First off, this knife is beautiful. The wood handle and steel cap give it a sophisticated look, but most of all, it is the Damascus blade that really makes it a show-off.
Back before guns, a lot of effort went into making steel sharp for swords. The Damascus technique involves folding steel tens or hundreds of times to achieve the ultimate in sharpness, and it dates back hundreds of years.
This knife is a reference to those ancient swordmakers, but not exactly. Unlike true Damascus knives, Shun knives are laminated: the inner layer is a high-tech piece of expensive super-steel (called VG-10) and the outer layers (protecting the inner and bringing down the cost) are a more ordinary stainless steel. Unlike the swords of old, only the outer layers on this knife are folded. The VG-10 inner part, the part the edge is made from and the part that cuts, is a single forged piece. So in this knife, the Damascus pattern is more for looks than performance. Perhaps it also helps keep food from sticking.
However I don't care what it is for it looks fantastic. It also gives an exotic, handmade look to your kitchen cutlery. Normally Damascus knives are much, much more expensive.
As for cutting, the VG-10 super steel combined with the Japanese obsession with ultra-thin, ultra-sharp edges make this knife wickedly sharp. The VG-10 core is designed to keep an edge for a long time, however all straight edged knives will need sharpening. If you never bother to sharpen your knives, get a serrated knife instead.
The handle is a wood product. It is based on wood, but resin-injected and sealed so it repels water. Shun advertises it as dishwasher safe, but that would be like putting your fine china in the dishwasher you could do it, but why take the chance? If you do dishwash it, you might want to take it out before the drying cycle, and keep the blade away from anything that could nick it.
This knife is very light and sharp. The 6" length is very useful to me. I use it sometimes as a slicer, sometimes as a parer, and sometimes as a sandwich knife. It has become my main go-to knife for small jobs. Unlike other, duller knife brands, this straight-edge knife has no problem cutting bread or tomatoes.
All in all, this is my ideal balance of performance and looks. There are cheaper knives on the market that perform just as well (some 1/3rd the price) but none that look as good, at any price. It is worth it to me, especially since knives generally last for decades, sometimes lifetimes.
The Utility Knife is definitely one you want in your collection, but I would rank it as the top 5, not the top 3.
Shun knives are beautiful creations period. Since I'm Asian, I love the tradition look and feel of this Japanese knife. I love the beauty of the blade and the dark, polished, Pakkawood handle. The unique "D"-shaped, Wood handles are preferable. The shape fits my hand perfectly, and the wood does not get slippery when wet providing a very secure hold. The steel is of utmost quality and sharpness. Do not put this blade into any old electric knife sharpener! Electric knife sharpeners are made to put one angle on any blade. These blades come with a 16 degree angle and you don't want to be changing that angle. There are electric knife sharpeners that can sharpen these knives, but you'll have to do some research and find out which ones can be a fit with these knives. I prefer to hone with a sharpening steel and manually sharpen with a stone if necessary (and I don't see it being necessary to touch it to a stone any time soon). The blade is sharp straight off the factory and as Alton Brown says it's the sharpest straight out of the factory edge as he's ever seen.
These knives are more expensive than most, but I think it's definitely worth it. To have the sharpest, most beautiful knife around it's no contest. If you are on a budget, build your collection slowly. It's been said that there are only 3 knives that are the absolute basics for any kitchen: A 8" Chef's Knife, a Paring Knife, and a Long Serrated blade for cutting bread and larger items. I would add a thin utility knife and a boning knife to that list next. Then I would add those "in-between" sizes as I get more money flow in. =)
If you plan on spending any time in the kitchen, good kitchen knives are a definite must. Preparation is the bulk of cooking and when you have good knives, it cuts down on the danger of cutting yourself, it adds pleasure to the work, and it cuts down on prep time. Knives are also a very personal choice and it's best to at least go to a store and try it out for yourself first. Shun Knives are designed by the Japanese, so remember it's designed for small hands. This makes it fit most women's hands perfectly, but I've heard of guys with larger hands not like it so much and going back to the German knives. So definitely try it out. It's a personal thing, it needs to fit you.
Why spend so much money on a knife? Well, if you spend a lot of time in the kitchen, and you almost always have to bust out a knife to prep a meal from scratch why not use the best? Why spend that time with items that you love and brings you pleasure to use? Many times, it's the small things that brings us the most pleasure in life, and I consider my Shun knives as one of those things. Having something so beautiful and yet so sharp and perfect it makes my time cooking just that much more enjoyable.
Another good thing to know is that although the Shun Knives are usually offered for right-handers, you can get these knives for left-handers. You just need to find the guys who stock and sell those ones as they are less known, and less common.
Buy Shun DM0701 Classic 6 Inch Utility Knife Now
I own two Shun knives, three Globals, a Victorinox paring knife, Chicago Cutlery and a really nameless high carbon steel knife that cost 3 bucks. I usually sharpen my high end and low end knives with a sharpening stone and use the Chef's choice 110 for middle of the road knives. The Chicago cutlery knives just take too long to sharpen by hand. The edges are the dullest of the whole lot of knives mentioned. The victorinox line is less expensive than the Chicago Cutlery. The Shun is trivially easy to sharpen requiring the fewest number of strokes to achieve the sharpest, most razor-like edge. Here's the shocking news, the high carbon steel can hold an amazingly sharp edge that rivals the Shun. Unfortunately, it holds its edge for less than one cooking session and it'll rust if you breathe on it. Really you should oil it before you put it away.
What about Shun vs. the Globals? The globals have an awesome handle, wonderful grip, excellent fit to my hand (i'm a medium height woman with a really small skeletal structure but my hands are a little larger than you'd expect because I have long fingers). The weight of the Global knives is superbly balanced. With my height, hand size and skeletal structure most long chef's knives are out of the questions but even the 10" Global feels balanced and usable. I enjoy slicing, dicing and chopping with the Globals except... the edge on the globals is harder to maintain than the Shuns. You have to sharpen the globals more frequently and it requires more strokes than the Shun. So for my smaller knives, I reach over and over again for the Shuns.
What about the Forschner Victorinox with the fibrox handle? Great little paring knife! Light but stiff blade, grippy handle, maintain with an accusharp knife sharpener-inexpensive, throw it in the dishwasher, sharpen it with a few strokes. The edge isn't as good and doesn't last as long as the Shun but it's so easy to sharpen that it is usually sharper than my unsharpened Globals (and I steel the knives every time I use them and sharpen regularly). Use & abuse and it performs year after year. Surprisingly hard to find these knives in stores.
What about the Shun handle? As I mentioned, it's not as well fitted as the Global's but is actually perfectly functional. I have the Classic a wood & resin fusion material. Since I've had my knife for seven years now and my roommate KEEPS -PUTTING -THE -KNIFE -IN -THE -DISHWASHER -EVEN --THOUGH -I --KEEP -REMINDING -HIM -NOT -TO -DO -THAT, the handle no longer has the deep black shiny finish. Consider the Shun steel handle line if you have roommates. Shockingly, the blade is not ruined by this treatment, it is so easy to restore the edge.
And why do I hang onto the Chicago Cutlery knives? Sigh, they are my roommate's favorites. Go figure. But this guy puts knives in dishwashers.
Read Best Reviews of Shun DM0701 Classic 6 Inch Utility Knife Here
Update 9/10/07: Before purchasing this knife separately, check out the Shun Classic U2 (Ultimate Utility) Knife. You may like it better.
I believe if you're serious about cooking, you should own great cookware and excellent knives. I finally stepped up and got excellent knives. For those who haven't heard the hype, Shun is one of the most respected knife brands in the world. Check them out on the Web at .
Great features of the entire line include these cool "D" shaped handles that fit your hand better. Each knife is made in a rightand left-handed version ( for lefties). The steel used for the blades is harder than what you would find in most other knives. The knives are EXTREMELY sharp. One thing to note about Asian knives is that they must be sharpened at a different angle, 16-18 degrees vs. 20 degrees for German knives. The Shun steel takes the guesswork out of getting the angle correct because of the flat edge on one side of the metal disc below the handle.
It's been a while since I've had a utility knife, but I'm learning quickly. If you're building your set and want to take care of the must-haves first. Move this down on your priority list. Get the chef's, paring and bread knives first. With that said, there is a place for this knife in your kitchen. As with all of my other Shun knives, this one is extremely sharp and it's relatively light. It doesn't take as much force to slice and chop.
This is an expensive, but lifetime investment. I encourage you to visit stores and feel the knives in your hand to make sure you are comfortable with them. For more info on Shun, check out Alton Brown's website. For ratings on various brands and types of knives, check out ' equipment ratings.
This is probably the best kitchen purchase I've made and the one I'm most proud of.
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This is the eighth Shun knife I have bought, as I have been putting it off for close to two years. Now, I'm glad I broke down and got it, even if it is not one of the most commonly recommended sizes. Other reviewers have noted that it may tend to knick, and I can see that as a possiblity, as the blade is thin for its size. But this has at least two virtues. The first is that it is incredibly sharp, even sharper than the big 8 inch workhorses, the French Chef's knife and the Santoku. More especially, it is sharper than the Shun boning knife, whose primary virtue is to be flexible, to easily work around bones. But it isn't as flexible as this one. It is also excellent for cutting through tomato skins. And, since it's smaller than the big chef's knives and vegetable knives, its easier to handle. It is even as good as my old serrated German 'tomato knife', which was not as good for other things as this little gem. In fact, it may even be better than the smaller pruning knife when working with tomatos and sweet peppers, where a long thick blade is a drawback.
As long as you don't use this knife where a heavier blade will work better, this one should work quite well, and stay sharp, with proper care. It works for some things because it is lighter and thinner.
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This is a pretty handy gadget for those who enjoy cooking with fresh herbs. It appears to be pretty well made and the container is very useful for other storage or measuring purposes. The busy chef will likely prefer something faster than the "scissoring" of the herbs in the container, however; also, if you need finely chopped herbs or to prepare more than a small amount of same, this is not the right tool. Still, a good value product. The scissors are useful as floroal snippers too.
