For Japanese knives, use a ceramic honing rod. Steel rods can chip the blade. Ideally, stick to whetstones 800 grit and up. All my knives are sharp enough to cut fine hairs and they have never chipped on me.
Very good video. I appreciate it and would love to someday own a Shun knife! I (and many others) think that they are simply one of the best knives at their price-point (and higher) that you can buy!
Excellent video and thank you. I received my first Shun knife, a Santoku last week. Very sharp out of the box, but I stropped it anyway and wow. Yes a very fine edge that probably needs some care. All knives do anyway.
Use it! The sooner you do the sooner you're going to fall in love and start saving up for their more expensive stuff. I have my knife set from black Friday and omg I'll never go back to crappy knives ever again.
She’s one of the most articulate presenter of knives I’ve seen. Little surprised they recommend (and sell) using honing rods...with the higher hardness, you’d think they’d recommend waterstones. Also curious about the Blue line and how the core steels compares to hitachi blue (1 & 2) used by artisans from more “traditional” forges.
Me too , but dont be suprised that they sell them since they do sell other brands of knives there with softer steel that some people use them on . The only one that doesn't remove steel is the smooth metal one .
Geez all the knife experts come out of the woodwork to debate and nit pick this and that 🤣 I had my classic and premiere set for awhile and they have all held up fantastic. User error is the common issue here the knives are great.
It's designed to give you an idea of what angle to hold your chef's knife at to reach the 15-20 degrees per side. I won't work for narrow blades, just the chef's knives.
Thanks for the good video. I enjoy my Shun knife and use it for all of my "fun" cutting jobs. Funny that your video was preceded by an advertisement for Dalstrong!
Are the Kanso series stamped or forged? I really like the design of these, but wish their was also a bread knife! I can obviously get a different bread knife, but my OCD would prefer the matching. :)
HOK website shows that it's forged. I was looking on Amazon and the Shun site previously with no luck of finding this information. (still hoping for a bread knife)
@Nullable Field - Thanks for the question! According to Shun, their process uses roll forged AUS10A stock which is then laser cut into the correct shapes, avoiding the pressure of stamping. Afterwards, the knife goes through 100 steps which includes heat treating to the perfect hardness along with various levels of grinding and finishing to get to the end product. Adhering to strict Japanese standards, the Kanso can be branded as Made in Japan. Shun's focus with this line was to do more different knife shapes like the Asian Utility. But they have not ruled out doing a bread knife. Hope that gives you the answers you were looking for!
If you are speaking in terms of cost the Shun Blue and Reserve are the most premium. However, Shun also releases special edition single knives on occasion. Currently, the Hana is their top end 8 inch chef knife that embodies all of their best construction techniques. But it is not a series but a single limited edition run.
Our Shun set hasn't held up too well. We bought them about 3 years ago at Williams-Sonoma. We've taken very good care of them (no dishwasher use, large strong knife block...etc). The tip has broken off of two of the knives.
oh my..... broken off the tips of a knife....hhhhhh..... prob. used as can opener, or dropped to a concrete floor tip ahead? Sorry, can't stop laughing. I am using my Shun Classic Santoku 'Sumo' with the bamboo stand, the Shun Premiere 7" Nakiri, and the Shun Premier 8" Kiritsuke on a daily basis, especially the Classic Sumo Santoku is my favorite, I purchased it prob. 10 years+ ago. The only thing I do with my knives (also the non-Shun) is occasional honing, only rarely needed to give it a quick sharpen on the stones. And, of course, it still has its tip, since I did neither use it as can opener, nor dropped it tip ahead. No dishwasher, very hot, slightly soapy water (no immersion of knife), dry with cotton cloth, back into stand or sheat.
There are some small things in the video incorect fore the rest really great video but in my experience if you use like an up and down motion not rocking it doesnt doll faster if you have a propper knive but yes with knives under 61 rockwell but above you can easly use an upp and down motion it just doesnt doll if you use a ceramic or diamond sharpning rod a steel one will break your knive or the rod
... for* the rest / doesn't dull* faster / a proper* knife* / sharpening* rod / your knife* - Do not complain about anything incorrect* if you can't even spell "incorrect" or use any punctuation.
I've given away all but one of the six shun knives I purchased. The blades may be hard and sharp, but the edges are brittle and chip easily. The handles, while esthetically pleasing, are not as easy to grasp with a pinch grip for performing most cutting tasks. Given a choice between several high quality knives, Shun knives were not the knives I grabbed to prepare food.
She said "high-carbon steel" as any steel containing more than 1% of carbon deserves this distinction, no matter what other elements are added to make it stainless.
Sharpening steel can do the job but can't bring back the edge to razor sharp, for most high end knives water stone is probably the only BEST option available, of course they take time, practices and skills but at least they're cheap, not everyone can affordable a fancy $200 sharpening system like Edge Pro Apex. If one only wants a quick sharpening job done I would recommend at least use a ceramic rod, they get a much better result than sharpening steels.
That wasn’t a sharpening steel. It was a honing steel. It brings the blade back to the 16 degree angle that it originally was in if maybe it got a little bent or whatever. Again they do NOT sharpen your knife and are not meant to. To sharpen the knife shun use water stone. You send your knife in, paying for shipping, and they sharpen it for free. If you do honing once a week or so you will only need to send your shun knife in once a year for sharpening.
It won't really hone your edge as much as it will remove very little steel but still enough to put a new sharp edge on it. Ceramic beats a steel every time
Shun is very fragile knife and it chips all the time. Get Wusthof. Slightly softer steel, doesn't break. The edge bends before it breaks. I wouldn't want to be cutting something with a Shun and for a piece of metal to get in my meals. Can you imagine your stomach and intestines.....yikes!!!!!!!!!!
Shun's are definitely designed to be the best slicing knives and are not made to compete directly with the great knives that Wusthof makes. If you are primarily slicing boneless meats and vegetables, and want thin and even slices, then you definitely want a Shun. If you are breaking down a chicken, bones and all, then you might look towards a Wusthof due to the points you mentioned. It's not a crime to have both in your kitchen, but you do need to pick the right tool for the job.
Any tool used inappropriately risks breaking. I also fail to see how a bent knife is an improvement over a chipped knife. Don't hit them against hard objects or use hardened knives to pry. I have German and Japanese knives and both are excellent.
There is only one thing that makes Shun unique: they use such a brittle metal that when it gets accidently knocked off a counter and falls no more than 1 meter, it shatters. Shun is a big, stinking pile of overpriced, poorly annealed garbage. By the way...mine was very well taken care of and always kept in block with a wood cutting board and never using the rocking cut or chop.
Don't know how many times I dropped my Shuns. None of them ever scratched or bent, let alone shattered. They are still made from steel, not ceramic. I've owned mine for about five years now, and I use them almost daily. They are definitely not garbage. Admittedly, I would never pay the price they are at now (+200 € for the 8inch chef knife) and for whatever reason the pairing knife never gets as sharp nor stays sharp as long as the chef knife does.
Honing is the wrong direction. No matter what you think, it is wrong. READ a scientific article on this and I don't mean Lifehacker or cnet mag. Go to a real site and pay the fee to read them.
Young lady don't say "we" as you and your coworker crafted that knife. You should use "they" as referring to the Japanese guys who made the job. You are just the retailer.....
Stephanie is the National Demonstration Coordinator for Shun Cutlery and speaks on behalf of the company, which is a division of KAI Corporation. Her company is indeed the manufacturer of the Shun knives and is not a retailer. House of Knives is the Canadian authorised retailer for Shun Cutlery. Hope that clarifies the relationship.
You can actually see from her name tag that she works for Shun. Also, just because you’re not part of the actual making of the knife doesn’t mean you are not part of the team. It takes the whole supply chain including customer facing folks to make things work.
Hats off to the engineers who designed the collar of that steel to match the factory edge angle...great thinking in action!
I just purchased my very first knife priced over $50. It’s a Shun Hiro 8” chef and its wonderful.
For Japanese knives, use a ceramic honing rod. Steel rods can chip the blade. Ideally, stick to whetstones 800 grit and up. All my knives are sharp enough to cut fine hairs and they have never chipped on me.
Quite interesting, the lady even recommend a western style chef knife from Shun at the later part of the video.
Thank you very much for this video. I want to buy one of your cutting boards and a straightening rod.
Very good video. I appreciate it and would love to someday own a Shun knife! I (and many others) think that they are simply one of the best knives at their price-point (and higher) that you can buy!
Excellent video and thank you. I received my first Shun knife, a Santoku last week. Very sharp out of the box, but I stropped it anyway and wow. Yes a very fine edge that probably needs some care. All knives do anyway.
Congratulations on the new Shun. Keep it sharp and it should serve you well for many years. Thanks for the comment.
I just bought a shun classic 8 chefs for 130$ a week ago and didn't use it yet cuz I afraid to damage it lol
Use it! The sooner you do the sooner you're going to fall in love and start saving up for their more expensive stuff. I have my knife set from black Friday and omg I'll never go back to crappy knives ever again.
She’s one of the most articulate presenter of knives I’ve seen. Little surprised they recommend (and sell) using honing rods...with the higher hardness, you’d think they’d recommend waterstones. Also curious about the Blue line and how the core steels compares to hitachi blue (1 & 2) used by artisans from more “traditional” forges.
They do recommend wet stones for sharpening. A honing rod doesn't sharpen it just re-aligns the edge without removing any material whatsoever
Me too , but dont be suprised that they sell them since they do sell other brands of knives there with softer steel that some people use them on . The only one that doesn't remove steel is the smooth metal one .
Geez all the knife experts come out of the woodwork to debate and nit pick this and that 🤣 I had my classic and premiere set for awhile and they have all held up fantastic. User error is the common issue here the knives are great.
on a Shun steel, what is the flat side of the collar used for?
It's designed to give you an idea of what angle to hold your chef's knife at to reach the 15-20 degrees per side. I won't work for narrow blades, just the chef's knives.
Do you know what is the rockwell rating for the shun honing steel?
Does anyone have a good soap recommendation? They say you shouldn’t use bleach or citrus soaps but I can’t find a good one. Thanks!
Thanks for the good video. I enjoy my Shun knife and use it for all of my "fun" cutting jobs. Funny that your video was preceded by an advertisement for Dalstrong!
Thanks for the feedback, well they know who their competition is...….!
Can get one in Toronto
Absolutely! We ship across Canada. Check out our website at houseofknives.ca
thank you!!!!
Are the Kanso series stamped or forged? I really like the design of these, but wish their was also a bread knife! I can obviously get a different bread knife, but my OCD would prefer the matching. :)
HOK website shows that it's forged. I was looking on Amazon and the Shun site previously with no luck of finding this information. (still hoping for a bread knife)
@Nullable Field - Thanks for the question! According to Shun, their process uses roll forged AUS10A stock which is then laser cut into the correct shapes, avoiding the pressure of stamping. Afterwards, the knife goes through 100 steps which includes heat treating to the perfect hardness along with various levels of grinding and finishing to get to the end product. Adhering to strict Japanese standards, the Kanso can be branded as Made in Japan.
Shun's focus with this line was to do more different knife shapes like the Asian Utility. But they have not ruled out doing a bread knife.
Hope that gives you the answers you were looking for!
How do I sanitize my knife I have classic 8 in chef knife?
do the shun knives have 70/30 bevels like japanese western knives?
What are the premium knives in the Shun range?
If you are speaking in terms of cost the Shun Blue and Reserve are the most premium. However, Shun also releases special edition single knives on occasion. Currently, the Hana is their top end 8 inch chef knife that embodies all of their best construction techniques. But it is not a series but a single limited edition run.
Can a Shun knife be sharpened on a chef's choice electric sharpener? I received one as a gift
NO
It can, but you will ruin it.
Anyone else found shun knives tend to be on the brittle side? Mines chipped and it was never used on cutting bones and always hand washed.
I bought directly from shun do u still cover sharpening? Great Video 💥👏👏👏
Our Shun set hasn't held up too well. We bought them about 3 years ago at Williams-Sonoma. We've taken very good care of them (no dishwasher use, large strong knife block...etc). The tip has broken off of two of the knives.
If you're breaking tips off, you're not taking care of your knife, or you're using it for the wrong purpose
+TheHeheheq 👌
Most likely user error.
oh my..... broken off the tips of a knife....hhhhhh..... prob. used as can opener, or dropped to a concrete floor tip ahead? Sorry, can't stop laughing. I am using my Shun Classic Santoku 'Sumo' with the bamboo stand, the Shun Premiere 7" Nakiri, and the Shun Premier 8" Kiritsuke on a daily basis, especially the Classic Sumo Santoku is my favorite, I purchased it prob. 10 years+ ago. The only thing I do with my knives (also the non-Shun) is occasional honing, only rarely needed to give it a quick sharpen on the stones. And, of course, it still has its tip, since I did neither use it as can opener, nor dropped it tip ahead. No dishwasher, very hot, slightly soapy water (no immersion of knife), dry with cotton cloth, back into stand or sheat.
There are some small things in the video incorect fore the rest really great video but in my experience if you use like an up and down motion not rocking it doesnt doll faster if you have a propper knive but yes with knives under 61 rockwell but above you can easly use an upp and down motion it just doesnt doll if you use a ceramic or diamond sharpning rod a steel one will break your knive or the rod
... for* the rest / doesn't dull* faster / a proper* knife* / sharpening* rod / your knife* - Do not complain about anything incorrect* if you can't even spell "incorrect" or use any punctuation.
great video !!!
3:51 *where are you GOING?*
I've given away all but one of the six shun knives I purchased. The blades may be hard and sharp, but the edges are brittle and chip easily. The handles, while esthetically pleasing, are not as easy to grasp with a pinch grip for performing most cutting tasks. Given a choice between several high quality knives, Shun knives were not the knives I grabbed to prepare food.
Wow who new that vg10 is a carbon steel
She said "high-carbon steel" as any steel containing more than 1% of carbon deserves this distinction, no matter what other elements are added to make it stainless.
I like knife
Do you like this* knife or do you like knives* in general?
Wet stones Please
Whetstones*,* please* (from "to whet" = to sharpen)
Sharpening steel can do the job but can't bring back the edge to razor sharp, for most high end knives water stone is probably the only BEST option available, of course they take time, practices and skills but at least they're cheap, not everyone can affordable a fancy $200 sharpening system like Edge Pro Apex. If one only wants a quick sharpening job done I would recommend at least use a ceramic rod, they get a much better result than sharpening steels.
That wasn’t a sharpening steel. It was a honing steel. It brings the blade back to the 16 degree angle that it originally was in if maybe it got a little bent or whatever. Again they do NOT sharpen your knife and are not meant to. To sharpen the knife shun use water stone. You send your knife in, paying for shipping, and they sharpen it for free. If you do honing once a week or so you will only need to send your shun knife in once a year for sharpening.
can i not hone my shun?
+Rico Teo - They most definitely can be honed. It is covered starting at 2:17 in the video.
If you want to hone your knife, I'd get a sharpmaker. Using a steel isn't really great for you edge
It won't really hone your edge as much as it will remove very little steel but still enough to put a new sharp edge on it. Ceramic beats a steel every time
Honing isn’t meant to remove steel, honing is meant to realign the blade. To sharpen a shun you want to use a wet stone, which removes steel.
Step 1 .. dont use because will chip
I use mine daily and have had no issues over the last 8 months...
If you use your Shun like a cleaver, it sure will chip. Cut bone-less meat, fish and vegetables and nothing frozen and it will last a lifetime.
Shun is very fragile knife and it chips all the time. Get Wusthof. Slightly softer steel, doesn't break. The edge bends before it breaks. I wouldn't want to be cutting something with a Shun and for a piece of metal to get in my meals. Can you imagine your stomach and intestines.....yikes!!!!!!!!!!
Shun's are definitely designed to be the best slicing knives and are not made to compete directly with the great knives that Wusthof makes. If you are primarily slicing boneless meats and vegetables, and want thin and even slices, then you definitely want a Shun. If you are breaking down a chicken, bones and all, then you might look towards a Wusthof due to the points you mentioned. It's not a crime to have both in your kitchen, but you do need to pick the right tool for the job.
Any tool used inappropriately risks breaking. I also fail to see how a bent knife is an improvement over a chipped knife. Don't hit them against hard objects or use hardened knives to pry. I have German and Japanese knives and both are excellent.
There is only one thing that makes Shun unique: they use such a brittle metal that when it gets accidently knocked off a counter and falls no more than 1 meter, it shatters. Shun is a big, stinking pile of overpriced, poorly annealed garbage. By the way...mine was very well taken care of and always kept in block with a wood cutting board and never using the rocking cut or chop.
Don't know how many times I dropped my Shuns. None of them ever scratched or bent, let alone shattered. They are still made from steel, not ceramic. I've owned mine for about five years now, and I use them almost daily. They are definitely not garbage. Admittedly, I would never pay the price they are at now (+200 € for the 8inch chef knife) and for whatever reason the pairing knife never gets as sharp nor stays sharp as long as the chef knife does.
I feel like this lady was talking dirty to me
too bad she doesn't even know how to use a knife, like we do as chefs, fingers should be touching the blade so you can control the cut better.
Honing is the wrong direction. No matter what you think, it is wrong. READ a scientific article on this and I don't mean Lifehacker or cnet mag. Go to a real site and pay the fee to read them.
The implication that a factory representative of KAI is incorrectly honing a knife is just silly.
correct
Don't waste your money on shun knives, period.
Don't prepare food with nail polish on.
she's not in a kitchen. and it's a knife demonstration lmao don't be so snobby
Young lady don't say "we" as you and your coworker crafted that knife. You should use "they" as referring to the Japanese guys who made the job. You are just the retailer.....
Stephanie is the National Demonstration Coordinator for Shun Cutlery and speaks on behalf of the company, which is a division of KAI Corporation. Her company is indeed the manufacturer of the Shun knives and is not a retailer. House of Knives is the Canadian authorised retailer for Shun Cutlery. Hope that clarifies the relationship.
You can actually see from her name tag that she works for Shun. Also, just because you’re not part of the actual making of the knife doesn’t mean you are not part of the team. It takes the whole supply chain including customer facing folks to make things work.
What a bozo comment 🤦🏻♂️
It's clear she works at Shun.