Shun Steel Angled 4-Inch Paring Knife
by Alton Brown
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List Price: Our Price: $45.00 You Save: $61.95 (58%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: Kitchen See more product details |
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Kitchen and Housewares Reviews of Shun Steel Angled 4-Inch Paring Knife
Customer Review: Love it!
Summary: 5 Stars
Purchased in March 2010 after much research. Absolutely love the knife; feel, weight, balance, blade, sharpness! Just great!
Last week upon trying to flick a pepper seed off my Shun Steel Angled 4" pairing knife and letting it slip out of my hands into my S/S sink with decent force, I broke the tip. After some more research, I decided to replace it with a J.A. Henckels Pro S 4-Inch High Carbon Stainless-Steel Paring Knife. That's when I really learned how great this Shun was. Right out of the box, it didn't appear as sharp as I expected. At home I did a few cut tests against my 7-month-old Shun...the Shun beat it hands down, across the board. Shun sharpens and fixes for free, so I sent it in for repair. I will use this Henckel since I am kinda stuck with it. However, if Shun fixes my other knife, I'll probably never use this one again.
I am an amateur home-cook, so this review can be taken with a grain of salt, or with the consideration that a relatively inexperienced user recognizes significant differences in quality and function.
ADDITION: Shun returned my knife about three weeks after sending it in. I am not sure if they replaced it or repaired it, but I now have the knife back, super-sharp, and WITH a tip again.
Customer Review: One Sharp and Well Balanced Paring Knife
Summary: 5 Stars
This is one great knife. It really exceeded my expectations by leaps and bounds. I lost my last paring knife when I moved. I've been living without one for a while but figured I'd get the Shun because it was on sale. I'm sure glad I did.
I used to own a Global paring knife. It was OK but I was a little disappointed with the sharpness. I have a Global 8" chef's knife that was as sharp as can be but the Global paring knife was just average at best(for the brand name and price range anyway). When I lost that Global knife, I figured I could live without a paring knife and did for quite a while.
Along came the Shun. This guy is really something else. It's in fact sharper than my Global which was just sharpened 2 weeks ago. (The Global is about 3 years old and has seen through a lot though.)
The weight of the the knife is also good. It has a large and long enough handle(also 4 inches), unlike many other paring knives. The handle is also weighted well. For my use, the knife is well balanced (weighted towards the back end).
As mentioned by some reviewers, I too was skeptical about the angled blade since this is a paring knife and is not really meant for too much chopping. It's not that hard getting used to though. However, I did a little light chopping of some chives and that was where the angled blade really shined.
Oh, and it sure doesn't hurt that Damascus steel is oh so beautiful
Other stuff to note:
- This is mainly a right handed person's knife. As the case with many Japanese knives, the blade is sharpened such that only one side holds the cutting edge. The handle is also asymmetrical. I tried holding it in my left hand and it still feels rather comfortable. Other than that, I can't say much.
- Also, because of the angled blade, it didn't fit my regular 4" paring knife sheath (by KnifeSafe). I had to use a 6" sheath instead.
Overall, it's a really great knife for my application and I highly recommend it if you're a righty.
Customer Review: Sharp
Summary: 5 Stars
This is very very sharp and Dangerous. 4 people have cut themselves on my knife. No one believes me when I tell them how sharp it is. It Really Really Sharp! which is great if you know how to use it. My Veggies are scared when I take it out knowing they will meet their demise in a few short seconds.Customer Review: Sharpest Knife I've Ever Used
Summary: 5 Stars
I must say that I was pleasantly surprised when using this knife. All of the positive reviews set my level of expectation high, and this product still beat my expectations. It cut through green onions like butter. I kept cutting each slice thinner and thinner with amazement. It did the job with bell peppers, tomatoes, and I'm pretty sure anything else I throw at it. Well worth the sale price I paid for it. Definitely will get some for my family next time the price drops.Customer Review: Shun Angled Paring Knife
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought this knife to have a 2nd one around the kitchen so my boyfriend and I weren't fighting over who got to use the knife. We use this one so much more than the normal paring knife. It's exactly like the Alton's Angle (which are now discontinued since they now feature Ken Onion as a spokesman) just without the name and his little face on the blade- oh and it's a different color.
This knife is great for cutting tomatoes, quick trimming and cutting of meats, etc. The weight is well-balanced too. Just be careful- it's VERY sharp out of the box. The only thing I can see that might be a complaint for someone is that it is a right-handed knife. When I was searching for somewhere to purchase my 2nd one, I never saw anywhere that it was available in the left-handed version.