Shun Elite 4-1/2-Inch Wide Cook's Knife Immediately

This is a beautiful little prep knife: well-balanced, comfortable to hold (even with my men's size 11 hands) and a really useful size. It's small enough to use for paring, and can be used for trimming and light chopping against a board. When used on the board, the blade is wide enough to use the chef's "pinch grip," giving all the benefits of that excellent grip. The combination of both a small bolster, which is easy to get your thumb and index finger in front of for the pinch, and also a subtly-designed handle swell which increases the diameter at my middle finger is a combination which fills my hand well, even though the knife is physically small. When you need to trim something against the board with a normal paring knife, you've got to move the object to the edge of the board to have clearance for your hand; with this knife, you can cut wherever it's convenient without barking your knuckles or changing to some inefficient or error-inducing grip. This thing is so light, well-balanced, and functional, that it just disappears within a minutes's use; conversely, it's large enough that I can use it for long periods without my hand getting crampy.

I've got a great bunch of individually-chosen knives, ranging in size from a 50-year-old 12 inch carbon steel Sabatier chef's knife and a 12 inch Forschner cimeter, and down to a much-used German bec d'oiseau and garnishing knives, but I think that this little Shun gets used the most times per day of any of them. (Well, maybe it ties with my 10 inch chef's.) The physical beauty of the knife is just gravy; first and foremost, it works great! Sometimes in the evening, as I have a last cup of tea while standing in front of my prep board, I pull the knife out and just enjoy how good it feels in my hand while I'm waiting for the tea to steep. I own lots of objects which I curse at every time I touch them; this one I thank for enriching my time in the kitchen. Sound weird to you? You probably haven't read this far... However, if you try to find tools which you can love because of how well they work, give this one a look.Get more detail about Shun Elite 4-1/2-Inch Wide Cook's Knife.

Shun Elite 4-1/2-Inch Wide Cook's Knife Get it now!

This is a beautiful little prep knife: well-balanced, comfortable to hold (even with my men's size 11 hands) and a really useful size. It's small enough to use for paring, and can be used for trimming and light chopping against a board. When used on the board, the blade is wide enough to use the chef's "pinch grip," giving all the benefits of that excellent grip. The combination of both a small bolster, which is easy to get your thumb and index finger in front of for the pinch, and also a subtly-designed handle swell which increases the diameter at my middle finger is a combination which fills my hand well, even though the knife is physically small. When you need to trim something against the board with a normal paring knife, you've got to move the object to the edge of the board to have clearance for your hand; with this knife, you can cut wherever it's convenient without barking your knuckles or changing to some inefficient or error-inducing grip. This thing is so light, well-balanced, and functional, that it just disappears within a minutes's use; conversely, it's large enough that I can use it for long periods without my hand getting crampy.

I've got a great bunch of individually-chosen knives, ranging in size from a 50-year-old 12 inch carbon steel Sabatier chef's knife and a 12 inch Forschner cimeter, and down to a much-used German bec d'oiseau and garnishing knives, but I think that this little Shun gets used the most times per day of any of them. (Well, maybe it ties with my 10 inch chef's.) The physical beauty of the knife is just gravy; first and foremost, it works great! Sometimes in the evening, as I have a last cup of tea while standing in front of my prep board, I pull the knife out and just enjoy how good it feels in my hand while I'm waiting for the tea to steep. I own lots of objects which I curse at every time I touch them; this one I thank for enriching my time in the kitchen. Sound weird to you? You probably haven't read this far... However, if you try to find tools which you can love because of how well they work, give this one a look.Get more detail about Shun Elite 4-1/2-Inch Wide Cook's Knife.

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I received this knife as a Christmas gift and it is my very first taste of Shun. As an avid cook, I can't begin to say how excited I was to get my hands on such a highly regarded knife as a Shun. Now THIS is a knife for a true cook. I have several knives of varying quality, ranging from the German steel of a Wusthoff to the less expensive (but very respectable) Forschner, and nothing, and I mean NOTHING cuts like a Shun. Sharp does not even begin to describe the steel of a Shun knife. This blade sails through an onion almost as easily as butter and it is an absolute joy to use. The handle feels comfortable in my hand, it's incredibly well balanced, it has ample knuckle clearance, and it is of the perfect weight in my opinion...not too heavy, not too light. It feels so natural in my hand. And let's face it, it's a gorgeous knife, as well. The swirly pattern in the steel remniscent of a samurai sword...it's kitchen art!

So why not a 5 star rating? Unfortunately, the short blade of this knife is just not long enough to be truly useful to me. I almost always use my 8 inch chef's knife or my 7 inch santoku, but the long blade of those is just too long when I only want to do small tasks like chopping garlic or mincing up a handful of herbs. I hate lugging out my large cutting boards for those little tasks, but my large knives are too big on my smaller cutting boards. I thought this 4 and a half inch Shun would be perfect for those little jobs when I only wanted to use my small boards. Unfortunately, however, the stubby blade is much too short to get a true continuous rocking motion, which is how I chop, and therefore I am finding this beautiful Shun collecting dust in my knife block. For those who don't mind using sharp up and down chopping movements, then this will not be an issue, but for me, it's just not serving the purpose I intended it to have. But I don't think this Shun will be lonely for too long. After a taste of this amazing Japanese steel, you can bet it will have company in my kitchen very soon! I can't wait to acquire more of these beauties!Get more detail about Shun Elite 4-1/2-Inch Wide Cook's Knife.