Cutlery Reviews

I believe if you're serious about cooking, you should own great cookware and excellent knives. I finally stepped up and got excellent knives. For those who haven't heard the hype, Shun is one of the most respected knife brands in the world. Check them out on the Web at kershawknives.com.

Great features of the entire line include these cool "D" shaped handles that fit your hand better. Every Shun Classic knife is made in a right- and left-handed version (chefsresource.com for lefties). The handles are made of wood and are specially treated so they are diswasher safe!! The steel used for the blades is harder than what you would find in most other knives. The knives are EXTREMELY sharp. One thing to note about Asian knives is that they must be sharpened at a different angle, 16-18 degrees vs. 20 degrees for German knives. The Shun steel takes the guesswork out of getting the angle correct because of the flat edge on one side of the metal disc below the handle.

I have a different set, but I'll review the pieces I have that are either in this set or similar to the ones in the set:

3 1/2" Paring knife -- This knife makes quick work of garlic. It is so sharp that it seems like I just have to lay the knife against the food.

Tomato knife -- I didn't eat tomatoes for a week while I was waiting on this knife to arrive. I'm glad I waited. I used to cut tomatoes with a steak knife and this is so much better!
I think this knife is the utility knife with scallops. I don't have enough knife smarts to know the difference between serrations and scallops, but I do know I love this knife. In Alton Brown's "Gear" book, he prefers scallops, but didn't say why.

About the 7" scalloped santoku ... this is my first Shun knife. It is honestly the sharpest knife I have ever used. I minced onion with relatively no effort. I didn't feel any resistance while cutting and the job went amazingly quickly.

I have small hands and this knife felt perfect. The weight was just right and it just fit well in my hand. I will have to make adjustments to my grip as I get used to the knife. (I used the traditional grip you would use on a German blade chef's knife my hand slipped toward the blade.) This knife will not replace my chef's knife, but it will see a lot of action.

Offset bread knife -- this is my first offset bread knife and the offset design does keep your knuckles off the cutting board. As with other Shun knives, it feels very light compared to my previous knives. It works extremely well. You can cut angel food cake and artisan bread with this without a problem. I would not have puchased this knife if I wasn't completing a Shun set. Otherwise, I would have bought a cheaper offset knife.

This is my third pair of kitchen shears. The first was $10 and lasted a week. I thought the second pair was just fine until my Shun shears arrived. These cut well and are also very smooth while cutting. They fit my hand nicely. I can really feel the difference in quality. These can perform different functions -- opening bottles, jar opener, nut cracker -- one blade has a curve in it to accomodate bone. I love that they are dishwasher safe.

I probably wouldn't have purchashed these if I were not completing a Shun set. But now that I have them, this is what I should have been using all along.

This is an expensive, but lifetime investment. I encourage you to visit stores and feel the knives in your hand to make sure you are comfortable with them. For more info on Shun, check out Alton Brown's website. For ratings on various brands and types of knives, check out cooksillustrated.coms' equipment ratings.

This is probably the best kitchen purchase I've made and the one I'm most proud of. (I've managed to cut myself only twice in the first two days of ownership.) My only complaint is that there was no logo on my block; it's plain wood.

Shun knives are beautiful creations period. Since I'm Asian, I love the tradition look and feel of this Japanese knife. I love the beauty of the blade and the dark, polished, Pakkawood handle. The unique "D"-shaped, Wood handles are preferable. The shape fits my hand perfectly, and the wood does not get slippery when wet - providing a very secure hold. The steel is of utmost quality and sharpness. Do not put this blade into any old electric knife sharpener! Electric knife sharpeners are made to put one angle on any blade. These blades come with a 16 degree angle and you don't want to be changing that angle. There are electric knife sharpeners that can sharpen these knives, but you'll have to do some research and find out which ones can be a fit with these knives. I prefer to hone with a sharpening steel and manually sharpen with a stone if necessary (and I don't see it being necessary to touch it to a stone any time soon). The blade is sharp straight off the factory and as Alton Brown says - it's the sharpest straight out of the factory edge as he's ever seen.

These knives are more expensive than most, but I think it's definitely worth it. To have the sharpest, most beautiful knife around - it's no contest. If you are on a budget, build your collection slowly. It's been said that there are only 3 knives that are the absolute basics for any kitchen: A 8" Chef's Knife (or some kind of similar, large-ish chef's knife), a Paring Knife, and a Long Serrated blade for cutting bread and larger items. I would add a thin utility knife and a boning knife to that list next. Then I would add those "in-between" sizes as I get more money flow in. Now if you're buying a whole set like this, you'll get it all in one shot and it becomes a better deal than pieceing your collection together, one-by-one.

If you plan on spending any time in the kitchen, good kitchen knives are a definite must. Preparation is the bulk of cooking and when you have good knives, it cuts down on the danger of cutting yourself, it adds pleasure to the work, and it cuts down on prep time. Knives are also a very personal choice and it's best to at least go to a store and try it out for yourself first. Shun Knives are designed by the Japanese, so remember - it's designed for small hands. This makes it fit most women's hands perfectly, but I've heard of guys with larger hands not like it so much and going back to the German knives. So definitely try it out. It's a personal thing, it needs to fit you.

Why spend so much money on a knife? Well, if you spend a lot of time in the kitchen, and you almost always have to bust out a knife to prep a meal from scratch - why not use the best? Why spend that time with items that you love and brings you pleasure to use? Many times, it's the small things that brings us the most pleasure in life, and I consider my Shun knives as one of those things. Having something so beautiful and yet so sharp and perfect - it makes my time cooking just that much more enjoyable.

Another good thing to know is that although the Shun Knives are usually offered for right-handers, you can get these knives for left-handers. You just need to find the guys who stock and sell those ones as they are less known, and less common.

These knives are great and should last for a lifetime plus a 1000 years. However, they are quite expensive. Their best virtue is their unique and stunning appearance. The layered blades were made by an obviously labor intensive process said to be similar to the best Samurai blades.

If you're looking for a visually stunning gift that has a very high level of quality (and price is no object), these would be a good choice.