My kitchen is complete. Thanks to my friends and family I have all the my cooking tools, pots, bowls, and cutlery. I just ordered a Santoku knife with a gift certificate from CSN Stores. But what's so special?
The Santoku is a general-purpose kitchen knife originating in Japan. Its blade is typically between 5 and 8 inches long, and has a flat edge and a sheepsfoot blade that curves in an angle approaching 60 degrees at the point. The top of the santoku's handle is in line with the top of the blade.
The word santoku loosely translates as 'three virtues' or 'three uses', a reference to the three cutting tasks the knife performs well: slicing; dicing; and mincing. The santoku's blade and handle are designed to work in harmony by matching the blade's width/weight to the weight of blade tang and handle, and the original Japanese santoku is considered a well-balanced knife.
Santoku blade geometry incorporates the "Sheep's foot" tip. A sheep's foot design essentially draws the spine ("backstrap") down to the front, with very little clearance above the horizontal cutting plane when the blade is resting naturally from heel to forward cutting edge. Providing a more linear cutting edge, the Santoku has limited "rocking" travel (in comparison to a German/Western-style Chef's knife). The Santoku may be used in a rocking motion, however, very little cutting edge makes contact with the surface due to the exreme radius of the tip and very little "tip travel" occurs due to the short cantilever span from contact landing to tip.
An example of this limitation can be demonstrated in dicing an onion - A Western knife generally slices downward and then rocks the tip forward to complete a cut; The santoku relies more on a single downward cut, and even landing from heel to tip. With practice, a santoku knife is most efficient at working with vegetables, but users accustomed to German-style knives should adapt from "rocking" to "chopping" in similar applications.
Santoku design is lighter, thinner and shorter than a traditional Western chef's knife. The santoku is sometimes preferred among people with smaller hands.
I haven't received it in the mail yet. But when I do, I will post a review. I spent more than I would on a knife, so I hope it's worth it. What do you think of your santoku?
1 comments:
i love my santoku! actually, now that i have my 7-piece rachael ray set, i use the Chef's knife more than the santoku, but i love them both. i like the Chef's knife because it's 8in and the Santoku is 5in. but still, i love them both! it is SO WORTH having a good set of knives. first you have to get used to them so you don't slice your fingers all the time...but then it just makes things so much easier and quicker! esp. sweet potatoes. they cut SO FAST!
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