J.A. Henckels Twin Four Star Series 7-Inch Santoku Knife ...

• 7-inch hollow-edge blade allows for paper-thin slices, keeps food from sticking
• High-carbon stainless-steel; optimum grades of metal welded into each part of knife
• Friodur ice-hardening process strengthens knife and prevents staining
• Full tang and bolster; black polypropelene handle
• Lifetime warranty

Amazon.com Review:
The Japanese version of the chef's knife, the santoku is useful for straight chopping, mincing, and slicing of larger quantities of vegetables and meat. Cooks with smaller hands may prefer this 7-inch blade as the shorter length offers better control while cutting. The width also provides a great platform for transporting chopped vegetables from cutting board to sauté pan. This version of the santoku actually has a hollow edge or oval cut-outs along the blade. The benefit to this blade style is that cooks can cut paper-thin slices and individual slices won't stick to the blade. Part of the Four Star series of cutlery, this santoku has a fully forged high-carbon stainless-steel blade. The blade, bolster, and tang are welded of one piece of metal using Henckels's Sinter Metal Component Technology, which distributes the right quantities of metal to each part of the knife. The result is a longer-lasting edge and a more consistent angle on the blade. The blade has also undergone Henckels's Friodur ice-hardening process, which further strengthens it and protects it from discoloration. The black polypropelene handle offers a secure and comfortable grip and is hygienically attached so there are no gaps between the handle and blade for food to become trapped. This santoku should be hand washed and is covered by a lifetime warranty. --Cristina Vaamonde

Love my Henckels:
I have a set of Henckels chef's knives that I just adore. I recently added this 5-inch hollow edge santoku to my set. It has everything I have come to expect from Henckels: world-class quality, balance, comfort and control. I am an advocate of EXCELLENT kitchen knives because they are so much more safe to use than crappy knives. When you use one of these, you are in control, even when cutting something hard and round like a winter squash or a huge, firm onion. After Hurricane Katrina, when my stuff was in storage on the other side of the country, I went out and bought some inexpensive (OK, CHEAP) kitchen tools to get me by until I could get my things out of storage. I had TWO different knives break apart in my hands while I was using them! You know the kind: cheap plastic handle, poorly joined to the blade, not terribly sharp. Yikes. What a relief it is to have a good knife in my hand again. I can focus on cooking, rather than on avoiding maiming myself with a cheap blade. Every household needs at least three good kitchen knives--a paring knife (for trimming mushrooms and slicing small veggies, like carrots), a smaller chef's knife (for chopping onions and small cabbages) and a large chef's knife (for slicing bigger, harder things like watermelons and butternut squash.) This 5" santoku nicely bridges the gap between the small and large chef's knives--perfect for people on a more limited budget. I used mine tonight to thinly slice a large onion. It slid through the onion like a warm knife through soft butter and the slices fell away from the knife cleanly as advertised. Using a good tool made well is one of life's enduring little pleasures.

amazingly poor quality:
We got this knife as a part of a large set to replace our Henckels TwinStar set that got dull to the point of being unusable and could not be honed. After a little more than a month of light use the blade cracked! Mind you, we've life-long owners of fine quality knives, they're carefully hand-washed and dried immediately, so there's no abuse on our part. Of course since it was purchased a little over a month ago Amazon won't take it back for exchange, so we're stuck dealing with the manufacturer and paying money to ship it back for "inspection" before they even consider getting it replaced. What a joke. I expected better from Henckels, I guess i'll be going with Shun for the next set.

High quality forged stainless:
I have owned a set of four star Henckels knives for more than a decade and bought this Santoku to complement the set. All of the knives have been used multiple times daily and performed well with basic care including hand washing, hand drying, and approximately monthly dates with a matching sharpening steel. Advantages of the Santoku over my chef's knife are the ability to chop large vegetables while maintaining good control over the wide blade and the hollow ground surface easily releases foods that would otherwise stick to the blade. I still prefer the chef's knife for chopping smaller things, like herbs, where the deeper drop angle to the point allows more rocking motion. This knife has the same high quality as the rest of my set and I anticipate that it, along with the others, will be part of my kitchen for a lifetime.

Good Kitchen Chopping Knife:
This is a great knife for chopping and mincing. The knife is well balanced, and is made of good steel, like all other Four Star knives. The rocking motion with the blade is very natural and easy to learn, in comparison to the standard chef's knife. In addition, the long, flat blade is excellent for scooping the chopped material up. The steel in the Four Star series is very good at holding an edge (compare to the Rachael Ray/Furi reviews) My older knives are used a great deal and have kept very good edges, two or three strokes on the steel and they are good to go. Out of the box, the edge is like a razor. The Four Star series is good for people with large hands. If you have smaller hands, the Pro-S knives are the same steel with a smaller handle. Four Star knives have a solid well balanced feel. I am not sure the five inch version would achieve the same cutting in this style. Not flashy, but a good solid kitchen knife. I think this may replace my chef's knife as my primary tool.

Excellent knife:
Bought this knife for my wife when I saw her try to use a straight edge knife for slicing and dicing vegetables. The sharp, slightly curved edge on this knife made this job much easier for her. She loves this new knife. I think this knife might be a bit too large for her. I plan on getting the 5-inch santoku blade for her next.