Shun Sora 8" Chef's Knife, Handcrafted Japanese Kitchen Knife, VG10 Steel Edge and 420J Stainless Steel Blade, Balanced Handle, Gyuto-Style Chef Tool for Professional and Home Chefs

I absolutely love these knives. The profile of the blade is great and they are really sharp right out of the box. I purchased the Santoku, 8" chef, 6" Chef, Utility, Ultimate Utility, bread knife, and pairing knife. Not only are they a great looking set of knives to display in your kitchen, but they truly do take your cooking to another level. Some people complain that the polymer handle feels cheep, but these knives are perfectly priced for what they are. The polymer grip is comfortable and its profiled it such a way that it looks great. These knives truly show the mastery knife making at work at Sora. I also have a some Wusthoff Classics, Messermeister Elites, and a set of the Calphalon Katana. The Classics and Elites I love. The Katanas not so much. These Soras are the best knives in this price range and I love them. My favorite out of all of them has to be the 7" Santoku, but all of the others are great to.Some people say they got rust spots on these knives. Well more expensive knives have a good side and a bad side. They are great because you get better blade profiles, with a blade that holds an edge a lot longer and is much easier to sharpen, but the down side is they are prone to rust. You shouldn't just leave these knives laying in a wet sink for days like you can do with cheaper knives. You should do that with any higher end knife because they will all get rust spots. Also I can not stress this enough. Do not put these knives in the dishwasher. When you finish using them. Hand wash them in soap and water. Hand dry them really good and put them back on your knife rack. Also make sure you knife isn't wet from placing wet knives on it. Putting your good knives on a wet knife rack is a good way to get rust spots. These really are great knives that are very easy to take care of with a little respect and a few steps, and these are possibly the best knives in the price range. These or the Messermeister Elites. Though the elites are a little more expensive than these. You will not regret buying these Soras'. Also if you purchase these. Get yourself a nice knife rack to display them. The beautifully crafted knives look way to go to be thrown in a knife block or drawer.

Got the 6" SoraI make most of my food at home and have worked in a restaurant kitchen briefly so I know what a difference a good, sharp knife can make. Finally bit the bullet and got a "real" knife, knowing they're around $100. I was concerned about the plastic handle at first, but apparently a lot of the higher end knives have synthetic handles because they're more antimicrobial (and there for sanitary) and generally easier to care for. I noticed after I got this I could have gotten the Kanso utility for about $10 with a wood handle, so consider that. Obviously it sucks that some people have had the tip break off their knife, but part of that is because the blade of this knife is made out of very hard steel- hard steel makes for a great cutting edge but is less flexible and more brittle. The non-cutting edge is wrapped in a softer steel, which is cheaper and softer, but more durable. Glass is a very "hard" material which is why it's so sharp but so brittle.I keep getting watermelons and it's so easy to just cut the entire rind of, cuts through brussels sprouts like nothing too. I'm not really sure how Shun's "free sharpening" policy works, but if that's a thing I can do this might be my brand- I've heard shun mentioned a few times but when I was doing research Babbish (aka Andrew Rea) suggested it for an affordable entry level knife, so I was sold. I have small hands and I'm working in a small space, so the 6" one is plenty big enough for me.

This is my absolute favorite knife. I like the control of a 6", and this knife has a perfectly balanced weight, very sharp edge, and is super easy to clean.Strongly recommend for anyone with smaller hands, or anyone who likes a little more precision. 8" chefs are over rated and so very rarely needed for 90% of what I'm doing at home.A beautiful and practical knife that, imo, could be your standalone.

I originally purchased a Shun knife as a splurge to myself with a birthday gift certificate. This is now my second in the same Sora "series" of Shun. Sora to this cook and aspiring knife "collector"(!) means a middle price point for the sculpted black plastic handle on these knives. It is what I looked for when I wanted another--the same grip and material--because beyond the cutting edge this is where user comfort resides.This Shun knife is easy to use, easy to handle, and a joy to cut with. The knife itself is a VG10 cutting core with stainless steel along with a handsome multi-layered pseudo hand hammered and mirror-polished Japanese 420J blade upper and a double sided 16-degree cutting edge. Who needs serrated knives when what you really need is a knife that is razor sharp. Potatoes and tomatoes are no match for this knife, it almost glides through by itself just by touching the food!The comfortable handle is textured PP/TPE polymer. Not slippery and easy to handle.Now to buy the Sora Chef's and Boning knives to complete the necessary kitchen duties! And don't forget to have a proper sharpener. I used to have an electric sharpener, but became unhappy when it just did not seem to get my older knives as sharp as I might like. So these Sora knives will never see anything but the "Chef's Choice Pronto Santoku/Asian Manual Knife Sharpener" http://www.amazon.com/Choice-Pronto-Santoku-Manual-Sharpener/dp/B002JIMVS0 that I am very happy with. In fact, even those older knives that were not getting sharp enough seem sharper when run through this Chef's Choice sharpener.Happy Cooking!

Just got these knives and can't wait to use them. Great value for the quality. 100% recommend you won't be disappointed