JKC Kai Damascus Kengata ¿ Broad European Style Chef¿s Knife 250mm

Are you sitting comfortably? then I shall begin. Once upon a time a happy accident involving my faithful old work horse kitchen devil knife and too much dishwasher salt not being rinsed out of my machine "forced" me to purchase a new knife and I thought I would take the plunge and get a decent knife and after lots of reading and watching of reviews I settled on the Kai Shun classic having received good reviews, pretty looks and price point. And what did I get, I got a beautiful looking knife that I immediately sliced into my finger first time using it (so sharp that it did not feel it till I sliced a lemon open). I have only had it a wee while and so far I am totally loving it and can see how people can get addicted to collecting Japanese chef knives I am already dreaming of owning a artisan made knife or two (not that I will be getting one soon).Now I warn you I am in no way a professional chef and just enjoy making good food at home so all these views are from an amateurs point of view. Jumping from a small kitchen devil chef knife to a full sized 25cm chefs knife has taken some getting used to but once you are used to it the knife is amazingly versatile for its size (much to do with its sharpness if I think about it). It is razor sharp straight out of the box and ready to go after just a little wipe down with a damp soapy cloth. I find that the fact that the narrow spine makes slicing things so much easier (never realised how much my old knife stuck till now) and once used to the size the knife feels natural in my hand. The various grips of the knife again are comfortable and my pinch grip feels more secure when slicing and dicing. I have not had cause to mince herbs with it yet so no idea how that performs but there is a good curve and it is a basic grip so I can not see that being a problem.A few bits of advice that I am finding useful is to keep a damp cloth to hand and between individual ingredients give it a quick wipe and dry, hone regularly (dependant on how much heavy usage to how often) apparently with a leather strop block, in fact research knife daily maintenance and sharpening. If you have a glass cutting board bin it, in fact if you have a glass cutting board with any knife bin the board immediately, and mostly if you are not used to a large knife sharp enough to use Rambo style on stubble take your time learning to use it.As you can probably tell I am very happy with my new weapon of culinary destruction and can not wait to get a few more.

Just stunning. The most beautiful thing I have ever had in my kitchen - including my children! Immaculately sharp out of the box and, 3 months of continuous use later, all I have had to do is stroke it on a steel a few times. This is the largest chef knife that Shun produce, but I'm a big guy and I have large hands; the 8" version may better suit people who like a slightly less hefty blade. I was gifted the 6" utility knife from this range a few years ago and it and this beauty are the only two knives I ever use now. Worth every penny and then some.

Good knife.

Shuns take a bit of abuse from extreme knife-nuts, but the steel is decent and this particular VG10 sharpens easily (compared to the SG2 of the Kaji line, which is for sharpening experts only). The blade will easily exceed anything available at John Lewis and the like. The main problem is that the profile has a lot of belly - there isn't much of a flat surface to make contact with the board. That's okay for slicing and rock-chopping, but not for push cuts (i.e. when you see someone chopping an onion very fast). If you have no idea what I'm talking about, then this is probably the knife for you. I've owned an 8" and 10" for many years - bought in the USA - and although I barely use them today, they taught me much about chopping and sharpening.