Best Santoku Knives

A santoku is a Japanese style all purpose knife, usually around 5 to 7 inches, that slices, dices and chops with a flat edge and a rounded tip. The picks below are drawn from current Amazon listings and chosen for blade length, the steel named in the listing, whether they carry a Granton edge and whether they ship as a single knife or a set, so you can match a santoku to how you cook.

What a santoku is and how it differs from a chef knife

The word santoku points to three uses, slicing, dicing and chopping, and the blade is built for exactly that kind of everyday prep. Compared with a Western chef knife, a santoku is usually shorter, with a flatter cutting edge and a sheepsfoot tip that curves down into the blade rather than rising to a point. That shape favours a straight downward push or chop instead of the rocking motion a chef knife uses on its curved belly. For most cooks the practical difference is feel: the santokus here are 7 inch blades that handle vegetables, boneless meat and fish on a daily board, and the Henckels option is a two piece set rather than a single knife. If you already own a chef knife, a santoku is a natural second blade, and if you do not, a single 7 inch santoku can cover most of the same tasks.

Steel types and hardness

Steel decides how well a santoku takes an edge, how long it holds it and how much it resists rust, so we only state what each listing actually names. The imarku lists Japanese high carbon stainless steel, the SANMEIHO names high carbon 10Cr15Mov stainless, a common Japanese style cutlery alloy that balances edge holding with rust resistance, and the Cuisinart lists plain stainless steel. The Wusthof Classic, Victorinox Swiss Classic and Cutluxe listings do not state a specific grade, so we treat those as stainless without a named alloy rather than guess a number. None of these listings states a Rockwell hardness figure, so we do not assign one; as a general rule a higher hardness holds an edge longer but can be more brittle, while a softer blade is easier to resharpen. When a listing names high carbon stainless, expect decent edge retention with everyday care.

Granton edge and handle

A Granton edge is the row of scalloped dimples ground along the side of the blade. Those hollows trap small pockets of air so slices are less likely to stick to the steel, which helps most with foods like potato, cucumber or cheese. In this list the Victorinox Swiss Classic is the single knife that states a Granton blade, so it is the one to choose if food sticking is your main frustration; the other picks use a plain flat grind. Handles matter just as much for daily comfort, but several of these listings do not state the handle material, so we have not described a handle where the listing is silent. The Victorinox lists a black handle, and where a handle is not described we leave it open rather than invent a material. Hold any new knife the way you cut to check the grip suits your hand.

Care and sharpening

A santoku lasts far longer with simple care. Hand wash and dry the blade rather than using a dishwasher, where heat and detergent dull and corrode an edge, and store it with a guard, a sheath or on a magnetic strip rather than loose in a drawer where it knocks against other tools. The Cuisinart ships with a blade guard and the Cutluxe and Home Hero style knives list a sheath, which covers that storage step for you. Japanese style santokus are often ground to a finer edge angle than Western knives, so sharpen on a whetstone or a sharpener that matches that angle, and hone lightly and often instead of waiting for the blade to go blunt. A Granton edge like the Victorinox is sharpened on its main bevel in the usual way, since the dimples sit above the cutting edge itself.