Yes, you absolutely need to sharpen your Santoku knife. Because a Santoku relies on a very thin, precise edge for slicing and chopping, it requires regular upkeep. Routine care will keep the blade safe and highly effective.
To sharpen a Santoku knife, use a water or whetstone with a 10-to-15-degree angle. Maintain a consistent angle while sliding the blade back and forth across the stone until you feel a "burr" (a slight ridge) along the edge. Repeat on the other side, then deburr and strop the blade.
You should sharpen your knife once or twice per year for casual use or once a month for professional use depending on the frequency of use alongside some other factors. To keep your knife sharp, however, you should be honing it before or after every use to maintain a sharp edge for as long as possible.
This also means both sides need to be sharpened, so switch to your other hand, grip the knife and place your fingers the same way, like when you sharpened with your right hand as the dominant hand, but with your opposite hand.
The Santoku knife lives up to its name which means "three virtues." A well-maintained Santoku serves 15-20 years. This versatile knife handles meat, fish, and vegetables exceptionally well and becomes the go-to choice for everyday cooking.
Home cooks and professional chefs alike rely on both of these kitchen workhorses. The versatile chef's knife is able to easily dominate thick-skinned veggies or tough meats, while the precise santoku knife is capable of finely slicing proteins and working with soft or juicy ingredients without the cling or mess.
In the high-end folding knife community, the original "Holy Trinity" refers to three legendary American makers who pioneered the modern premium tactical folder. Together, their designs set the gold standard for durability and precision.
In the sharpening phase, we do not recommend any current WD-40® Brand Products although some may be used later for storage & protection. For sharpening stones the lubrication can come from water or oil.
What You Should Know About the Global G-2 Chef's Knife. Global is most well-known for its handcrafted Japanese knives, though the brand also makes knife sharpeners and tools for the kitchen. Anthony Bourdain was a fan of the brand's G-2 Chef's Knife in particular, especially for those just getting into cooking.
For most kitchens, you only need three foundational knives to handle 95% of prep work: a Chef's Knife, a Paring Knife, and a Serrated (Bread) Knife. These three powerhouses can tackle anything from dicing onions and slicing crusty bread to peeling fruits and carving small meats.
The Chef'sChoice Trizor XV transforms your Japanese knives with a razor-sharp 15° edge, perfect for Yanagiba and Santoku. Its three-stage system (coarse, fine, polishing) delivers a durable, mirror-smooth edge that's sashimi-worthy.
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For a home cook, Chef Hervé suggests giving it a refresh about once or twice a month, while professional chefs generally take out their whetstone about once every ten days, though they are often rotating through several different knives day by day or task by task.
Pull-through sharpeners are not universally "bad," but they are generally discouraged for high-quality or expensive knives. They offer quick, convenient edge maintenance but are highly aggressive, removing excess metal and often leaving a fragile, jagged edge.
Cutting boards made of glass, granite, ceramic, or your dinner plate may look stylish or convenient, but they are the fastest way to destroy a knife's edge. These surfaces are harder than your knife's steel. So every time your blade contacts them, it suffers microscopic edge deformation, chipping, or even rolling.
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Anthony Bourdain refused to visit Switzerland.
The Santoku is best for general home use and easy handling, while the Gyuto is better for cooks needing greater versatility and precision. The Santoku is shorter, with a rounded tip, making it ideal for slicing, dicing, and chopping vegetables, meat, and fish.
The best knife lubricant depends on your application: for food prep, use food-safe mineral or coconut oil; for folding knife pivots, use high-performance synthetics like KPL Knife Pivot Lube; and for low-mess storage, choose dry lubricants or waxes.
Yes, you should always wash a knife after sharpening. Sharpening actively removes steel from the blade, leaving behind microscopic metal shavings and stone grit. Washing prevents these particles from transferring into your food or causing the fresh edge to rust and corrode.
Yet despite all the talk about knives that goes on in both home and professional kitchens — and despite all the knives out there that are truly great to have — there are just three knives every kitchen ultimately needs: a chef's knife, a paring knife, and a bread knife.
In many cultures, giving someone a knife or another sharp object is thought to symbolically cut or sever the bond between giver and receiver. The knife's sharp edge represents division, which can be interpreted as bringing misfortune to a friendship, romantic relationship, or family tie.
John Wick famously wields a signature series of high-end, out-the-front (OTF) automatic knives in his movies. The specific knives vary depending on the film, transitioning from production models by Microtech Knives in the first three movies to a highly exclusive custom blade in the fourth.