BF2019 - NORA #1610 - 7.5 Santoku - Curly Maple & Stripes
$ 349.00
KNIFE HIGHLIGHTS
- Blade Type: Santoku
- 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: Stabilized Curly Maple, Various G10 colors: reds, pink, orange and white, 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
SANTOKU KNIFE
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 slight 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 work great together.
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 punchy combo of stabilized curly maple wood paired with a mix of striped G10 in various stripes that work in a gradient from dark red to orange. Its a fun, playful mix and we like the lighthearted feel of these materials together. Not everything has to be so serious in the kitchen we think.
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.