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Kai Pure Komachi 2 Knives - a brief review
I first saw them while I was browsing Amazon for a Japanese Santoku knife (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santoku) but was skeptical because of the looks and the price but the reviews were really encouraging in Amazon and I found lot of good reviews in net about them. While searching and reading about them, I came to know that they are made by the guys who make Shun knives.
The Komachi line costs a fraction of what Shun knives cost and while I am reasonably sure that these are not handmade exotic knives like Shun, I was reasonably confident to try them, and fortunately a friend agreed to bring me a Santoku knife from the Komachi line. One thing led to other and at last, she ended up buying the whole set for both of us.
The knife set:
The set contains:
8 inch Bread Knife
8 inch Chef's Knife
6 ½inch Santoku Knife
6 inch Utility Knife
3 ½ inch Paring Knife
4 inch Citrus Knife
The blades are made of 420J2 steel (
http://www.knifecenter.com/info/knife-blade-materials) and the handles are made of inomer resin. The knives are color coated using food-safe, FDA-approved resin coating.
The coating makes sure that the food does not stick to the knives and it makes cleaning much easier. It also makes sure that you can easily identify each knife (in case you use particular knives for particular purpose - one knife for vegetable, one for meat etc.). And oh, these coatings also provide the eye-candy.
I have been using the knives for some time and they are a hoot to use - light weight and very sharp. The blade has a full flat grind and really slices with ease .They cut through vegetables and meat like cutting through cheese, and slice incredibly thin.
These knives are incredibly light and very sharp and much superior to Tramontina knives and generic brand made in Japan molybdium-vanedium knives (IMC and TW) I have. The only down side I can think of about them is that the handle do not have a soft touch feel - the handle will be slippery if your hands are oily (though they do not slip if hands are moderately wet).
I have also read in some reviews that the light colored knives will get stained if you leave the knife without cleaning after cutting some particular vegetables, but I feel you should always clean your knife as soon as you finish using it.
An added bonus is that, you can sharpen them using whetstone - but I do not think they will need sharpening any time soon.
They are not meant to cut through frozen meat or through bones (I use a cleaver and a large knife made by a skilled blacksmith using tiller blades for cutting through bone - they are prone to rust and needs sharpening often, but they are sharp and cut through bones easily. But they are not very suitable for everyday use because they will not hold their edge for long time and are very prone to corrosion)
From the Kai\Shun website: Japanese steel knives are generally lighter in weight and are made of thinner, harder steel. Due to their harder steel, the blade stock can be thinner and the edge more acute—that is, sharper—than a comparable German knife.
--Anoop