BF2019 - NORA #1604 - 7.5 Kiritsuke - Purple Haze Shokwood
$ 339.00
KNIFE HIGHLIGHTS
- Blade Type: Kiritsuke
- Blade Length: 7.5 Inches
- Total Length: 12.5 Inches
- Handle Style: Western | Right or Left Hand Use
- Steel: AEB-L Stainless Steel
- Handle Materials: Live Edge Stabilized Redwood paired with urethane based resins, black G10 liners, stainless steel pins
- Rockwell Hardness: 62 HRC
- Grind Type: Full Flat
- This Blade is Ground...
- Thin for Performance (Best performance, but delicate)
- Thick for Durability (tough, built to last for heavy wear-n-tear)
- >>> Mid-Range with Special Geometry (specially ground for food release and glide but blade is kept slightly thicker for durability)
- This Knife Feels...
- Heavy in Hand (hefty, durable)
- Light (nimble, maneuverable)
- >>>Not too heavy, not too light (Switzerland)
GENERAL USES OF THIS KNIFE
KIRITSUKE KNIFE:
This blade design is our take on the traditional Japanese Kiritsuke knife.
A Kiritsuke knife is one of the very few Japanese knives that is considered multi-purpose. It is a hybrid between a Yanagi (fish slicer) and a Usuba (vegetable knife.). A Kiritsuke knife works well for slicing and breaking down protein but it also excels at vegetable prep. and general purpose tasks. In Japanese kitchens, the Kiritsuke knife is reserved only for the executive Chef as a sign of respect and also due to the skill needed to efficiently use these knives.
Our Kiritsuke design does not have as flat of a belly as the more traditional Japanese style knives. We have done this to allow just the slightest amount of rock in the cut. We feel it adds a bit more versatility to the knife.
HANDLE DESIGN & MATERIALS:
Every one of our knives is handmade, numbered and unique. The number on each knife represents the production order of our small company. As such, if you have NORA #1000, that knife represents the 1,000th knife made here at NORA knives.
This NORA knife has been handled with a beautiful 'Purple Haze' Shokwood which has hues of purple, robin egg blue & black in the resin. Shokwood is a hybrid mix of stabilized live edge wood and urethane based resins. This particular handle has a stabilized American redwood. The nice thing about these handles is that this is wood that is usually thrown out by the mills since it is deemed unusable for most uses. It gets new life on this knife after being stabilized and with the resin added.
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.
STEEL INFORMATION:
AEB-L STAINLESS STEEL
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.