Miyabi Kaizen Bread Knife 9.5 inch Review

Miyabi Kaizen Bread knife Features

The bread knife is one of the basic knives any cook should own. These knives feature a serrated blade which cuts with ease bread or any other ingredients with a hard exterior and soft interior. The bread slicing knives size usually fluctuates between 6 to 10 inches. Thus the Miyabi Kaizen bread knife at 9.5 inch has a long enough blade to slice even the biggest loaf’s. Also, because of its exceptional construction this is a knife built to last a lifetime.

Bread Knife Blade

The Kaizen line of knives from Miyabi is a mid range line made by mixing Japanese tradition with German engineering. These high quality knives are constructed with a VG10 super steel core which is covered by 64 layers of beautiful damascus. The VG10 is a high carbon stainless steel alloy made by including around 1% Carbon and 15% Chromium to the steel with small percentages of Molybdenum, Vanadium and Cobalt. All these elements create a hard but flexible blade.

All Kaizen knives are hardened using the Zwilling CRYODUR process through which the blades reach a hardness of 60 HRC. This high edge retention for a bread knife means that you will have a very sharp knife for a very long time if it is used, stored and maintained correctly. Bassically the knives are heated in sealed ovens to a specific temperature before being frozen to -320 Fahrenheit. This makes them hard but still flexible enough in order to prevent the possibility of the knife easily breaking.

Another great aspect of the knives is that they are hand sharpened through the traditional Japanese Honbazuke technique. Here the blades are first ground to shape on vertical rotating sharpening stones before they are sharpened on horizontally rotating stones. Finally the edges are polished on leather belts to achieve a extremely sharp blade. This is a 3 step process that will ensure you receive a extremely sharp knife out of the box.

Bread Knife Handle

The handle of the Miyabi Kaizen bread knife is made from linen micarta. This material is a composite obtained by applying heat and pressure to fibrous materials. Different types of materials can be used to make the micarta and they range from paper to fiberglass. The linen micarta, because of the material used, has a softer texture to the feel, after being polished, are very sturdy and don’t get damaged by water. Thus a great material for a knife handle.

Pros of the Kaizen Bread knife

• Zwilling CRYODUR Hardening
• 60 HRC Rockwell Hardness
• VG10 Super Steel Core
• 65 layer Construction
• 3-step Honbazuke Sharpening Technique
• Linen Micarta Handle
• Very Sharp Out of the Box
• Lifetime Manufacturer Warranty

Cons of the Kaizen Bread knife

• Only one size bread knife

Did you like the Kaizen bread knife? Take a look at the entire Miyabi Kaizen knives line.