Equipment Review: Best Santoku Knives & Our Testing Winners

Byamazingfoodstv


Buy our Winning Santoku Knife:
Buy our Best Buy Santoku Knife:
Behind the Testing:
Full testing details and ranking chart:

We tested 10 santoku knives to find the best one (listed in alphabetical order):
Global G-48 7″ Santoku Hollow Ground Knife
Kramer by Zwilling J.A. Henckels Euroline Essential Collection 7″ Santoku Knife
MAC Superior Santoku 6 1/2″
Mercer Culinary Genesis 7″ Forged Santoku
Misono UX10 Santoku 7.0″
OXO Good Grips Pro 6.5″ Santoku Knife
Shun Classic 7-in. Hollow-Ground Santoku
Victorinox Swiss Army Fibrox Pro 7″ Granton Blade Santoku Knife
Wüsthof Classic 7″ Santoku, Hollow Edge
Zwilling Pro 7″ Hollow Edge Rocking Santoku Knife

With its petite build and curved tip, this friendly-looking Japanese blade is giving Western-style chef’s knives a run for their money. But does it offer something unique?

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WINNING TRAITS OF A GOOD SANTOKU KNIFE
– Slim, sharp cutting edge that retains its sharpness
– Slim tip for precision work
– Narrow spine (top edge of blade), less than 2 mm
– Handle of moderate width and length, and neutral shape, so it is comfortable in various hands and grips
– Handle that doesn’t become slippery when hands are wet or greasy
– Spine that isn’t sharp, facilitating pinch grip
– Good balance between handle and blade

WHAT WE TESTED

We tested 10 santoku knives and also compared their feel and performance to that of our favorite chef’s knife, the Victorinox Swiss Army Fibrox Pro 8″ Chef’s Knife. We measured the knives’ blade length, blade angle, and spine thickness. All knives were purchased online.

RATING CRITERIA

Performance: We minced fresh herbs, diced onions, broke down whole raw chickens into parts, and quartered unpeeled butternut squashes. To assess precision, we cut carrots into matchsticks and sliced slightly frozen boneless steak against the grain into uniform slivers (a technique used when preparing beef for Vietnamese pho). Knives that sliced smoothly and helped us complete the tasks with crisp cuts and neat results scored highest. We also assessed the sharpness of each knife before and after testing by slicing sheets of copy paper; blades that started sharp and stayed that way rated highest.

Ease of Use: Throughout testing we rated the knives on how comfortable and easy they were to hold and use, evaluating the handle shape, spine sharpness (if we used a pinch grip), weight, and balance of the blade. Six testers of varying heights and handedness, including three proficient with knives and three self-described knife novices, chopped onions and rated the knives. Knives rated higher if most testers found them comfortable and easy to use.

ABOUT US: Located in Boston’s Seaport District in the historic Innovation and Design Building, America’s Test Kitchen features 15,000 square feet of kitchen space including multiple photography and video studios. It is the home of Cook’s Illustrated magazine and Cook’s Country magazine and is the workday destination for more than 60 test cooks, editors, and cookware specialists. Our mission is to test recipes over and over again until we understand how and why they work and until we arrive at the best version.

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39 Comments

  3. I ended up with several Granton flatted knives in my collection as I used to believe the hype too… but years of cutting have taught me they're a gimmick, no acutely difference in food retention at all.

    So too, a few of my most recent purchases have an anti-traction layer above the edge, polished to a more satin finish than the rest of the knife, just above the edge, that's supposed to aid food release. This too is marketing hype, not an actual thing, it doesn't make a damn bit of difference to sticky food like zucchini or cheese. Just know you're going to have to knock some foods off your blade from time to time, never pay more for a knife with these "features" than you would a knife without them.

  8. Would be nice to see an updated Knife Set Block Test with ALL the Brand name/style tested. Please include Dalstrong as they are everywhere now. We have a whole block of JA Henkels. $300+ New. JUNK! Handle broke in pieces on Chef knife. Have to sharpen after cutting warm butter now on all the knives! They will not hold an edge. Save your money!!!

  15. The commercials are so ridiculous! Hey I used to pay a million dollars for car insurance but now I pay $29 dollars omg thank God for this! NOT ITS TOTAL BULLSHIT and I'm sick of the the ad! Come on you can do better than the obvious! It's ridiculous! Anyway I love the review without the frigging intrinsically obtuse commercials

  19. Good review. My setup of Henkel & Wusthof (pairing, 7" chefs) & Chinese cleaver are all I've needed for decades. They ride w/ me in the FRONT seat when I travel. Kinda like a cross btwn a bestie & a newborn. NO touching!! ☠🤣

  20. I prefer Santoku knives to Chef's knives. I have two different sized Santoku knives and I use them, a paring knife, and a bread knife, and that's it. All the other cooking knives I have sit in the counter top block unused.

  25. I'm from Japan and mainly use Santoku (by Wüstof), which has a great balance for smaller hands. Rarely touch chef's knife. Maybe because it's more familiar to Santoku which is easier for Japanese cutting methods like thread thin cut or super fine chopping.

  28. Kai Pure Komachi 2 6.5-Inch Hollow Ground Santoku Knife out performs because of narrow kerf and price is near ten dollars. it has low carbon stainless blade. narrow kerf-oh i already stated that. for 8 inch use cooks knife, another ten bucks. pure komachi 2 knives rock

  29. If anyone wants to get really serious about knives should research about handcrafted japanese knives 🇯🇵 , once you get your hands on one of those you will never go back to these mass produced knives 👌

  33. "…even after we hacked through chicken bones and butternut squash…" This is asking for a chipped blade. Use a junk German-style beater knife for those tasks! Save the thin bladed, high HRC knives for less abusive stuff.

  35. I have one of these from Chicago Cutlery. I bought it in college (aka it was cheap, $25-30 at most). It's been dulled by countless trips through the dishwasher, dinged to hell, and resharpened several times. I have no idea how it's still as sharp as it is, but to this day it sits in my fancy Wusthof knife block with the expensive boys and is my go-to for any vegetable chopping.

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