The 5 Best Santoku Knives of 2023 (2024)

Blade Length: 7.0 inches | Materials (blade/handle): AUS-10V 67-layer Damascus steel/plastic composite

The DALSTRONG Shogun Series Damascus is an elegant and sharp blade. It is supremely comfortable to hold in hand. It has a smooth, gently angled bolster that all but eliminates abrasions during extended use. It has a protective sheath, which helps keep it sharp, and its substantial handle and good balance contribute to an almost superior experience.

We were slightly disappointed with how this knife performed during testing. The edge was plenty sharp, but our testers reported feeling a lot of drag behind the blade, especially with thicker and high-moisture produce. It's on the pricier side as well, so we think other models can offer greater utility from the cost. However, if you want a knife that looks good and cuts well-enough, the DALSTRONG fits the bill.

Blade Length: 7.0 inches | Materials (blade/handle): High carbon steel/wood

The Mercer Culinary Santoku is a comparatively inexpensive and pleasant surprise. It is comfortable to hold and well-balanced. Despite its light weight, it still performs well on everyday slicing and chopping. It doesn't provide the most refined precision cuts, but the blade is thin enough and sharp enough that it will get the most common jobs of slicing onions or chopping herbs satisfactorily done.

The drawbacks of this blade mostly come with the price point. It has only a partial tang (meaning the blade only extends partway into the handle). Produce tends to stick and stack up on its flat face more than normal. The handle itself is unfinished wood, which means it's liable to wear more quickly than models outfitted with a plastic or finished wood composite handle. However, if you're shopping for your first full-size santoku knife at a reasonable price, we think you will enjoy this one.

Blade Length: 5.0 inches | Materials (blade/handle): High carbon steel/polyoxymethylene (POM)

The Wusthof 4182 is a short, sharp santoku that handles small tasks well. We found that it made quick work of garlic, shallots, onions, and herbs in daily use. Because of its size and weight, it is very nimble and feels like an extension of the hand. The handle is also recessed enough that even given its tiny size, it still provides plenty of cutting board clearance for knuckles.

Aesthetics and comfort are not this knife's strong suit. It features a riveted plastic handle, which visually doesn't compare to the elegance of finished wood. Moreover, it suffers from a metal bolster with oddly sharp angles we found abrasive with repeated use. Considering everything, though, this model is a great complement to a full-size knife.

Blade Length: 7.5 inches | Materials (blade/handle): High Carbon stainless steel/pakkawood-steel

The Hammer Stahl 7.5-Inch is a behemoth of a blade. The handle is made from a combination of steel and pakkawood, giving it a distinctive look. The bolster is relatively smooth and comfortable to grip. We found that this knife performed reasonably effectively on basic tasks that don't require much precision.

Typically, knives with some weight behind them make chopping easier. However, this is one of the heaviest models in this review, and it drifts too far into 'clunky' territory. The blade itself is thick, and the metal is heavy. Using this knife for an extended period of time is tiring. On top of that, we didn't find it to be especially sharp out of the box, and its precision is lacking. It comes with a lot of flair, though, so if you want a unique-looking knife, this one delivers.

Why You Should Trust Us

We put these santoku knives through the same rigorous testing process as all of our products. We start by researching the market and selecting models that we think will be top contenders. We purchase all of the products that we test at retail prices. We assess each blade in a handful of metrics, including cutting (i.e., chopping, slicing, and julienning), as well as their comfort, balance, and durability. We used each model to chop herbs, slice onions, and julienne carrots. During testing, we took note of how comfortable it is to grip each blade, measured and marked the knives' centerline of mass, and assessed any components, including the blade, hilt, and handle, that, over time, might wear down.

With over five years of experience in commercial kitchens and a lifelong passion for cooking, lead reviewer Ben Applebaum-Bauch brings his experience with a wide array of specialty knives to this table. Researching and testing with GearLab for five years, he has reviewed hundreds of consumer goods, including nakiri knives, as well as other kitchen products.

Analysis and Test Results

Here we more thoroughly outline the definitions of each metric and share our findings for each one. The metrics are ordered in order of how important we think they are, but if you prioritize one or two metrics a little bit differently, we encourage you to weigh those accordingly to find the Santoku knife that is most right for you.

Cutting

Cutting encompasses a variety of different techniques with each knife. We chopped herbs, sliced onions, and julienned carrots for our controlled tests. We also used each knife with a variety of produce to see how each model performed on a daily basis over the course of a month.

We found some pleasant surprises. Some top all-around performers include the J.A. Henckels International Hollow Edge and the Victorinox Santoku. The former has both the heft to make its way through hearty produce and the sharpness to chop herbs without bruising them, while the latter relies on a razor-sharp blade to get the job done and is also highly nimble as a result of its low weight.

Other contenders don't have a lot of heft but come with a sharp blade that proved to be especially adept at slicing. The Kyocera Advanced Ceramic falls into this category, as does the Kai Pure Komachi 2. The shorter Wusthof 4182 performs admirably for its size and is more than adequate for small-diameter produce.

Comfort

Most knife grips are serviceable in the short term. However, handles come in many shapes, sizes, and materials. If you are using your santoku knife for a long stretch (say, if you are prepping for a party), especially with a pinch grip, the shape of the bolster can be especially important for user comfort.

Here, the standouts are the DALSTRONG Shogun Series Damascus and Mosfiata 7" Super Sharp. They both have smooth and very gently curved bolsters that are supremely comfortable to hold with a pinch grip. Several other models are also very comfortable to hold and use. The plastic handles of the Kyocera Advanced Ceramic, Victorinox Santoku, and Kai Pure Komachi 2 are smooth and rounded such that it is easy to avoid blisters and abrasion.

A few models proved to be just uncomfortable. Despite its excellent chopping performance, the bolster of the J.A. Henckels International Hollow Edge has sharp angles and points that can dig in to fingers and caused our testers some discomfort. To a lesser extent, the Hammer Stahl 7.5-Inch and Wusthof 4182 also have bolsters that just don't conform well to a standard grip.

Balance

As a general rule, a kitchen knife should be balanced such that its center of mass is near the bolster (where the handle meets the blade). This helps to ensure that the knife not only feels good in your hand but also performs more efficiently. We measure and mark the balance point of each knife and consider the hand-feel and weight of each blade.

We will acknowledge upfront that all of these knives proved to be fairly well-balanced. However, some standouts include the J.A. Henckels International Hollow Edge has a nice, slightly handle-heavy balance, and the Victorinox Santoku, which is a very lightweight knife that we found to be nimble in hand. The Mosfiata 7" Super Sharp and the DALSTRONG Shogun Series Damascus are the two other knives that seem to take balance seriously, with the former executing a little bit better.

The middle-tier contenders are all similar. The Kyocera Advanced Ceramic and Kai Pure Komachi 2 happen to be balanced, but they are light enough that it almost seems to be incidental. The monstrous Hammer Stahl 7.5-Inch has a thick blade with an even beefier handle. If this knife was a chair, you might fall backward out of your seat.

Durability

Knives need to be cared for. No blade can stay sharp forever, and no handle is absolved from wear that comes with regular use. However, you are making an investment with any knife, and it's not always at the top of every home chef's mind to regularly sharpen and care for their knives (though if you are inclined to, we have also reviewed the best knife sharpeners out there). With that in mind, we look at the robustness of blade and handle materials, protective covers, ease of cleaning, and blade resilience.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, we found that some of the least expensive knives proved to be the most durable. The Kai Pure Komachi 2 is easy to clean and hassle-free to maintain. It comes with a plastic sheath to protect the blade in a drawer. The other fully plastic handle options are the Victorinox Santoku and Kyocera Advanced Ceramic.

Composite, riveted handles like those found on the Wusthof 4182 and J.A. Henckels International Hollow Edge are also wear-resistant. Some blades are also less delicate than others. Though no knife stays sharp forever, we again found that those with thinner blades require the most care to avoid getting dinged up. The Kai Pure Komachi 2 maintained its cutting edge reasonably well, even when treated somewhat carelessly.

Conclusion

There are a lot of santoku knives to choose from. However, we hope that our in-depth review has given you the information you need to make the right decision for you.