5.5 Inch Japanese Style Santoku Knife | Hammer Stahl | High Carbon Stainless Steel Kitchen Knife | Razor Sharp Multipurpose Chopping Knife for Meat, Vegetable & Fruit with Ergonomic Handle & Gift Box

The right size for everyday slicing and dicing. I mostly use it for vegetables. Sharp right out of the box and remains sharp with proper care and cleaning. I always return it to the box when done. Very reliable.

I have three knives from this brand now, All of them work perfectly for what I wanted. They have surprisingly good edge retention even though the steel is not as hard as most of my other knives. They are very thin behind the edge so do a great job of slicing. The only thing to know is that these knives are slightly handle heavy so if you are used to a blade forward weight like most Japanese knives have this would feel very different but because most of the weight is in your hand the blade itself feels very nimble once you get used to it

I first purchased one of these knives several years ago from a vendor at a wine festival in New York’s Hudson valley. I was captivated by their beauty and good reviews.I’ve purchased other knives that were good but none were as belatedly or impressive as the Hammer Stahl knife. I finally decided to purchase two more of them years later when, of course, I found that they were available on Amazon and came in a week or so after ordering. I only wish that they offered the option of having them sharpened even more, but they are fairly sharp right out of the box, can naturally be honed to your taste at home, are made of quality German steel with a beautiful blade and handle, and my first knife looks every bit as beautiful as it did when I first purchased it back in 2015. Buy with confidence as they are an excellent value, and great as a gift. I appreciate the larger knives even more.

good knife for the price point, has held up well to daily use

The media could not be loaded. I thought I was sad… and then I realized my life was missing a sharp knife and I was taking too long to cut my food. Not anymore! We have had this knife for a few months now and it seems like the sharpness never wavered, still as sharp as we got it. It’s a Japanese style knife with a short general use blade. You can send it back to them to get it sharpened and I believe you just have to pay for shipping.

I love this knife so much that I bought the entire set. High quality steel. Beautiful and comfortable tang design with pakka wood handles that are true works of art. Do not be so crass as to toss this beauty in the dish washer. The wood will dry out and look sad.In fact, I loved the entire set so much that I bought a new set of pots and pans from the same manufacturer. Called Heritage Steel, it is another fantastic product by Hammer Stahl.Added again- this knife is such an excellent price that I bought two more for my kitchen to avoid cross contamination while preparing and one more for my gentleman’s house because he needs a great knife there. Terrific value! And it holds a blade beautifully. I am a real snob about my knives. I keep my set perfectly sharpened at all times. This brand gets six stars from me for its beauty and strength.

The knife was extremely sharp, the handle is secure and solid. Overall the knife is well balanced and easy touse.

The cons:The criticisms are valid. I was going to gift this knife to a couple people if I liked it, but everything about the handle is not good.The rivets are noticeably raised, not just a smooth bump, but 8 little weird bumps that are just annoying. I might get used to it, but it ruins the feel of the knife. There is an edge between the wood and the steel on the handle that you can feel also. This all should have been ground down and buffed smooth, as is, it greatly cheapens the entire feel of the knife and this is such a simple fix, it’s inexcusable.Additionally, the balance is off. The balance of the weight should be equal or close between the handle and the blade. If you balance the knife on your finger (see picture) you have to go a fair ways back before the blade balances. If you do this with a Henckle (the German made ones, not the garbage Chinese made) the balance is almost always right about where the tang meets the handle.As a relatively small human, this handle feels too small in my hand, and needs a bit more curve to it. The handle is also uncomfortably short, and hits the palm awkwardly, and again, small hands here— I can’t imagine anyone with average to large hands using this knife comfortably.The blade is a bit short on the width also, definitely a knuckle buster of you are chiffoning rapidly, so be careful.This knife is made in China, the Hammer Stahl cookware is made in America, but the knives are made in China, and it *really* shows.Pros:Presentation is good. Nice box, good for storage if you don’t have a block or magnet/drawer.The steel is German steel, the same kind Wustof Trident uses, not sure about the hammering and tempering/hardening, I assume the process in China is not as thorough/well done as in Germany, but you are starting with a better quality steel than most at this price point.The design is attractive, I just wish it reflected some actual experience with making quality knives.Blade is fairly sharp, steel appears to be good. I did some slicing and the blade did well, very smooth, which makes the handle being so poorly designed all the more upsetting. I haven’t had it long enough to comment more, but I would expect it to hold its edge decently.Overall— for what I paid, it’s a decent value. The faults could easily be corrected, but presumably would increase the price? Not sure how smart design costs a ton more and an extra 30 seconds on a buffer. I have an old $7 Emeril knife that is honestly trash as far as the blade, but the blade is wide enough, the handle is comfortable and a good feel, while it’s briefly sharp (usually about 3 carrots worth), it’s a great little knife— for $7! The HS knife is inexcusably poorly conceived and designed by comparison. If Emeril had bothered to use even a semi decent steel on his knives, I would have gotten another one or not even needed one bc I would still be happy with it.I won’t be gifting this knife as planned, nor will I be purchasing additional knives from this company, but I will be keeping this one as its adequate as an alternate to my larger Zwilling Santoku when I prefer something smaller.As an aside, Scan Pan Classic knives also use the same steel as Hammer Stahl (and Trident), are priced more attractively and are much more comfortable in the hand. They have excellent pans that I love, and I will be adding to my “lower end” /inexpensive knife collection with the Scan Pan brand as their knives reflect much greater pride in craftsmanship, and is also smaller and family owned, overall more worthy of, and working to earn my dollars. Skip the Hammer Stahl, if looks good and they did well on the steel, but it’s not worth the price.