Customer Reviews

Shun DM0707 Classic 10-Inch Chef's Knife

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This was a difficult knife to rate, because on the one hand it is a very nice knife, and on the other, I can't recommend that you buy one.

1) This is a beautiful knife. I don't prep with it, but it has a permanent place on my magnetic strip, because I just like looking at it. If you want a Damascus-pattern Japanese knife that looks pretty, this is a good choice. You must also look at the Hattori HD (different Damascus style, black Western style handle with visible rivets), and the A.G. Russell Damascus (better Damascus pattern with white Eastern handles and visible rivets). They are harder to find, but nothing a quick Google won’t fix.

2) Do not buy this knife unless you have held it, and preferably used it. This is true of any knife. Handle comfort and balance are extremely personal issues. My love affair with this knife ended as soon as I took it out of the box. I'm a right hander with large hands and I use a pinch grip. I like my knife balanced exactly on my working fingers. With its curved, offset bolster and ridged handle, it's specially designed for a right hander with small hands, using a pinch grip, and even then it's mediocre. Using that grip, the balance is 2cm (3/4") nose heavy. My $25 10" Forschner Fibrox embarrasses this knife in term of handle comfort and balance. The only Shun knife with a real handle is the Ken Onion custom.

3) This knife is razor sharp out of the box. But really, any good knife will take a 15 degree edge, you just have to be willing to put it on yourself (or find a pro you can trust to do it for you). My Wusthof Grand Prix has a 15 degree edge and is as sharp as this knife, and gives me at least 50 hours on the board before I need to touch it up with my Sharpmaker. The same goes for my Forschner. VG10 is better steel, but you will still need to hone it with a sharpening steel, and it will still go dull on you. It’s only 7% harder than the average good knife and the Vanadium helps but isn’t going to change your life.
If you just want a light knife with a thin spine, you can get the same thing for a quarter the money from a Forschner or some other industrial (F. Dick Pro-Dynamic or Messermeister Four Seasons, etc) If you want a light, razor sharp Japanese knife with a hard blade, you can get the same blade performance and a better handle for half the money from a Tojiro DP.

4) If you're in the market for a Japanese knife and want a complete set of Eastern and Western shapes, your only real options are the Shun or the Globals. I'd rather have a Hattori, but they don't make a bread knife, or a western boning knife, or a Chinese cleaver, or a paring knife (although the petty knives will do most of the same jobs). But unless you're really attached to the idea of a matching set, buy this knife and the 3.5" paring knife, and go industrial on the rest. A $15 Forschner boning knife will spank the $90 Shun boning knife. The same goes for the bread knife. All pimpery aside, if you ask Alton Brown, he’ll tell you that a $100 bread knife is a waste of money (but he’ll still be more than happy to sell you one).

5) The 9" Shun sharpening steel is too short for this knife. Find a nice 12" sharpening steel, or buy a 12" fine ceramic steel. The ceramic steel will take off metal, so if you don't really know how to use a steel, stick with metal; it's more forgiving of bad form.

All that said, this is a good knife. The edge is flawless, the steel is good, it’s pretty, it has a nice blade shape, and the price is reasonable. If you like the hand-feel and don't have any trouble paying the mortgage, it will be money well spent. But I still prep with my Forschner, and leave the 10” Shun on the strip next to the 10” Global and the 10” Wusthof to impress any foodies that happen to wander through my kitchen, and as a silent testament to Brown, Bourdain, and my dream that Rachel Ray will someday learn how to use a real knife.

I'll try not to be dull (pun intended). I went through three phases with this knife when I finally decided to buy it.

The first: it's simply beautiful to look at. Sure, the Damascus styling is just that, but why not add beauty to something you're going to use everyday for every meal. In fact, it probably lowers the cost of the knife because it's made of a slightly lower grade of steel than the super-steel interior. Let your eyes dazzle, and your friends be jealous.

The second: I picked it up. Hopefully when you buy a knife, you get to use it (I'll get to that in a minute), and I actually don't suggest buying this, or any knife, from Amazon until you've checked it out in a real chef supply store. But still, I picked it up. The balance is perfect for a medium or small sized hand using a pinch grip. The blade rests in peace on your pointer as you let your middle and index fingers wrap around the circular metal bolster. The knife does all the work for you. Unlike its German counterparts, the Shun is thin and light, making a night's worth of prep work a true pleasure.

The third: I used it. The store I was at knew its business. When I asked if I could test it, they brought over a wood block, a potato, and a tomato. I started with the potato. The blade nearly fell through the russet and I got a paper-thin slice to share. You could actually see through the slice. But the real test in my mind is with tomatoes. Their skins can sometimes trick mediocre knives, but the best will just fall through. I was happy to report that I got a little nervous when I started because it seemed to resist a little. When I realized that I was already cutting the wood board, I knew I had found my match.

I tried the Wustoff, the Henckles, the Global, and even a few of the new ceramic toys. The Germans seemed silly after the Shun. Sure you can sharpen any decent knife to a 15 degree angle, but the effortlessness of the Shun made all the difference. The ceramics just didn't compare in ease of use. I must say, I tried the Ken Onion Custom. And if I wanted to spend another 70 dollars on a knife, I probably would have gone for that. So here's my advice. Try it. Try the others. Knives are a very personable thing. Some like heavy, wide blades. Others prefer the ease and speed of the Japanese knives. Still others have larger pockets for the Ken Onioin. My only complaint with the Onion is that it's actually quite short.

And lastly, please watch your hands when taking out of the box. As many reviewers have said before, this is one of the, if not the, sharpest knife out of the box. Happy cooking.

Is that there is no 12" version. Sure, the pseudo-Damascus blade surface is just eye-candy, but the very thin VG-10 blade is the best I've ever worked with. Thin equals lightweight, and I had to adjust my balance a little (from a top-line Messermeister). I thought I would miss that weight when chopping kale, but the superior sharpness of the Shun Classic Kershaw wins out. Also, it is very maneuverable--the blade has a less sharp drop at the end, sort of a cross between French shape and the German shape.

I use this knife every day and easily maintain its edge with a 12" oval diamond steel.

In Japan, everyone is forced to be right-handed, so the asymmetrical handle is perfect for right-handers like me, but southpaws probably would not like this knife.

This knife exceeds all expectations. Running my fingers against the blade, I was skeptical at first that the factory edge on the KAI 10" would compare to the set of Henkels Pro-S that I've been using for years. I was mistaken. The blade is sharp enough to fall through even tough root vegetables without any serious downward pressure; The weight of the blade and a gentle forward stroke causes the knife to literally fall through to the cutting board. In addition to carrying a deadly edge out of the box, I've found edge mantainance is much easier and less frequent a chore since I switched to KAI blades as my workhorse. Once a week over a waterstone durring heavy use keeps the thing scalpel sharp.

Switching from European to Japanese blades proved to be less disruptive a task than I'd imagined as well. This blade is considerably lighter than its German counterparts and the weight isn't something I've ever missed. Although lighter, the blade still feels more than sturdy enough to take a whack at a butternut squash with a raised arm. I feel comfortable enough with this knife to perform relatively fine work-- I was able to brunoise vegetables first time out with this knife. The 'D' shaped handle required no change in habits or adjustment.

The Damascus pattern on the KAI's surface is reported to deminish the tendancy of food to adhere to the blade and frankly, I've never been able to appreciably notice the benefit of this. Having said that, I do feel the Damascus patterned blade and Pakka wood handle have a marvelous aesthetic appeal.

As a man who cooks and takes cooking seriously, I cannot praise this blade enough. If you're an adherant to the European brands of blades and in the market for something new, I highly recommend this blade, or any of the Japanese brands from Seki city. I have a difficult time imagining prep without it.

Check out Kasumi knives as well.

I just purchased the Shun knife from Kai a few weeks ago and plan to use it professionally. It is amazing. The weight of it in my hands was what sold me. I have small hands but still wanted a large, 10-inch chef's knife. I was considering a Global until the salesperson put the Shun in my hand. I swung it around like a samurai sword and became giddy. The balance, weight, feel of the handle -- all superb. It is a right-hand knife, which means the handle is not symmetrical on purpose, so that cut foods more easily fall off to the side. Alton Brown says this is the knife he would own if he were only allowed to have one. He isn't wrong.

I recieved this knife and the 8" chefs knife as a Christmas present. I fell in love with them at a knife show last year and haven't been able to stop raving about them since...hence the Christmas presents. I think it is important to note that the knives are part of the Kershaw knife line, a personal favorite, and are absolutly stunning - not only use but also to look at. Friends and family always comment how beautiful they are and I am totally impressed with how they handle. A 10" chefs knife may sound intimidating but just wait till you hold this one in your hands and you'll have to own one also.

I'll state this quickly and simply: This is, by far, the best knife in the kitchen where I work. The executive chef abandons his Globals and borrows my Shuns when I'm in the kitchen. The sous chef stares balefully at his Wusthofs when we work together. The Shun 10" chef is the go-to knife for meats, for produce, even for bread. The angle of the blade allows for precision work, while the handle seats the knife securely in your hand for prolonged prep.

It's the best knife I've ever owned.

The previous review made me think twice about purchasing this knife, but I went and test drove some different knives before I finally bought this one.

The first thing I will say is I totally disagree about the knife being made for people with small hands. I'm 6'3" and I have very big hands. I also use a pinch grip and I still think this is the most comfortable knife I've ever used. The "D" shape of the handle meets your hand (as long as you're right handed) and cuts down on fatigue.

For those who must have the forged and riveted handle, try the Kaji series. Personally, I didn't like it. And the Ken Onion...well...I'm sure it works for some people. But those who don't like the Classic handle I find are the people who MUST have a European style handle, which I find to be chunky and clunky after using the Shun.

The second thing is I love the balance of this knife. When switching off with my 8" Sabatier chef's blade, I was struck with how nimble this felt in comparison. I think the Shun is also lighter while still being 2 inches longer. But it's built to move, whereas the more traditional European style blade feels sort of plodding.

When I test drove the Shun, the salesperson tried to steer me toward Wustof and one thing she said is that since she's of European descent, she feels more "like hacking through armor than slicing through leather". It certainly felt that way.

Thirdly, this knife is SHARP. I know it's been said before, and it will be said again, but the edge on this blade is unreal. Breaking down an onion was effortless. The carrots cut like butter. I cut paper thin slices of pork tenderloin just to see if I could do it. I recently had the Sabatier sharpened and while it was nice, and an improvement, it can't touch the Shun.

I'll also say that I love the length of the blade. The leverage you get from 10" as opposed to 8" is extremely noticeable. If you are thinking of getting the smaller blade, please reconsider. The larger blade can act "smaller" but the smaller blade can't act "bigger".

Finally, this is a gorgeous knife. The Damascus style (not true Damascus) is visually beautiful. But I wouldn't care if you modeled with it, if it didn't get the job done, I wouldn't recommend it.

The long and short: amazing piece of steel, but if you love European blades, go with that. However, if you're ready for a different cutlery experience, go with the Shun.

This knife will show you how bad your current knife set really is. It is extremely sharp and holds its edge extremely well. The ten-inches give you great leverage for powering through tough vegetables like potatoes or pumpkin. It's the first tool I reach for when I need to dispatch just about any foodstuff. I can do the job in about the same time as a food processor or a food chopper, but with much more even pieces. The blade is sharp and thin enough to shave paper thin slices from just about anything.

This is definitely a large blade. I cook every day and I'm happy just using my 8", but then, I'm a little person. Maybe bigger people who cook bigger portions need bigger knives like this one. If that's the case with you, then you can't go wrong with Shun.

Shun knives are beautiful creations period. Since I'm Asian, I love the tradition look and feel of this Japanese knife. I love the beauty of the blade and the dark, polished, Pakkawood handle. The unique "D"-shaped, Wood handles are preferable. The shape fits my hand perfectly, and the wood does not get slippery when wet - providing a very secure hold. The steel is of utmost quality and sharpness. Do not put this blade into any old electric knife sharpener! Electric knife sharpeners are made to put one angle on any blade. These blades come with a 16 degree angle and you don't want to be changing that angle. There are electric knife sharpeners that can sharpen these knives, but you'll have to do some research and find out which ones can be a fit with these knives. I prefer to hone with a sharpening steel and manually sharpen with a stone if necessary (and I don't see it being necessary to touch it to a stone any time soon). The blade is sharp straight off the factory and as Alton Brown says - it's the sharpest straight out of the factory edge as he's ever seen.

These knives are more expensive than most, but I think it's definitely worth it. To have the sharpest, most beautiful knife around - it's no contest. If you are on a budget, build your collection slowly. It's been said that there are only 3 knives that are the absolute basics for any kitchen: A 8" Chef's Knife (or some kind of similar, large-ish chef's knife), a Paring Knife, and a Long Serrated blade for cutting bread and larger items. I would add a thin utility knife and a boning knife to that list next. Then I would add those "in-between" sizes as I get more money flow in. =)

If you plan on spending any time in the kitchen, good kitchen knives are a definite must. Preparation is the bulk of cooking and when you have good knives, it cuts down on the danger of cutting yourself, it adds pleasure to the work, and it cuts down on prep time. Knives are also a very personal choice and it's best to at least go to a store and try it out for yourself first. Shun Knives are designed by the Japanese, so remember - it's designed for small hands. This makes it fit most women's hands perfectly, but I've heard of guys with larger hands not like it so much and going back to the German knives. So definitely try it out. It's a personal thing, it needs to fit you.

Why spend so much money on a knife? Well, if you spend a lot of time in the kitchen, and you almost always have to bust out a knife to prep a meal from scratch - why not use the best? Why spend that time with items that you love and brings you pleasure to use? Many times, it's the small things that brings us the most pleasure in life, and I consider my Shun knives as one of those things. Having something so beautiful and yet so sharp and perfect - it makes my time cooking just that much more enjoyable.

Another good thing to know is that although the Shun Knives are usually offered for right-handers, you can get these knives for left-handers. You just need to find the guys who stock and sell those ones as they are less known, and less common.