In this video, I will be telling you what
I look for while searching for a Santoku knife.
Hello, guys, I'm ChefPanko and I used to work
in a french and Japanese restaurant make sure
to subscribe if you want to know more about
cooking and knives.
This video is part of a video series called
''types of knives'' if you don't know much
about knives I have written a complete guide
on my website which goes into more detail
about all the different types.
Before we can pick a Santoku we need to know
what a Santoku is.
The Santoku is related to the Chef's knife
and the Gyuto.
The word Santoku means ''three virtues'' which
indicates that is can be used to cut meat,
vegetables, or fish.
The Japanese created the Santoku based on
the western Chef's knife.
They changed the knife profile to be straighter
to accommodate the Japanese cutting style
of chopping rather than rocking, as you would
with the curved edge of the Chef's knife.
The santokus are also fairly short with a
length of around 7 to 6 inches.
In Japan, they are used in the home kitchen
and rarely seen in the professional kitchen.
In order to know if the Santoku is something
for you, I'm going to tell you the strong
points of the Santoku knife.
If you are a person that loves to rock then
the western chef's knife is a better choice.
But for most home cooks the rocking motion
does not come naturally and requires practice.
If you are a person that uses a forward chopping
motion most of the time then the Santoku is
the better option.
The other strong point is because of the shorter
length it is also a lot easier to get control
over the knife.
You will be more precise with your cuts compared
to a long knife.
The Santoku has changed over the years and
now it is a great fusion between western and
Japanese cuisine.
The santoku keeps the ability to rock but
since the profile is less curved it is great
for rocking on herbs that have less stack
height.
If everything sounds great and you prefer
the forward chopping then the Santoku is a
great option.
But keep in mind that the downside is the
length and you need to prepare food in sections
to accommodate the knife length.
Therefore it is a knife that many professional
cooks don't like to use.
The Santoku, great for home use when you only
need to prepare a meal for 5 instead of 50.
One thing that many home cooks love is to
pierce the knife into plastic packaging.
Nowadays all the packaging is easy to open.
The Santoku is missing the point at the front
to help you to pierce trough plastic packaging,
like the chef's knife, can do.
However, if you keep your knife sharp enough
you can just use the edge to open the packaging.
There is a lot of handle choices when it comes
to the Santoku.
Especially since the popularity of the Santoku
in the West is rising.
Just like the Gyuto, the Santoku is getting
changed a lot to accommodate the west.
While originally the Santoku is an adaption
of the western chef's knife to accommodate
the Japanese cuisine.
We can now see that the Japanese Santoku is
getting changed to accommodate western cooks
preferences.
So the handle choices are getting changed
a lot, so I will only cover the most used
handles.
The traditional handles like the wooden Octagonal
or oval-shaped handles are all considered
traditional Japanese handles.
They all have a partial tang which is considered
less durable than a full tang handle since
the blade is glued into the handle.
The only reason for going for a traditional
handle is aesthetic and history.
If you don't like the look of the traditional
handle then you can look at the other handle
choices.
The western handle is more studier and more
impact resistant than a glued handle.
And because the forward chopping there is
naturally more impact on the knife in general
so my recommended choice is the full tang
western handle design when it comes to santokus.
When it comes to the gripping style of the
Santoku I recommend the pinch grip.
The reason for this is simple, a forward chopping
style is not recommended with a fingertip
grip since this will strain your fingers.
The finger grip is only recommended for slicing
motions and you will usually only see these
gripping styles on sushi chefs.
The handle grip is basically a pinch grip
but then at the handle and is recommended
on certain knives like the Ikon series from
Wusthof.
Since the handle design is catered to a handle
grip.
I don't recommend the handle grip on a traditional
handle since the knife is glued into the handle
and is less impact resistant.
The pinch grip at the blade would be used
a lot and that will reduce the impact on the
glued part.
Because the Santoku has been changed multiple
times and is being made by other manufacturers
outside of Japan the core material is different
for every manufacturer.
If you want to know more about the edge retention
and core material visit my website the link
is in the description below.
The balance point is extremely important for
every knife choice and design.
Since the balance point dertermines the knife
comfort and use.
The middle balance point is a knife that is
neither front nor back heavy at the gripping
point.
To show you the example, the traditional Gyuto
is balanced at the blade or logo area.
Since it has a traditional handle the pinch
grip at the blade is recommended.
As you can see it is middle balanced with
the correct pinch grip it is neither front
nor back heavy.
But because the traditional Gyuto is catered
to Japanese cuisine which also includes a
lot of slicing.
You can see that the balance point shift when
I use a fingertip grip to slice through food.
It is now front-heavy which accommodates the
knife design and slicing style of the Japanese
cuisine.
The handle design accommodates the fingertip
grip nicely with a great balance point.
This is why I prefer the traditional handle
over the fusion or western handle on a Gyuto
a lot more since it suits the Japanese cuisine
a lot better.
But when it comes to French cuisine I prefer
a different balance point that is back heavy.
It accommodates the different type of cuisine
and the rocking motion, therefore my preferred
choice there is a western chef's knife.
If you use a pinch grip at the handle this
will result in a blade that is middle balanced.
So we can determine that the balance point
of this Zwilling is at the handle.
But as a chef in the western cuisine, I prefer
a back heavy knife and I know that I will
make use of the curved cap on the Zwilling.
This will make this knife back heavy to accommodate
the type of cuisine I'm working in.
I hope that you understand the importance
of the balance point.
Now on to the Santoku Balance point, I prefer
my Santoku to be middle balanced.
So in other words it should not be back or
front heavy at the point where you pinch the
knife.
Now the following is very important since
the santoku primary cutting style is the forward
chopping, I don't want it to be front or back
heavy.
Now on to the Santoku profile, most santoku
sold now are all Hybrid santoku's.
This means that there is a gentle front curve
to accommodate the rocking motion.
But the heel part is mostly flat with a slight
upward rounded curve so that there is no hard
stop while rocking.
You also have the traditional Santoku profile
which has a slight curve at the front which
is almost flat.
This traditional profile is rarely sold now.
Both profiles accommodate the forward chopping
motion, while the hybrid profile suits the
western cuisine better.
Since the Santoku is an adaption of the western
chef's knife it should have an spine distal
taper.
This makes the knife lighter but a reason
why you want this on a Santoku is for the
following reasons.
Better comfort while gripping it at the blade,
it also gives you more surface to push down
with your hand.
So in other words sharper performance at the
front and more durable for tougher food at
the heel.
As explained the wooden traditional handle
is less impact-resistant and should only be
chosen if you like the aesthetics and the
history behind the Japanese knives.
For everything else, the western designed
handles are more durable and are better impact
resistant.
And therefore a better for the continuous
forward chopping motion.
The western handle is also my recommended
choice for most western cooks since it has
all the benefits of a traditional handle but
then better.
So in short the Santoku is a great knife for
home cooks since it is easy to control and
you will get more precision out of the box
because of the shorter length.
But because of the shorter length, you are
also not able to finish a lot of prep work
in one go and need to cut food in sections
and therefore not recommended in the professional
kitchen.
The traditional handle is less impact-resistant
since the blade is partially glued into the
handle.
The western full tang handle is my recommended
option.
When it comes to Japanese knives you have
a lot of different variations of aesthetics
and functions.
The hammered finish helps with food release
but is only noticeable when the food actually
reaches the hammered part.
For most domestic cooks they won't benefit
from a hammered finish.
Most Japanese knives also come with a cladding,
they have added that to reinforce the knives
and to prevent it from breaking.
The downside of the cladding is that they
are usually not heat-treated at the same Rockwell
as the core material.
This will cause a lot of scratches over time
especially if they have a mirror polish.
And then you also have the blacksmith finish
also called Kuroichi, it is basically a knife
that is not completely polished.
Those knives are purely for aesthetics and
are usually also a lot cheaper than a full
polished knife.
One thing to note is that fruit is very expensive
in Japan, a Kuroichi finish will react to
acidic fruits like lemons and therefore not
suitable for fruits.
But more about the Kurouchi finish in a different
video.
The Damascus layers are pure for aesthetic
on top of the cladding but it shares the same
downside as the cladded version.
And for some Santoku's they have added Grantons
or also called Scallops which should help
to break down water content from food so that
it sticks less to your blade.
Combined with a hammered finish you will benefit
from less sticking and less resistance while
chopping.
There is a lot to talk about the different
types of core material that they use but those
are all explained on my website.
So visit my website for more information.
That's it for this video and if you have any
questions leave it in the comments section
below.
If you find this video useful or I helped
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see you in the next video.
