife. Namely, you can get a 6-inch and 9.5-inch versions. The price is of course slightly different for the other versions.

The Handle

Miyabi Mizu SG2 Handle DetailThe handle is made of Micarta, which is known for excellent durability. The handle has a D-shape to it, meaning it’s not perfectly round. Instead, there’s a small ridge on the right-hand side of the handle. This resembles the capital letter D when you look at the handle from the end. While it feels great for the right-handers, it might not be as comfortable for left-handers. That’s not to say left-handers cannot use this knife. They can and many of them in fact like it. Some manufacturers such as Shun also have knives with reverse D-shaped handles in their lines, but I don’t think Miyabi is one of them.

The handle is black and has nicely contrasting red spacers placed on both ends. There’s also a metal end cap with Miyabi logo.

Customers’ Thoughts

Generally, the knife has received very positive reviews from the customers.

The only negative thing one of the customers mentioned was that the knife was a little bit heavier than he is used to and that the center of balance was further back than he prefers.

Most of the positive reviews mentioned how extremely sharp the knife is. Another thing mentioned quite often was the looks of the knife. The guests will surely be wowed when you pull out this work of the art when cooking dinner for them.

Final Thoughts

Overall, the Miyabi Mizu SG2 Chef’s Knife is an excellent knife and I cannot but recommend it. It’s extremely sharp, very well crafted and looks impressive. The only downside is the price which is quite high, but it’s been mentioned by the customers that it’s worth every penny.

Check on Amazon!
Rating
  • Build Quality
  • Edge Retention
  • Ergonomics
4.8

Summary

Perfect choice for right-handed chefs looking for a high-quality Japanese-style chef’s knife

Last update on 2023-12-30 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API