Santuko Hollow Edge Knives?

Epicurean Exploits - Food and Recipes
1

I’m in the market for a couple of knives (see prior bread knife post). I’m looking to buy a 7" Santoku knife and was wondering what the practical differences were between a hollow edge knife and a non-hollow edge knife.

Thanks.

2

The hollow edge allows the knife to slide more easily through the food being cut and also keeps things like onion slices from sticking to the knife. I wish I had a hollow-edge chef’s knife, but I don’t.

3

What Bob said.

I have three scalloped or Granton edged knives. They generally have less “sticking” when cutting/slicing. The Shun Santoku is on sale for $80 at Williams-Sonoma and Sur La Table. A no brainer at that price point.

4

Another advantage is that they are typically lighter weight than regular chef’s knives, which helps prevent hand fatigue. I love my Wusthoff Trident classic 7" Santuko – it is my go-to knife.

5

So I’m tempted to check out that Shun Santuko. A question though:

I have all Henckel knives now, and I sharpen them with a normal steel and with one of these when they get really bad:

That’s been working great for about 10 years now, they still sharpen beautifully.

I thought I’d read that Japanese knives require a different sharpening angle and need a different sharpener. I assume you can still use a steel and just need a different actual sharpener to maintain the angle of the point?

6

That’s correct, and you can buy a little gadget like yours that sharpens the knives at the proper angle. That said, you can also send Shuns back to the US headquarters in Tualatin, OR, and they’ll sharpen them for you - though rumor has it that they don’t bother. They just send you a new knife.

7

Any reason not to get this sharpener if I’m happy w/ my other Wusthof sharpener:

http://www.surlatable.com/product/wusthof+santoku+sharpener.do?keyword=sharpener&sortby=ourPicks#" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

8

Subject to double-checking, I’d be hesitant to use it on a Shun.

9

I’m open to suggestions for a sharpener. Not into an expensive, electronic or bulky one though, I would prefer to keep it small and simple.

10

A little checking shows that the Wusthof Santokus are ground at 17 degrees, whereas the Shuns are ground at 16. Therein lies the problem. Either get the Shun and send it to the factory when it gets dull, or get a Wusthof and the little sharpener.