The Santoku knife is particularly useful for cutting and chopping vegetables, fruit and meat, and can also be used to slice fish. Its Japanese name refers to its "three virtues" or main uses: cutting, slicing and chopping.
Purposes - As general-purpose knives, both santoku and gyutou are good for similar purposes. Mincing, dicing, chopping and thin slices of vegetables. Slicing and cubing raw meat and slicing and portioning cooked proteins.
With a size of five to eight inches, the Santoku is both thin and short, which contributes to the ease of manoeuvre. A chef's knife is a stark contrast to this, with the size of the blade going as high as twelve inches. This is important for cutting larger ingredients such as entire sides of meat.
Santoku knives are Japanese knives primarily used for slicing, dicing, and chopping vegetables, fruits, and boneless meats. The word "santoku" means "three virtues" or "three uses," referring to the knife's ability to handle three types of cutting tasks: chopping, slicing and dicing.
The Santoku knife is a multipurpose knife because of which it must have a tall and clean edge. The higher edge creates more space between the food and the blade, resulting in cleaner and more defined slices. You can effortlessly use santoku knives for slicing sushi and vegetables.
What are the dimples on a santoku knife? Also known as a hollow edge or Granton edge, the dimples help food slide off the blade after each stroke. Our favorite knife from Mac has this edge, which helped it glide through food without anything sticking.
At its most general, a serrated knife refers to any knife that is equipped with a jagged blade. The serrations on these blades are usually deep and pointed, allowing them to slice through thick crusts and other tough foods. Like all knives, serrated knives come in a wide range of sizes.
Never Cut On Stone Or Glass
The true enemy of sharp knives everywhere are glass cutting boards and countertops. Not only does cutting on them quickly dull and ruin the sharp edge of your blade, but they are also very unsafe.
Understanding the “three virtues” of the Santoku is a good start: chopping, slicing, dicing. Unlike the Chef's knife, the Santoku makes it easier to slice using a single downward cut, as opposed to a rocking cut.
The Santoku knife is particularly useful for cutting and chopping vegetables, fruit and meat, and can also be used to slice fish. Its Japanese name refers to its "three virtues" or main uses: cutting, slicing and chopping.
Gordon Ramsay
Ramsay likes Henckels knives. This is a German brand known for their toughness and bulky blades.
All Purpose Santoku Knife
With the features of both a vegetable knife and a meat knife, the Santoku knife is the perfect all-purpose knife. This Japanese style knife is best for beginners who are new to Japanese kitchen knives.
“In his top gear picks for Williams Sonoma, the celebrity chef [Bobby Flay] recommended the Shun Classic Western, which is hand-crafted in Japan. 'I pretty much use a chef's knife for everything and Shun is one of my very favorite brands. '”
For most cooks, the trio of serrated, chef's, and paring knife will tackle pretty much any cutting task. Depending on what you prep frequently, though, you might want to add these other knives to your collection. Boning knife: Useful for cutting up, butterflying, or fileting meat, fish, or poultry.
Most professional chefs, as well as this handy knife guide, will advise that you use one of the best chef's knives to chop, dice or slice an onion. Size can vary according to your own preferences and grip, but typically an ideal knife will be around 8 to 10 inches and made out of stainless steel.
Holes in the blades of kitchen knives can serve two purposes. They can reduce the weight of the blade and provide a better balance. They can also reduce friction when cutting dense or “sticky” material such as cheese.
Santokus are most often used for chopping, dicing, and mincing. Because of their precision edge, they're especially useful for julienning thin slices of vegetables and meats. The wide blade associated with a santoku also makes it useful for "scooping" food off of a cutting board in place of a bench scraper.
We recommend the most popular 165mm blade length as the best size for a Santoku knife. To help make your decision, you should consider factors such as the size of your workspace, the size of your hand, and the size of your most commonly used ingredients or produce.