NORA #1776 - 8 Inch Americana Santoku - White
$ 325.00
Our version of a Japanese Santoku, this is an extremely versatile knife that functions similarly to a Chef knife. Santoku literally translates from Japanese as "three virtues" which refers to the three tasks this knife does exceedingly well: slice, dice, and mince. While Santoku knives generally lend themselves towards a chopping motion, we have also designed the blade with just enough belly to facilitate a nice rocking motion as well.
This is a revamp of our original "NORA" knife. We started by making a single Santoku design and that is all we sold our first year in business. Since then we have had roughly 4 different versions of our Santoku and I think we finally arrived on a blade profile and handle that really works great. We took our original Santoku blade profile and combined it with our larger handle style. The two work well together and this is a great all-around workhorse knife that functions similarly to a chef knife.
Every one of our knives is numbered and unique. This NORA knife, number #1776, is a special edition knife (1 of 3) made in honor of our upcoming Independence Day here in the US. Our products are proudly American Made and even though our country has its fair share of problems, we still feel incredibly honored to have the privilege of being born in the US. (Merica!!) In that spirit, these knives feature custom engraving with the American Eagle, our flag and the American motto: "E Pluribus Unum" which translates from Latin as: "Out of many, One."
Each of these special edition knives was made with Shokwood which is a wood/resin hybrid. The wood is stabilized Big Leaf Maple complemented by urethane resins in rich hues of (you guessed it) either red, white or blue depending on the knife you purchase.
The wood on this handle has been stabilized for durability.Wood stabilization is an added feature that we offer with our knives. Wood that is stabilized has been injected with a clear acrylic resin under a vacuum process. Stabilization helps to minimize, if not eliminate, any cracking, warping, shrinkage and/or expanding of the material. Stabilized wood will not absorb water and is generally impervious to oils. The process helps to ensure your knife has a long lifespan in the kitchen.
This knife blade is composed of AEB-L stainless steel which is a high quality Swedish metal, originally developed for razor blades. Recently, steel suppliers have made this steel available in thicker sheets and it has proven to be an excellent adaptation for the cutlery industry.
AEB-L has a beautiful balance of carbon and chromium and, with proper heat treatment, this steel produces both a very fine edge as well as excellent toughness and edge stability. The fine grain structure also makes this steel very easy to sharpen. We believe it is one of the finest stainless steels available on the market today for use with kitchen knives.
As a side note, there are two things we like to mention about this steel:
1.) This steel responds beautifully to honing and if the knife is honed regularly it should need infrequent sharpening.
2.) AEB-L is a stainless steel but just barely. The higher carbon content in this stainless is what allows it to get a fine edge and higher hardness than other stainless steels but it also has a tendency to sometimes form very fine rust spots on the blade. If this happens, these are easily removed with a green scotch brite pad and usually the rough end of a kitchen sponge will also do the trick.
{ Knife Details }
Metal:AEB-L Stainless Steel
Blade Length: 8 inches
Total Length: 13 inches
Handle Material(s): Micarta Pins, Black G10, Big Leaf Maple Wood (Stabilized), Urethane Based Resins
Rockwell Hardness: 62
Grind Type: Full Flat