Shun Sora 7" Hollow Ground Santoku Knife, Handcrafted Japanese All Purpose Knife, VG10 Steel Edge and 420J Stainless Steel Blade, Balanced Handle, Versatile Japanese Cutting Tool

I love Shun knives! This Santoku knife is the mid-range Shun with an attractive Japanese tang and a shaped polymer handle rather than wood. More on that later. Shun knives feel great in the hands, hold a very sharp, provide an easy to keep sharp Asian angle edge, and have been very durable in use. Attractively packaged, Shun knives are not only safe during opening (easy) but good for gift giving. The Santoku knife is a general purpose blade that would be the one knife you would want in your drawer. It is well suited to general cutting, chopping, and slicing tasks. The near perfect length and width for so many activities -- it will be your first choice out of the drawer. For anyone considering their first knife or for gift giving, this is “the knife”. For my own use, I like a knife that allows you to clutch the upper portion of the blade between your thumb and index fingers during cutting activities. I have preferences for the type and shape of handle based on the same. For this Shun, I prefer this particular handle configuration, and have purchased a couple of Shun knives with the exact same handle. The polymer-plastic is strong and comfortable. The shape is fine for general holding and use, and perfect for the finger-thumb clutch. These knives are literally razor sharp out of the box, and slicing through a tomato, onion, or hard squash can be a revelatory experience. With the exception of the harder squash, requiring more force, the (suspected) robotic demons armed with rotating surgical cutters on the cutting edge of these Shun knives cut cleanly, quickly and like the proverbial hot knife through butter! As I tell family members who seem to keep perennially dull knives in their own kitchens --"a sharp knife is safer than a dull knife". Less than sharp knives are quite irritating and a safety hazard when I do not have my Shuns available in alternate kitchens! Keeping Shun knives sharp is easy, but be sure to select the proper "santoku/asian" angle. I prefer this Chef's Choice 463 Pronto Santoku/Asian Manual Knife Sharpener for regular use. For the price, Shun knives provide a super value in Japanese blades with great construction, excellent feeling during use, attractive appearance, and high durability. I have not hesitated to purchase a number of similar Shun knives and still have a couple to go. Compare and buy one of the best!

Great home-use (and entry-level professional use) knife from KAI/Shun. I use this knife way more than my Henkel or Wusthof knives. It holds a better edge, is more comfortable, and extremely versatile. I use Shun professionally and love their knives, but I needed something that would still be good at home, but that I wouldn't cry over if my wife or in-laws messed up. This completely fits the bill. The thin blade is easy to touch up and keep sharp. Its high polish helps it resist rust (yes, even 'stainless' can rust under certain conditions and uses), and it has a comfortable and easy-to-grip handle. Don't throw this in your dishwasher, or you'll ruin it. Also, invest (it isn't expensive) in a decent soft-wood cutting board, and you'll experience a much sharper knife for much longer. If you read the instructions that come with it, plastic boards will dull it very quickly, and for the love of God in heaven, don't use a glass, corian, or other hard board with ANY knives.

I absolutely love these knives. The profile of the blade is great and they are really sharp right out of the box. I purchased the Santoku, 8" chef, 6" Chef, Utility, Ultimate Utility, bread knife, and pairing knife. Not only are they a great looking set of knives to display in your kitchen, but they truly do take your cooking to another level. Some people complain that the polymer handle feels cheep, but these knives are perfectly priced for what they are. The polymer grip is comfortable and its profiled it such a way that it looks great. These knives truly show the mastery knife making at work at Sora. I also have a some Wusthoff Classics, Messermeister Elites, and a set of the Calphalon Katana. The Classics and Elites I love. The Katanas not so much. These Soras are the best knives in this price range and I love them. My favorite out of all of them has to be the 7" Santoku, but all of the others are great to. Some people say they got rust spots on these knives. Well more expensive knives have a good side and a bad side. They are great because you get better blade profiles, with a blade that holds an edge a lot longer and is much easier to sharpen, but the down side is they are prone to rust. You shouldn't just leave these knives laying in a wet sink for days like you can do with cheaper knives. You should do that with any higher end knife because they will all get rust spots. Also I can not stress this enough. Do not put these knives in the dishwasher. When you finish using them. Hand wash them in soap and water. Hand dry them really good and put them back on your knife rack. Also make sure you knife isn't wet from placing wet knives on it. Putting your good knives on a wet knife rack is a good way to get rust spots. These really are great knives that are very easy to take care of with a little respect and a few steps, and these are possibly the best knives in the price range. These or the Messermeister Elites. Though the elites are a little more expensive than these. You will not regret buying these Soras'. Also if you purchase these. Get yourself a nice knife rack to display them. The beautifully crafted knives look way to go to be thrown in a knife block or drawer.

Very good and comfortable to use. It's my go-to knife now. Wished I had known about it years ago. Looks beautiful, right weight when using and holds its edge. Reasonable price.

Great knife, super sharp, well balanced and holds an edge. Highly recommend.

Super sharp out of box as it should be. I use these smaller utility knifes for everything.

The quality of the knife is good in general, though the plastic handle feels cheap. (They must be deliberately doing so, to differentiate their product lines. This is fine for me as it does not impact functionality. ) It is well-balanced and pretty sharp (but not exceptionally so in the price range, the ceramic knives from Kyocera is sharper [but is more likely to chip]. ). The knife is pretty thin, so it can only be used with vegetables and (fresh or defrosted) meat. It has a very sharp and thin tip, hence the tip is likely to be bent is proper care is not taken. The thing is that Shun knife is pretty overpriced in the US market. Since the Sora version is exclusively for US market, you cannot get a cheaper one same as this knife (There are composite blade knives similar to this from this company at a much lower price. With wooden handles, of course. ). However, for the price you pay, you can actually get the Japanese domestic version of the fancier DM0718 (which currently is about twice as expensive as this knife), plus shipping it to the US. (Of course, to do that, you first have to know that the domestic brand for Shun is Seki Magoroku [' '' in Kanji], then try to buy it using Rakuten [because amazon.co.jp does not ship knives overseas], and wait for one month for delivery, and you won't have warranty for the knife in US. I did not do this because I need a knife to cook now, BUT I mention it to let you know that this knife is much more expensive in US than in its domestic market.) Hence, I have to deduct one star for this kind of price discrimination.

Great knife. Very sharp blade. The handle is quite elegant and fits nicely in the hand. I find this size knife to be the most versatile and most often used knife in my kitchen. A very nice knife, with a very nice blade that is also built to survive regular day-in-day-out use.

Shiny and sharp. Great entry level Shun knife. Highly recommended for anyone looking to upgrade from basic kitchen knives.

goodo

Tal como se describe. Auténtico de Japón, multiusos, ligero, de facil manejo y con buena retención de filo. El precio es muy bueno ya que es un producto de excelente calidad. Requiere cuidado con protector de filo, no debe ser golpeado ni usado para intentar partir hueso. Requerirá ser afilado y darle mantenimiento al filo con el uso.

Excelente qualidade, leve, fina e versátil. O formato da lâmina parece uma mistura de santoku com gyuto. Vale cada centavo.

Extremamente afiada e tomando os devidos cuidados, é uma faca para a vida toda. Uma verdadeira obra de arte!