Chef knives

Our chef knives collection brings together handmade Japanese-style kitchen knives with high carbon steel blades, each shaped for a different kind of cooking. Choose the all-purpose chef's knife your kitchen reaches for every day, or add a specialist blade for vegetables or fish. Inside you'll find a chef's knife with a natural wood handle, a gyuto with a G10 handle, a santoku and a yanagiba sashimi knife.

Which Chef Knife Fits the Way You Cook?

All four knives here share high carbon steel blades, so the real difference is shape. Each profile is built around a cutting motion, and picking the right one comes down to what you prepare most often.

Chef's Knife and Gyuto: The All-Rounders

A gyuto is the Japanese take on the Western chef's knife, with a pointed tip and a gently curved edge that rocks through herbs and glides through meat, onions and root vegetables. Our gyuto chef knife pairs that profile with a G10 handle, a durable synthetic that shrugs off moisture. The Japanese chef knife with a natural wood handle covers the same everyday jobs with a warmer, traditional feel in the hand. If you only buy one cooking knife, start with one of these two.

Santoku: Built for Vegetables

The santoku has a flatter edge and a rounded, downward-sloping tip. Rather than rocking, you cut with a straight up-and-down or forward push, which makes quick, even work of slicing vegetables, dicing and mincing. Cooks who chop more produce than they carve meat often prefer it to a curved chef's knife.

Yanagiba: For Sashimi and Clean Slices

The yanagiba sashimi knife is a long, narrow slicer designed to cut raw fish in a single drawing stroke, so the surface stays smooth instead of torn. It also works well for slicing cooked roasts thinly. It's a specialist blade, best added alongside a chef's knife rather than in place of one.

What High Carbon Steel Means in the Kitchen

High carbon steel takes a very keen edge and is easy to bring back with a whetstone or honing rod, which is why it's a favorite in Japanese-style kitchen knives. The tradeoff is care: unlike stainless steel, it can spot or rust if left wet. Hand wash each knife, dry it right away, and wipe on a thin coat of food-safe oil before storing. Over time the blade may darken to a gray patina, which is normal and helps protect the steel. Keep these knives out of the dishwasher and off glass or stone cutting boards; wood or soft plastic boards protect the edge.

Build Out Your Kitchen

For a matched set instead of a single knife, browse our kitchen knife sets. Heavy jobs like breaking down poultry or chopping through bone call for a thicker blade from our cleaver knives, and you'll find more everyday blades across our kitchen knives.

FAQs

FAQ About Chef Knives

What is the difference between a gyuto and a chef's knife?

A gyuto is the Japanese version of the Western chef's knife. It's usually thinner and lighter with a flatter edge toward the heel, while a Western chef's knife tends to be thicker with more curve for rocking.

Santoku vs chef knife: which is better?

Neither is better overall. A santoku suits push-cutting vegetables with its flatter edge, while a chef's knife or gyuto handles a wider range of tasks, including rocking cuts and carving meat.

What is a yanagiba knife used for?

A yanagiba is a long slicing knife made for cutting sashimi and sushi fish in one smooth pull stroke. It's also useful for thin slices of cooked meat.

What are chef knives made of?

Chef knives are most often made of stainless steel, high carbon steel or Damascus steel. All the knives in this collection use high carbon steel blades.

How do I keep a high carbon steel knife from rusting?

Hand wash it, dry it immediately and apply a light coat of food-safe oil before storage. Never put it in the dishwasher or leave it soaking.