Sakai Takayuki Aonikou Blue Carbon Steel Santoku, 180mm (7")

If you already have a good stainless steel santoku or chef's knife but have been curious about a real "carbon steel" knife, this is for you! It's a superb example of a knife made with a high end carbon steel, so it is VERY sharp, it keeps this sharp edge a long time, and it resharpens more easily than most stainless steels. The handle and blade are beautiful, well made, and expertly finished, with excellent overall fit and finish. An excellent knife you're sure to fall in love with if you've only ever used stainless steel knives! This high-performance knife features a hammered stain-resistant steel clad over a hard Hitachi Yasugi-works Blue steel cutting core, for excellent sharpness and edge life. The handle is made of beautiful and comfortable sculpted pakkawood for a true wood-like feel and look, but more sealed and moisture resistant. But remember, this is a high carbon steel knife, NOT stainless, which means you need to use a bit extra care to keep it dry and stored in a dry place to keep it from rusting. Wash by hand, wipe, dry and store after use. It will also stain and discolour somewhat (like a lodge pan or carbon steel crepe pan for example) -- this is normal, so forget about trying to keep a carbon steel knife super shiny.

This knife is sharpened 50/50 and so is fine for right or left handed use. It may appear to have a slight right-side bias, but it's not enough to pose any sort of problem for left-handed use, and can be easily re-profiled by simply doing more honing on the left side when performing normal regular edge maintenance.

I recommend the fine ceramic hone for regular everyday maintenance.