Aogami No 2 edges outlast the celebrated Shirogami whilst being less prone to staining and equally easy to re-hone. The limited supply due to the various delicate and specialist processes required to produce it (along with high demand) has to lead to this very special material being reserved for only the most skilled Nokaji and thus it is rarely applied to the creation of accessible culinary blades. For these reasons, blades made from Aogami No 2 are amongst the most prized and this is usually reflected in the price demanded of these ‘Uber’ knives.
Aogami (aogami literally translates as blue steel, just as ‘shirogami’ means white steel this refers to an old paper wrapping classification system, not the colour of steel) with its very high Carbon content requires the addition of toughening elements to counteract brittleness and slow oxidisation – Tungsten and Chromium are 2 such elements. Taking into account their positive and negative influences – the exact amount of each is used to create a material that is hard, tough and slow to oxidise. In order to make resharpening easier this very hard & tough steel is sandwiched between two layers of soft steel that both protect and aid easy grinding. The result is an edge capable of enduring razor sharpness which is easy to maintain.
It should be noted that these are totally handmade knives using Bubinga wood for the sleek, seamless handles and as such the colour and tone does vary from piece to piece.
SANTOKU (San – 3 & Toku – benefit):
This is the classic Japanese chef’s knife. It is flat from the handle end for about ½ way to the tip and then gently curves to a point. It is ideal for straight vertical chopping, horizontal slicing and roll cutting.
Function – Multi-purpose chef knife. For Slicing, Dicing and Mincing of vegetables, meat and fish.
Normal length – 165mm to 180mm (smaller 140mm are available in a few collections)
Tip: The 170mm/180mm is the most popular multipurpose knife.
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