Are Shun knives good?
You can check the answer of the people under the question at Quora “shun knife lines“
About Maya
Written by: Maya
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Are Shun knives good?
You can check the answer of the people under the question at Quora “shun knife lines“
About Maya
Shun is one of the most talked-about knife brands on the market. Their high-quality blades are both beautiful and highly sought after. While they’re not necessarily as cost-effective as options from brands like Dalstrong or even Yoshihiro, Shun’s knives are some of the most impressive tools on the market.
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Good as in high quality?
Yes, they are. Shun knives are made in Seki City, which is known for producing great cutlery, particularly samurai swords. Shun knives are inspired by this tradition, are styled similarly to samurai swords and are all hand made. Like samurai swords, Shun knife blades are made from multiple types of metals. A high carbon blade, which is easy to sharpen and holds an edge well, could be clad with a harder, easy to care for steel shell. This creates a knife with a great cutting edge, and a durable outer surface.
High tech handmade blades come at a high price though. Shun chef’s knives start at around $120 and can go as high as $375. They’re good looking knives too, with a unique Samurai sword inspired style. In my opinion, you get what you pay for when you buy a Shun.
Do I own one?
Nope.
I admire them, but don’t have the need for one. They’re a knife nerd’s knife and don’t do anything better than any dozen other knives you might find in a professional kitchen. They’ll look cool in your home kitchen though. They’re aesthetically pleasing and people will be impressed when they see you using one. I’m positive one will function well for you too. It won’t make you a better cook, but your cuts will be precise.
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Not for their price and not for their marketing, at least in my estimation.
In years past, Shun has been cagey or outright deceptive about the quality of their steel. Their knife lines varied in price despite having nebulous to nonexistent variation.
I consider them hobbyist toys, for those with more money to spend than work to do.
If I see them in a home kitchen, they will likely either A: still have their admittedly decent factory edge, or B: be distressingly dull due to inadequate care and maintenance.
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They’re good without a doubt, but in the knife shops of Tokyo I’ve noticed a rather dismissive attitude towards them for being more of a bling and less of a function. As one shop owner said with a shrug, it’s usually the foreigners who buy the Shun knives. Perhaps they make a nice souvenir?
For example, take a basic Chinese cleaver from the low end. Shun is beautiful: it has a layered pattern and beautifully polished steel. The handle is shiny and black and it is rather small, both handle and the blade, easily used by those with smaller hands and just not used to large knives. At the same price point Sugimoto cleaver will have a rather generic one-coloured blade with matte polish and a large, wooden handle. It will be significantly larger too, but Chinese cleavers are supposed to be large.
To sum it up, Shun will do its job just fine, but if you are looking for a tool rather than a kitchen decoration, look elsewhere.
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Shun kitchen knives are pretty decent. the 2 steels they use more of are VG-10 and VG-MAX, which, in my opinion, are good decent steels and will definitely serve you very well.
However, they are not the best performing steels available. I think Miyabi’s takes the cake on that with their MC66/ZDP189 for edge retention and the high sharpness they can achieve.
Shuns and Miyabi’s are also more commercialized and westernized. They might be made in Japan, but they don’t have the feel or aesthetic of a proper Japanese knife making artisan like Masamoto or Aritsugu.
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I guess compared to most knives out there, they are. Clearly they beat out 90% of knives, which are crappy supermarket specials or made in China cheapies.
If you’re looking to compare them to top-of-the-line offerings from Japan, however, Shun is meh. They’re made more for looks than function. They’re overpriced for what they are because of all their marketing, and they try to hide it by offering free sharpening or by replacing defective broken ones for free. The hybrid handles are hideous and bring the point of balance to the handle, where it doesn’t belong. Shun knives are needlessly heavy compared to those of many other Japanese gyuto. Shun’s heat treatment is also notoriously inconsistent, which is surprising for a Japanese product. The reputation of VG-10 as a knife steel tanked because of a combination of Shun’s popularity and the prominence of silly China-made VG-10 faux Japanese knives. Shuns don’t feel anything like a traditional jknife.
If I have to choose between Walmart knives or a Shun, I’ll take the latter. But if I have my choice of $120 to $150 Japanese knives, Shun are near the bottom of the list.
My personal kitchen weapon brand has to be Kurosaki. Specifically, Kurosaki Yu, not Makoto. Although this is only because I have never used anything from Kurosaki Makoto. But his work gets rave reviews, too.
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Historically speaking, Asian knives have a higher carbon content.This makes the blade hard and the edge so sharp, it doesn’t need re-sharpening for years.However, that hardness makes it brittle — especially when you drop it on or hit it against something solid.
Also, they rust fast.Since that is viewed as a slight disadvantage,
uses different steel blends (VG10, VG Max, just to name a few) which will give them just the right hardness, long-lasting edge, and prevention from accidental breaking and rusting.
In general,Shun is a good knife.
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