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- Sep 5, 2007
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You've been kicking around, or maybe you've gone to your favourite Kitchen store, and you've started to see a new (relatively speaking) knife start to make it's way onto the shelves lately. Santoku? What's that? Japanese? The question becomes, what is it good for? Do I want one? In this guide, I will be comparing a Santoku to a German-style chef's knife. This style includes such well known brands such as the Wusthof Grand Prix and the Henckels Four Star or Professional S. The specific knives I have are:
Santoku: Sekiryu Full-Forged in High Carbon/Molybdenum Stainless Steel
Chef: Lagostina Pro-Clad in High Carbon Stainless
Down to Business: What are the Differences?
Taking a look at a Santoku beside a standard Chef knife, you'll notice a fair number of differences on the physical side of things, such as blade shape, weight, etc. These lead to different uses of the knife, and as such, I will be doing this guide in two parts: Physical differences, and usage differences. Before I start, here are a couple pictures. The first is of a santoku, the second, a typical German chef knife. I will be referring to these, so please come back to them.
Physical Differences
Blade Shape
The first major difference you will notice between the two knives is the overall shape of the blade. The santoku is very leaf shaped: it's got a much wider blade through a longer part of the body with a very sharp taper at the end. The german chef knife is more triangle shaped: it starts out very wide at the base, but there is a gradual but fairly uniform taper to the tip of the blade.
Blade Length
The next difference is blade length. The most common size santoku you'll see has a cutting surface (edged part of the blade) that is seven inches in length. The typical german chef knife will have a blade that is eight inches in length. Of course, lengths will vary, but in general, the german chef knife will have a slightly longer blade.
Blade Thickness
The next major difference between the two knives is the thickness along the spine of the blade. While the blades of the two knives are roughly the same, the thickness of the spine (the top) of the blade on the santoku is about 1/2 as thick as the german knife, which makes a much thinner knife overall.
Weight
With a shorter and thinner blade, the santoku tends to be a much lighter knife (on average) than a typical german knife.
Grind Angle
When you look at the edge of a knife, the grind angle is the angle at which the sharpened edge of the knife sits compared to the unsharpened part of the knife. A typical german knife has a grind angle of between 15-20 degrees. A santoku generally has a grind angle between 10-12 degrees. The practical upshot is that the santoku has a much finer and sharper edge on it than a typical german chef knife.
Steel/Wear and Tear
Of course, that finer grind angle has a few tradeoffs. Since there is less steel around the edge, a typical santoku has to have much harder steel than a german knife. This generally means there is more carbon in the steel used in a santoku. This can mean a somewhat more expensive knife, but it generally means that a santoku needs to be taken better care of, since more carbon means it is MUCH more likely to rust or oxidize.
...read the full guide with pics here
Santoku: Sekiryu Full-Forged in High Carbon/Molybdenum Stainless Steel
Chef: Lagostina Pro-Clad in High Carbon Stainless
Down to Business: What are the Differences?
Taking a look at a Santoku beside a standard Chef knife, you'll notice a fair number of differences on the physical side of things, such as blade shape, weight, etc. These lead to different uses of the knife, and as such, I will be doing this guide in two parts: Physical differences, and usage differences. Before I start, here are a couple pictures. The first is of a santoku, the second, a typical German chef knife. I will be referring to these, so please come back to them.
Physical Differences
Blade Shape
The first major difference you will notice between the two knives is the overall shape of the blade. The santoku is very leaf shaped: it's got a much wider blade through a longer part of the body with a very sharp taper at the end. The german chef knife is more triangle shaped: it starts out very wide at the base, but there is a gradual but fairly uniform taper to the tip of the blade.
Blade Length
The next difference is blade length. The most common size santoku you'll see has a cutting surface (edged part of the blade) that is seven inches in length. The typical german chef knife will have a blade that is eight inches in length. Of course, lengths will vary, but in general, the german chef knife will have a slightly longer blade.
Blade Thickness
The next major difference between the two knives is the thickness along the spine of the blade. While the blades of the two knives are roughly the same, the thickness of the spine (the top) of the blade on the santoku is about 1/2 as thick as the german knife, which makes a much thinner knife overall.
Weight
With a shorter and thinner blade, the santoku tends to be a much lighter knife (on average) than a typical german knife.
Grind Angle
When you look at the edge of a knife, the grind angle is the angle at which the sharpened edge of the knife sits compared to the unsharpened part of the knife. A typical german knife has a grind angle of between 15-20 degrees. A santoku generally has a grind angle between 10-12 degrees. The practical upshot is that the santoku has a much finer and sharper edge on it than a typical german chef knife.
Steel/Wear and Tear
Of course, that finer grind angle has a few tradeoffs. Since there is less steel around the edge, a typical santoku has to have much harder steel than a german knife. This generally means there is more carbon in the steel used in a santoku. This can mean a somewhat more expensive knife, but it generally means that a santoku needs to be taken better care of, since more carbon means it is MUCH more likely to rust or oxidize.
...read the full guide with pics here
