Knives & Blades Of SteelFor The Knife & Blade Enthusiast

Is a Santuko knife good for cutting meat?

My husband cuts a lot of meat, expecially tri tip, and I was thinking that a santuko knife would be good because it can slice very thin but on the other hand the blade is shorter so it seems like it might cause problems when dealing with large pieces of meat….. suggestions?

Santuko (santoku) in Japanese means knife or the three virtues. Although, nobody knows for sure what the virtues are.

Nevertheless, western Chef’s knife, or its Japanese counterpart Gyuto will work a lot better for meat slicing. BTW, Gyuto means “cow sword” in Japanese and originally was used mainly to slice large pieces of meat. It’s somewhere in between of German and French chef’s knives.

The length, the belly and the tip of the chef’s knife aka Gyuto make it a lot more versatile than Santokus. Works well for pretty much every cutting job, unlike santuko.

Also, don’t bother looking for big santokus, nobody makes them, not even custom makers in Japan. Sure you can have someone make it for you, but it’ll cost an arm and a leg. I’ve seen 210mm santoku only once, it was a custom piece, typically you’ll find 150-180mm and that’s way too short for meat slicer.

Chef’s knives come in any size from 6″ to 12-13″ or even longer.
I’ve owned multiple knives of both type, Santoku reviews here – http://zknives.com/knives/kitchen/ktknv/indexbyst.shtml?Santoku
Gyuto reviews here – http://zknives.com/knives/kitchen/ktknv/indexbyst.shtml?Gyuto

In the end, I have half a dozen gyutos now, and couple more on order. The only Santoku I keep now is Tojiro, and pretty much never use it. Sometimes for vegetable cutting, but even for that I prefer chef’s knives because Santuko isn’t designed for rocking motion.

As for the slicing thinly, any sharp knife will do that, unless it’s a very thick blade. Santoku doesn’t have anything specific in its blade geometry to make it a better slicer.

Also, if the meat you slice is boneless, then you might consider typical slicer, or its Japanese version Sujihiki. Both sport long, thin and slender blades, ideal for slicing.
A few here – http://zknives.com/knives/kitchen/ktknv/indexbyst.shtml?Sujihiki

I agree with another poster about necessity of sharpening, but there is no such thing as “asian knife” sharpener. Sharpening stones or steels or other devices are simply abrasives. I’d avoid any pull through device which will ruin any edge regardless of its origin.
Sharpening equipment reviews here – http://zknives.com/knives/sharpening/index.shtml

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