Mercer Culinary M22707 Millennia Black Handle, 7-Inch Granton Edge, Santoku Knife

> The 7-Inch Granton Edge Santoku Knife is very sharp and feels "good". It quickly became my favorite knife for slicing and dicing soft to firm (but not hard) vegetables. It is hands-down my "go to" tomato, zucchini, and (already filleted) fish knife.> Practically speaking (because of the shape of the blade) it is the same size as a standard 8" chef's knife. But the Mercer Santoku It is thinner and lighter than a standard chef's knife. Yet, I often choose the Mercer Santoku when previously I would have chosen a smaller knife for a particular task. It's almost like getting a two-fer, the utility of both an 8" chef's knife and a 6" chef's knife in one knife.> The handle is very ergonomically designed, and will never slip in your hand.LIMITATIONS> The "Granton Edge" refers to the scallops ground into the edge for the purpose of making the blade less "sticky". And indeed cheese, tender meat, and moist vegies (such as tomatos and onions) do not stick to the blade of the Mercer Santoku as badly as they do to my standard 8" chef's knife (an expensive Henckels). However, the The Mercer Santoku is not nearly as good in this regard as a hollow-ground chef's knife. Hollow-ground chef's knives are hard to find -- Mercer sells hollow-ground chef's knives, but only with fat 2 1/2" high blades. I have a Mercer 8" long x 2 1/2" high hollow-ground chef's knife, and it is a great knife, but it is substantially larger and heavier than even a standard 8" chef's knife, and much heavier than the Mercer Santuko. The Mercer Santoku is a great companion to the 2 1/2" high Mercer hollow ground chef's knife.> EXAMPLE 1 -- I've test sliced a 4" x 1 1/2" block of cheddar cheese into thin slices with my 8 1/2" Henckels chef's knife, the Mercer Santoku, and my Mercer 8" long x 2 1/2" high hollow-ground chef's knife. The cheese stuck so badly to the Henckels that it crumbled instead of sliced. It was possible, with difficulty, to slice the cheese with the Mercer Santoku. But the Mercer 8" long x 2 1/2" high hollow-ground chef's knife sliced the cheese beautifully. Hint: to slice soft cheese, leave it in the freezer for 1/2 hour first.> EXAMPLE 2 -- I'd choose the hollow-ground Mercer for slicing anything harder than a big 1 1/4" thick carrot, but I'd choose the Mercer Santoku for most lighter slicing task. It's a tradeoff between slicing friction and the effort to physically move the blade. The heavy hollow-ground Mercer probably actually cuts a tomato with less friction than the Mercer Santoku, but the Mercer Santoku is my choice for slicing a tomato. To some extent, the less effort that is required to move the blade to the next slice, the greater the precision, when working fast --- and the less likely that you'll overshoot and slice a finger instead.> The "stickiness" of the blade also has another aspect. If the blade is is "low sticky" (e.g. a hollow-ground blade or a Granton blade), slices (e.g. of tomato, onion, zucchini etc.) "automatically" fall away where you want them. If the blade is "high sticky" (as are most standard chef's knives), the slices stick to the blade until pushed aside by the next slice, and then (Murphy's law applying) roll away (maybe into your sink, or to your floor) or fall under the blade while you are in the middle of your next down slice --- so you wind-up having to wipe every slice off the blade with a finger --- which makes slicing a slow frustrating tedious chore (and may result in a sliced finger if you are distracted).ASIDE -- So, I hear you ask, "Why not a Santoku-like knife with a hollow-ground edge?' It's not possible. You can only grind a useful hollow-ground edge into a thick blade. A Granton edge is a compromise, a way to make a thin light blade a little less sticky.> The Mercer Santoku knife is less-than-ideal for most chopping and mincing, because it is so thin and light. My much heavier and thicker 8" long 2 1/2" high Mercer works well for chopping and mincing because you've got momentum going with you. The edge of the Mercer Santoku blade is flatter than a standard chef's knife, so it doesn't rock as easily for mincing using the rocking method.> For the same reason as above (being so thin and light), the Mercer Santoku is much-less-than ideal for cutting tough sinewy meat or hard vegetables (such as carrots, or hard gourd-like squash) , and definitely should not be used on bones.> CONCLUSION: The Mercer Santoku is a great workhorse "vegetable" knife (which is great for slicing tender boneless meat)-- but you'll also need a larger chef's knife for more heavy duty tasks, and indeed for most general cooking chores. My choice for heavy-duty cutting is a 2 1/2" high hollow-ground Mercer.>>> What about that expensive beautiful Henckels chef's knife? I haven't retired it yet, but I rarely use it. I can't think of a SINGLE thing that the Henckels does better than these two Mercer's --- except look pretty. I've got a couple of other special-use Henckels knives, which are a joy, and the 8" Henckels chef's knife IS a great knife. But bottom line, the Mercers are simply more useful and user-friendly.

Fabulous! Quality and amazing price

As a former professional chef I am amazed at the quality at a good price of Mercer knives. They stay sharp and fit in the hand well. I still cook a lot at home and this knife has become my go to for veggies.

This knife is super sharp and very nicely balanced, a real dream to use! At the time of this review, I have been using it regularly (3-4x/week) for 1.5 years, and it is still awesome to use.The only downside is that I find it does need to be sharpened/honed on a fairly frequent basis. If you don't like to sharpen knives, this will be a pain to you. I don't mind it - I have a nice knife sharpener in my kitchen and it only takes a few minutes. Literally, 20-30 strokes, and the knife is back to being razor-sharp and like new!

I've purchased several Mercer knives and they are extremely sharp, hold an edge for a very long time, and generally do what a knife is supposed to do. You could pay a lot more money and not get a better knife. The molded handle may not look as fancy as higher priced knives, but I haven't any issues with the handle and if fits my hand well.

Good

Replaced a bunch of knives with Mercer. This one is a kitchen favorite. My wife and I both reach for it anytime we're cooking.

Sharp, strong, and inexpensive. I got this knife to not have to use my other more expensive chefs knife as often and this works just as well. The only downside is the plastic handle doesn’t feel as nice as other materials but that’s also what makes this knife not nearly as expensive as others. Great quality.