HUB 03 · Guides
What Is a Santoku Knife?
The flat-profiled Japanese all-rounder that shows up in almost every knife block. Here's what it actually does, how it differs from a chef's knife, and whether you need one.
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A santokuis a Japanese general-purpose kitchen knife — the name means roughly "three virtues," usually taken to mean slicing, dicing and mincing. It's the Japanese answer to the Western chef's knife: a do-everything blade, but with a flatter profile, a shorter length and often a lighter feel. If a chef's knife and a santoku are in the same block, they overlap heavily — most cooks don't need both.
How a santoku differs from a chef's knife
Three things. The profile is flatter— a santoku has little of the chef's knife's curved belly, so it favors an up-and-down push-cut and tap-chop over the rock-chop motion (see chef knife vs santokufor the full breakdown). It's usually shorter, around 5 to 7 inches against a chef's knife's 8. And the tip is a "sheepsfoot"shape — the spine curves down to meet the edge, so there's no fine upswept point. That makes it nimble for straight-down chopping but less useful for detailed tip work.
What the dimples (Granton edge) actually do
Many santokus have a row of oval dimples along the blade — a Granton or hollow edge. Their only job is to reduce suction so thin slices of potato, cucumber or carrot release from the blade instead of sticking. They do notmake the knife sharper, and the effect is modest — helpful, not magic. Sharpness still comes from steel and hardness and geometry, exactly as it does on any knife.
Who should own a santoku
A santoku suits a cook who chops with an up-and-down motion rather than a rock, likes a shorter and lighter blade, or has smaller hands that find an 8-inch chef's knife unwieldy. It's excellent at exactly the everyday work its name promises — slicing vegetables, dicing an onion, mincing herbs. What it doesn't do as well is rock-chopping big piles of herbs or fine tip work, where the chef's knife wins. Because they overlap so much, the honest advice is to pick one as your main knife rather than buying both. Compare it with its cousins in santoku vs nakiri and gyuto vs santoku.
Keeping a santoku sharp
A santoku sharpens like any double-bevel knife — on a stoneat roughly its factory angle, which on Japanese santokus tends to be keener (around 15° per side) than a German knife's. Harder Japanese steel holds that edge longer but wants a stone rather than a pull-through. If your santoku is a softer German-made one, treat it like any German blade and hone it often.
Questions
Frequently asked
What is a santoku knife used for?
General everyday kitchen work — slicing, dicing and mincing vegetables, meat and herbs. It's a Japanese all-purpose knife, the counterpart to a Western chef's knife, and excels at straight up-and-down chopping thanks to its flat profile.
Is a santoku better than a chef's knife?
Neither is better — they're different tools for the same job. A santoku is shorter, flatter and favors push-cutting and tap-chopping; a chef's knife is longer with a curved belly for rock-chopping and fine tip work. Choose by how you like to cut, and own one, not both.
Do the dimples on a santoku make it sharper?
No. The dimples (a Granton edge) only reduce suction so thin slices release from the blade instead of sticking. Sharpness comes from the steel and the edge geometry, not the dimples — the effect on cutting is modest.
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