Santoku knife, Shirogami 2 with iron cladding, Kurouchi Tsuchime finish - Motokyuuichi

This excellent maker from Nagasaki has a long tradition of making iron clad knives and tools. We have been really impressed with what we have seen so far.

SHAPE: Santoku. Named after the three best things to do with this knife - slicing, dicing and mincing. It is the classic veg prep knife with both good breadth and width.

STEEL: Aogami (blue paper) 2 steel. This is very similar to white paper steel but with tungsten and chromium added to it which helps with edge retention and slows down rusting. This steels differs from Blue 1 in its carbon content, Blue 2 being slightly less. Due to the non stainless nature of this steel care must be taken to dry the knives properly after use. 

FINISH: Kurouchi. This is a traditional, rustic finish achieved by leaving the furnace scale from the forging process on the blade rather than polishing it off. It has the advantage of reducing the reactivity of the surface of the knife and gives the blade a stylish, matt black finish.

Tsuchime. This is a hand hammered finish that is not only beautiful but also functional. The small depressions stop food sticking to the knife. This finish comes in many different forms from the traditional round hammer marks to more modern patterns.

HANDLE: Oval burnt chestnut handle with plastic ferule

LENGTH: 165mm in length 

MAKER: Motokyuuichi - Nagasaki, Japan

BEST FOR: Day to day chopping of everything except bones and hard stuff.

SAUNDERS SAYS: “Wow, the fit and finish on these excellent for the price. I would definitely put this range in the mid to heavyweight Japanese category, having said this they to thin nicely toward the edge."

These knives are hand-forged so there may be slight variations in measurements and finishes.