My manager at work alerted me to an amazing knife deal and I managed to score 8 Ken Onion Shun knives and the honing steel for almost 65% off retail price.  I would never buy these knives at full retail cost, that’s just crazy, but the deal was too good to pass up.

The set included the following Ken Onion Series Shuns:

6″ Chef Knife
7″ Santoku
4″ Chef Knife
5″ Serrated Utility Knife
9″ Slicing Knife
3″ Paring Knife
Boning Knife
Bread Knife
Honing Steal

Although the set did not include the spotlight-hogging 8″ Chef Knife that every one has been raving about, I was fine without it. It’s just too much knife for most of us who solely cook at home.  The title of kitchen workhorse should belong to its 6″ inch brethren.  It seems to be more practical when it comes to everyday kitchen tasks and other mundane chops, yet it still outshines where performance is desired.  The size is just right, and the balance is right on.

The knives are sturdy and much heavier than I thought, reminding me of Western knives such as WÜSTHOF, but still not as heavy.  What’s more important is that it feels good when it’s held.

The handle is designed to be ergonomic in eliminating stress on the hand and wrist, and while it fits well in the palm of the hand, it doesn’t matter to me because I hold the knife by pinching the bolster with my thumb and index finger.  For those who use the pinch-grip method, the curved side bolster makes it extremely comfortable to hold the knife.  It’s the way I learned to hold a knife, and holding it by the handle still feels awkward, no matter how ergonomic it is.

Aesthetically speaking, these knives look great, especially when they glimmer under the light.  I found myself cleaning them almost immediately after use.  They didn’t deserve to be left dirty after delivering such precision on the chopping block.

By far, these are the sharpest knives I have ever used.  So sharp that these put my Globals to shame.  While I was cutting chicken breast after chicken breast, I didn’t have to exert much force and the knife did  most of the work, a true testament to the sharp edge and weight of the knife working in conjunction. There was no resistance from the meat, as if it just gave up on life and let me hack away.

Switching to these knives might be too much of a leap for novice home cooks looking to step up their knife game, but seasoned home cooks who have mastered knife basics will have no time adjusting.  In all honestly, it’s difficult to justify the price, as most of us would never drop over $1200 for a set of knives.  I only got these because they were on sale.  If you had to get one, go for the 6″ Chef knife if you can find it.

Happy cutting, and watch those fingers!

~ Kin

I was watching Everyday Italian and noticed that Giada was no longer using the Global Chef’s Knife anymore.  In it’s place was the Shun Ken Onion Chef’s Knife.  For those unfamiliar with Shun, it is recognized as one of the sharpest and top knife brands.  Here’s a bit of detail on how the knives are constructed.

Clad Construction

The wavy pattern on our blades is called a Damascus look; what gives it that pattern are 16 layers of SUS410 High Carbon Stainless Steel pounded to 3/1000th of an inch and then “clad” on each side of the VG10 core. This combination of materials gives the blade strength, stain resistance, and incredible cutting performance.

The Cutting Edge

Shun’s cutting edge is ground to an angle of 16 degrees making them extremely sharp; compare this to the best German knives which are only ground to only 22 degrees. The exotic Japanese steels used in the cutting core of our knives allow them to hold these razor sharp edges without the need for excessive re-sharpening.

VG10 “Super Steel”

VG10 is a new type of stainless steel that has a higher density. This allows the steel to be tempered to a Rockwell hardness of 61, and still have the flexibility and strength to take and keep a perfect edge. VG10’s natural tendency is to remain straight and true, so when it is used, the edge of the blade naturally straightens out and stays sharper longer.

SG-2 Powdered Steel

Shun uses SG-2 as the cutting steel in some of our Elite knives. Our SG-2 is an exotic powdered steel with incredible edge retention capability and hardness, resulting in an exceedingly sharp and smooth edge. It has a much higher density and grain structure with no imperfections or weak points.

Kasumi Method

This is the traditional Japanese style of knife making where you take an extremely hard carbon steel used for the edge, then clad on each side a protective layer of stainless steel like our Shun Classic line. This is actually the process of how samurai swords are made.

Honyaki Method

This style of Japanese knife making is where the blades are made of one piece of steel, like our Shun pro series. In Japan the most prized and expensive kitchen knives are made this way.

The Ken Onion Chef’s knife is one hardcore piece of kitchen artillery.  It’s ergonomically designed and is made with  32 layers of SUS410 stainless steel, compared to the other knives in the line, which are made up of 16 layers.  MSRP for the 8-inch version of this knife is around $250.  Amazon has it for $200.00

I mentioned the Alton Brown Edition of the Shun Chef Knife in an earlier post.  I provided a picture in case you were wondering what it looked like.  From what I hear, Shun knives are supposed to be top notch.  The ‘Alton’s Angle’ Shun edition knives have an imprint of Alton’s face on the blade.  There’s something creepy about that, like  he’s watching my every move in the kitchen.

I’m in the market for a new chef knife. Well, it’s not like my chef knife is old. It’s that I don’t even own one, never did. Before I moved out of my old place, I was using my former roommate’s Wustoff knife set. It was a great, but I really want something else besides Wustoff. When I finally got my own place a couple of months ago, I bought a Chinese meat cleaver when I was in Queens. It was supposed to be my one and only all purpose cutting tool. It’s a great cleaver, but, I need something more precise and easier to weld. It’s just not doing it for me anymore. I like to chop fast and evenly, and the cleaver doesn’t always allow me to do that. I’ve narrowed my choices down to the Global Chef Knife and the Shun Chef Knife. Knowing me though, it’s going to take a long time to decide upon the one I want. I spent a year shopping for a flat-panel TV before I decided on the one to purchase. Since I love to cook so much more than to watch television, I hope I don’t take too long to decide.