Calphalon Katana Stainless-Steel 8-Piece Knife Set with Block

by Calphalon

Product Features

• 8-piece Katana knife set by Calphalon
• Includes 3-1/2-inch paring knife, 5-inch Santoku, 5-1/2-inch serrated utility, 6-inch utility, 8-inch chef's knife, kitchen shears, bamboo knife block, and diamond steel
• Crafted from 33 layers of VG Japanese stainless steel; Damascus-style blade
• Integrated bolster design and ergonomic poly-resin handles
• Hand washing and prompt drying recommended; lifetime warranty

Product Details

• Item Weight: 9 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 10 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B000AAT6ZK
• Item model number: KNS08V
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #87,480 in Kitchen & Dining (See Top 100 in Kitchen & Dining)

Product Description

Named for the sacred sword carried by Japan's Samurai warriors, Calphalon Katana Series cutlery has its roots in a centuries-old tradition of superior cutlery craftsmanship. Like the awe-inspiring swords wielded by the Samurai, Calphalon Katana Series cutlery is crafted using a time-honored layering process that creates a Damascus style blade, clad with 33 stainless steel layers. This unique series of cutlery uses VG Japanese steel, which provides exceptional sharpness and ultimate edge retention. These knives also feature a patented integrated bolster design and an ergonomically designed poly-resign handle. This 8 piece Katana series set is an ideal combination for the kitchen. The set includes: a 3.5" Parer, 5" Santoku, 5.5" Serrated Utility, 6" Utility, 8" Chef's, Kitchen Shears, Bamboo Knife Block and a Diamond Steel.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An Excellent Set for Home Cooks, October 22, 2007

By 

Jessica in NE "jessicat" (NE United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Calphalon Katana Stainless-Steel 8-Piece Knife Set with Block (Kitchen)

Pros:
These knives are pretty, with a rounded black handle, and a layered damascus-style blade. This means the blade, while relatively smooth, has a wavy-layered look to it. The Amazon picture is accurate to what you will receive in your set. Out of the box, each knife is quite sharp; enough to shear paper, but not hair.

I have smaller hands, and have some trouble wielding the 8" chef's knife, but find that the 5" Santoku is excellent for chopping vegetables. The 6" utility knife is also very useful for thinly slicing meats. I do use a different paring knife (Pampered Chef) as I find the Katana paring knife a little too sharp and rigid for say, lopping the ends off string beans in my hand. We also made the additional purchase of the 9" bread knife to complete the set. The bamboo block is attractive, and the slots are wide and deep enough to put other wide-bladed/long knives in. However, note that if you get the bread knife, that only leaves 3 empty slots (i.e. no dedicated steak knife slots).

Cons:
Two slight cons about this set: (1) The diamond-sharpener looks too coarse to use on these blades, and; (2) The shears in this set are lackluster. While they are relatively heavy-duty, they do not come apart for cleaning, and the handles are a little large and unwieldy. I prefer a smaller-handled set of kitchen shears that come apart for cleaning (when I decide to cut meat instead of slicing it, a la Alton Brown). But in their defense, they do cut cleanly.

Comparisons:
We love our Katanas, and they make ordinary chopping/slicing a much more endurable chore with their sharpness and ease. If you are "stepping up" from an ordinary consumer-grade set, you will definitely feel the difference. For example, I had a $90, 10-piece Kitchenaid set. The Katana Santoku knife is definitely more balanced, and the garlics/onions slide right off the Katana's grooves, whereas sometimes foods would stick on the Kitchenaid. I do find that the Kitchenaid chef's knife is slightly easier to handle, due to the longer curve (better rocking-chopping motion), and the slightly reduced weight, but the Katana is sharper, more rigid, cleaner-cutting, and therefore faster. The Kitchenaid shears were lighter (easier to wield) but flimsier. Unlike the KitchenAid shears, don't expect the Katanas to make a scissor-like snipping noise, they are entirely silent. The Katanas do require slightly care than your run-of-the-mill knife set, but simply wash them shortly after you're done using them and dry them prior to putting them back into the block.

Personal Opinion:
I don't know what "Professional Chefs" think, and I'm just an average cook. Thus, these knives went above and beyond my expectations by reducing my prep time, and adding an attractive focal point to the counter. Granted, they don't come out of the block making a lovely ringing steel noise like our Shun steak knives, but for the foreseeable future on a limited budget, the Katanas are a worthy investment.

Some Miscellaneous Notes:
These knives are made from VG-Japanese steel, but they are manufactured in China. We found this set (1st Quality) at more than 50% off in one of the big box stores, which made it a steal. However, if we had paid full-price, we probably would have done a comparison with a Shun knife set instead.

[Edit - July 2008] Since purchasing these knives, we have noticed the following: (1) do not leave them overnight in water - as they will rust badly, (2) the 5" Santoku has inexplicably developed two hairline fractures in the blade. It was my favorite knife, was not used on inappropriate objects/materials (not used for chopping bones or anything), and was always used on a cutting board, so this development within a year has been very disappointing. I still like the set, but the rusting and the fracturing make me a little less pleased with them. I would drop the star-quality to 3.0-3.5.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My Klingon Kitchen Knives, January 15, 2006

By 

T. Haller "The Vicar of Fordham" (Bronx, New York) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Calphalon Katana Stainless-Steel 8-Piece Knife Set with Block (Kitchen)

Couldn't resist the design, but to try these out first bought the 8" chefs bargain and then fell in love with the feel as well as the look and got the set with the storage block. Plan to expand to what is still missing (esp the honesuki and nikiri)

I find the handles a very comfortable fit, and the blades are so well balanced that I don't find them tiring at all. The parer is a precision instrument, and I love the santoku (both sizes). The sharpener is exactly that: so use with care and keep a honer handy as well for in between touch up. I used the small utility for getting every last bit of meat off of a turkey carcass after Christmas -- think the small honesuki might be even better for this task -- but the utility did a superb job and was easy on the wrists -- I find the short handles make for more finesse in handling and the knife seems to "go" where I want it more easily.

Not everyone will find these to their taste, but I think they are great!

65 of 81 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Aesthetically pleasing, but too heavy, September 26, 2005

By 

Michael (Philadelphia, PA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Calphalon Katana Stainless-Steel 8-Piece Knife Set with Block (Kitchen)

I must say I'm a big fan of Calphalon. I own several pots and pans from both their tri-ply stainless steel and non-stick contemporary series and I love them and highly recommend them.

I bought these knives assuming that their quality in cookware would translate into cutlery. I ended up returning them after several days... here's why.

PROS:

Absolutely beautiful knives that are well crafted with very rigid stainless steel (more rigid than Henckels and Wustof). The Santoku knife is a nice addition. I loved that the steel construction went all the way to the end of the handle. The steel provided with the set supposedly actually SHARPENS the knives as opposed to only HONING them. Who knows.

CONS:

1. Very heavy. Compared to the German knives, these are not agile at all and can be painful on the wrists especially when using the very substantive chef's knife. I thought the weight would add to the cutting ease but it really did not. On top of that, the weight was unevenly distributed making the knives feel unbalanced.

2. Short handles. As you progress to the smaller knives, the handles got annoying short. This just compounded the weight issue.

3. No sharpness advantage. I ended up purchasing the Henckels twin cuisine set of knives as they were similar in design (and also has a Santoku in the set!) to the Katana series. I noticed that even though the "VG Japanese steel" was supposed to be even sharper and stronger than the German steel, I felt like the Henckels knives were still sharper and cut through everything with much more ease.

4. Slightly harder to clean. The integrated bolster design makes it slightly hard to clean since any sponge you use against the blade tends to snag on the sharp end of the bolster. All the other German knives have a rounded bolster. This is by far the least important con.

All in all, I think the Henckels Twin Cuisine knife set is extremely similar in price and design, and additionally does not suffer from the deficiencies of the Katana Series knives.