ShunClassic 8" Chef's Knife

Outstanding but delicate. These are not knives to throw in the sink with the pots and pans, (never do that with anything sharp.) They will damage easily but perform outstandingly. They are so sharp. If you are willing to take an extra second and understand sharp things, Shun is absolutely excellent. I’m using them at home and at work (Greek deli,) and I don’t think I’ll ever own a different brand, but I’m a little scared anytime anyone asks to use my knives. Most people assume everything is the same as the butter knife they have in their kitchen drawer.I became a big fan of this brand after a random interaction presented me with a very random knife. I needed a little care and a sheath. Shun or Kai took care of that in seconds. I’m not feeling the need to look around for any other options. I’ll give the same review for my Nakiri and my utility knife. They are all of very good quality.

I love this knife. So much so that we purchased the matching 6" chef knife as well and have plans to buy more!!I researched a LOT before I bought this blade. And I chose it because it is light weight and has a thinner blade than the European-made competitors. It is SO EASY TO USE. It has *just enough* heft to get the job done without tiring your hands out. Being an average woman, my hands aren't huge (ladies' size 7 gloves). This knife fits my hand well, and ALSO fits my average-guy-sized hubby's hand despite that it's much larger than mine.These blades are works of art. They're each unique and beautiful. I enjoy using them more because I like looking at them! I know it is silly but it's true. Same reason my dish cloths are my favorite color and my cutting board is a thing a beauty... cooking is more fun when you enjoy looking at your tools!We purchased this knife in I think June 2019, it is now October 2019, it has been around 4 1/2 months of daily use (we cook almost every day), and it has lost the super keen edge and needs to be honed, but it's *still* sharper than any other knives I have ever owned! We are going to hone them soon, honestly we haven't yet because we are nervous about doing it, I'm paranoid I'll mess up and damage the blades. I don't actually expect it to give us any trouble, though, and a few moments of work will hone them back to a dangerously sharp edge.I kid you not, I have accidentally sliced through my fingernails several times, and had no idea until I either started bleeding or saw I was missing a slice of nail!! It was so sharp at first I could literally cut through a fingernail and not feel it. Let that sink in for a minute... like i said, dangerously sharp when brand spanking new. I have had to learn to be less sloppy with the knife!!!However, I am OK with the crazy sharpness, I have learned not to accidentally amputate my fingertips, and after 4 1/2 months I am still in love with my Shun knives.

The knife is sharp enough to comfortably shave with out of the box, much moreso than I anticipated. The edge sings if you run your finger across it just rings like a bell. It's a gorgeous knife. The Damascus pattern and profile of the blade are very pleasing. There's very little food drag. There isn't a sharp corner on the knife so there's no difficult to clean crevices it's as easy as wiping it down and drying it off. It has a very solid feel. Coming from somebody who has only had western kitchen knives and mostly cheap ones to boot, it almost feels more like a knife you would carry than a kitchen tool. The handle is ergonomical. I'm left handed and it's still perfectly comfortable for me and it feels like it would fit in the right hand very well. It's well balanced. I wouldn't recommend it because of how keen it is but you can literally spin the knife around your finger without trouble. As a whole it seems very well designed and well put together I plan on getting some of the smaller models when I have the money to spare.

This is the second of these knives I've owned. My previous one followed me through a few professional kitchens over 8 years and was donated to a new cook so it could stay in the kitchen when I moved on. The one I have now, this one, is still at home and still working great.This knife has the perfect balance between quality and cost. I'm a trained chef with almost 20 years in professional kitchens and this is the best knife for a professional kitchen that I've used. The grip is not round, but has a slight protrusion running lengthwise along the grip to fit the contours of the hand better and stops the knife from rolling (though you should always have a sharp knife so this is not an issue). The blade is done japanese style, so no finger guard, making the back a bit sharp for some. The blade is the right length for just about any job at home or professionally. The height of the blade is short enough that a rocking motion is easier on the arm as you don't have to pull it up so high, only limited by the length. The blade maintains a good sharpness for quite awhile. In a professional setting I would sharpen in every couple of weeks depending on use, at home it's more like every few months. Granted this is with daily honing. (look up the difference between sharpening a knife and honing a knife if you're confused).The knife itself is not the best knife you can buy, there are sharper, better blades made out of higher quality materials. But who wants to use a $300-500 knife in a setting where it will probably get stolen, dropped, misplaced, etc. On the other hand, I wont use a $25 stamped piece of garbage that isn't worth the packaging it came in. This knife is a perfect fit in between those two extremes and works great at home or in a professional kitchen. I would put the knife as slightly better than most wusthof/henkels and on par with the better globals.Due to the different feels of the various brands of knives, I strongly recommend going into a shop prior to buying this here and handle them all.