Japanese Knives: A Samurai Sword Experience

If there's anything that captures the essence of a useful design is the samurai sword, a tool that has been perfected over hundreds of years, now we got the opportunity to have the beautiful design and tremendous sharpness in a new class of Japanese knives that integrates those aspects and many more in a practical form.

Shun Elite is an innovative combination of aesthetics and performance in kitchen cutlery. Handcrafted in Seki City, Japan, the center of the ancient samurai tradition, Elite’s stunning design is directly inspired by the artful aesthetics of samurai swords, down to the smallest detail.



The blade is made of a unique core of SG2, an exotic powdered steel that’s hardened to 64 Rockwell (compared to the 56-58 Rockwell of European kitchen knives), resulting in an exceedingly sharp and smooth edge.

This amazing metal means that Elite knives stay sharp several times longer than comparable stainless cutlery. The knife is then clad with two layers of SUS410—a softer stainless steel that provides strength, flexibility and corrosion protection.

The only thing more beautiful than the knife in your kitchen is the way it performs in your hand.

We recommend the Shun Elite 8-Inch Chef's Knife.

Link: Official site

Buying tips from a professional.

Choosing the right kind of knife for you, can be a little difficult, there are plenty of choices and it can be a little confusing, the next guide brakes down the process into simple points so you can make the best choice:



There are only two things to consider- Blade, and Handle.




Handle

"you need to make sure the handle is comfortable in your hand too, or else you either won't end up using your knife, or you'll use it, but probably wince in regret every time you do. So basically, do not buy a knife at all without having previously handled it at some point, either in-store, or having used a friend's.

Global knife handle

Blade

"Knives can generally be categorized into two main groups- German-made, and Japanese-made. (There are others, of course, but these are the two biggies.) Now, from all the online reading and poking around I've done, the general consensus is that while German steel is good, Japanese steel is far superior."

Global knife Edge

link: Blades of Glory (Part II)

Photos by:
Martini Captures
uberculture

Be careful using Japanese Knives.

Be careful using Japanese Knives.

We talk a lot about how to get our japanese knives really sharp but let's not forget that they are really dangerous. And this is especially true if you are a professional chef that spends several hours with a knife in his hand. The next review of a newly proud owner of global knives is an example of this:



"For a couple years I’ve used a Henckels santoku knife for almost everything I did in my home kitchen. I wanted a nice set of knives that would last me a very long time and were top of the line. I decided on Global cutlery, which are Japanese knives."



"The grip is very comfortable and wont tear your fingers up if you use them non-stop."



So far so good.



"They cut almost too smoothly…I sliced the tip of my finger within two minutes of using the big chefs knife."



Ouch.

A few Handling Precautions

• Do not point the tip or edge towards people, or drop the knife.
• To prevent injury, keep the knife away from children.
• Do not use the knife for purposes other than cooking.
• Never cut frozen foods or ice.
• Do not use the knife to cut very hard objects such as fish bone and animal bones.
• Do not put unnecessary pressure on the knife blade or chop with the knife.
• Do not knead with the knife.
• Make sure the blade/knife does not come into contact with anything hard.

For more information visit: Handling Precautions


Link: My New Knives

How to Sharpen Japanese Knives

Japanese knives keep their sharpness for a long time so you don't need to sharpen them constantly but when the time comes to sharpen them you need to do things a little differently.

Firsts of all since the steel is harder than regular knives it takes longer to sharpen them but this extra effort will give you an extraordinary sharpness for a long time so you don't have to do it very often.

This is how you sharpen global knives (a really modern type of knife) :

For routine sharpening you need medium grit whetstones (used mainly for restoring blade keenness) and whetstone holder or a damp towel.

For other maintenance this s what you use:
fine grit (used for finishing honing of the blade edge)
rough grit (used for repairing small chips in the blade)

Steps:

1) Soak the whole whetstone in water for 20 minutes











2) Lay down a damp towel on a flat surface of a table and place the whetstone on it so that it does not move, you can also use a stone holder.













3) Hold the knife handle firmly with the blade edge facing towards you. Hold the knife steady by placing the thumb on the blade side. Have your fingers of other hand also lightly placed on the blade side. Position the knife so that it may get in contact with the whetstone, from tip to heel.











4) Hold the knife at an angle of approximately 15 degrees against the whetstone (about the thickness of one or two 10 yen coins). A flat blade is obtained by maintaining a steady angle and grip.











5) Move the knife gently back and forth with a constant rhythm. Using the maximum area of whetstone, slide the blade away from you, from the tip to the heel. When drawing it back, pull the blade gently back towards you.











6) Touch the edge of the blade with your finger. If sharpened correctly, there should be burrs and you feel the blade is rough. Make sure the burrs are dispersed evenly across the knife.












7) When burrs have appeared, sharpen the other side. Turn the knife, hold it by your other hand and pull it towards you.











8) If the knife is chipped, we recommend that you follow the procedures mentioned above, starting with a rough grit whetstone, followed by a medium grit and then a super fine grit whetstone. It would be sufficient to use only the medium grit whetstone followed by the super fine grit whetstone for normal sharpening.

For double-beveled knives Sharpen the knife with a ratio of 6:4 for front side and back side. When burrs appear on the reverse side, sharpen the knife so that the burrs disappear.

For single-beveled knives Firstly, sharpen the side that has a blade edge and when burrs appear, lay the reverse side of the knife flat against the whetstone and keep sharpening both sides in turn until the burrs disappear.

This is how they sharpen knives in japan: