Complete Shun Knives Review Guide: A New Perspective On Proven Success
Bobby B. | Brands
Shun is a traditional Japanese brand of knives, popular for their thin, lightweight blades made of high-quality hardened steel, many including beautiful Damascus patterns. Owned by the Kai Corporation, Shun Cutlery has been making knives in Seki City for over 100 years. This area of Japan has long been known for its skilled blade artisans who’ve been making swords, knives, and other cutlery here since the 13th Century.
The spirit of these sword smiths lives on through each of the knives they produce. Made by hand, Shun knives can take as many as 100 or more processes to complete. They still follow many of the blade-making traditions of the past while using more modern Japanese Super Steels to increase performance for the future. For the reasons above and more, many consider Shun knives to be the best Japanese kitchen knives on the market.
Shun Knife Lines
Shun Cutlery is one of the most popular producers of Japanese style kitchen knives in the world. They currently produce 7 main knife lines that are sold into the United States. Each line differs in quality level, price point, and which customers they are targeting, ranging from mid-range to the higher-end of the kitchen knife market. Here’s a list of the lines with details and our review on each to help you in your search for the best Shun knife.
Shun Sora
Shun Sora Review:
Sora is the least expensive Shun knife collection. It’s made of a 3-layer VG10 steel cutting edge and uses Japanese 420J polished stainless on the upper section of the blade. This composite blade technology puts the higher cost material only where it’s necessary. And, that’s on the edge where retention of the sharpness matters. In a continued effort to keep costs down and allow more home chefs to afford Shun knives, the Sora utilizes a textured PP/TPE plastic handle that has excellent grip and requires very little maintenance.
Shun Kanso
Shun Kanso Review:
We love the unique look of the Kanso collection, the next part of the Shun knife lines. It utilizes very simplistic design characteristics and only focuses on what’s important, which is a sharp blade and good balance. Kanso knives use AUS-10A Japanese blade steel. It hides scratches very well with it’s “Heritage” finish. The full-tang design adds strength to the knife and provides a solid base for the tagayasan wood handle. Tagayasan is very dense and durable and makes a great wood handle material.
Shun Classic
Shun Classic Review:
As one of their most popular knife lines, the Classic Series is the lowest cost option that uses Shun’s proprietary VG-MAX Super Steel for its cutting core. This core allows for a sharper, more durable edge. It is also wrapped in 34 layers of