SHAN ZU Knife Set with Block, Damascus Kitchen Knife Sets 7-Piece Professional Knife Damascus Sets for Chef, Japanese High Carbon Super Steel 67 Layers Knife Block Set with G10 Handle

TLDR: They are sharp and well made and brilliant value for money. Key points MATERIALS AND CONSTRUCTION: They are actually made with Damascus steel (not laser etched) for those worried by the fakes. They are razor sharp out of the box and the hardened steel core shows no signs of dulling after my use so far. They are resistant to rust, but I would recommend washing immediately after use and never letting them sit in water if you want to keep them in their best shape. The Knives are well balanced, just behind where handle meets blade, making them perfect for a pinched grip. They are also a good weight to give confidence and ease of use. The knife block itself is solid wood, nice and heavy, and has an open bottom so you don’t get mould growing in there and can clean if need be. LOOKS: The damascus pattern is quite subtle but looks gorgeous in the light, I’ve attached a photo but it's very hard to do it justice. The arrangement in the block looks elegant and makes sense for use. Please DON’T use a scouring pad on the knives, it won’t impact performance at all but you don’t want to ruin the polished damascus finish with scratches. - THE SET: The only two knives you probably NEED is a chef’s knife and a utility knife, however, I have found the Santoku knife brilliant as well, especially for cutting vegetables and the fruit knife my wife loves as she doesn't like cutting with big blades. A bread knife of this quality is potentially overkill but it looks great with the set and functions even better. - PRICE: You can ask many people and get many answers on what is expensive for a set of Knives. Some would pay £20 for a set of knives and some would pay £2000 for just one. If you want a good set of knives, you will need to pay for them. These are a great set of knives, they perform well above their price bracket and will last you a lifetime if you look after them. -SHARPENING : I would recommend using a wetstone to sharpen, Shan Zu do a matching wetstone that gos with the knife block if you want to display them together, but any wetstone will work. I’m yet to run into a downside using these knives, the biggest take away for me is that they have made cooking fun! If you enjoy using your tools then you will use them more and hopefully you’ll find the joy in cooking like I have :)

Lovely looking knife set with a beautiful pattern on the blades. Sharp blades with well balanced handles. Excellent for the price. They were a birthday gift and the recipient was very happy!

After years of disappointment with blunt knives or buying new knives but finding them soon lose their sharpness I decided to buy a decent knife set. I was not disappointed. They are very sharp straight out of the box. I have the cut on the end of my finger to prove it! The first time I sliced an onion I was cutting a couple of horizontal slices and the knife penetrated through like it was butter. The tip only just caught the end of my finger and I thought I’d avoided a cut but no. It reminded me how careful you need to be with a really sharp knife but I could get away with not being so careful with my old knives. These new knives will even catch hold of your nail if you don’t fully tuck them under and use your knuckle as a guide. The Damascus pattern makes them aesthetically pleasing and I like the handle which provides a good grip. The knives are heavy compared to my old knives but feel well balanced and robust. I actually bought 4 Shan Zu steak knives after using this set although I’ve not used them yet. They are also weighty with a similar handle although not Damascus steel, which isn’t really required for an eating knife. I’ve done a lot more food preparation since the knife block arrived because I’m no longer frustrated by poor cutting issues. Trimming meat used to be really irritating but it’s a breeze now. I’ve purchased a Whetstone to keep them sharp although there’s no sign of needing it yet. My brother has a set of Global knives but I can’t imagine how they could be much better than these Shan Zu knives to warrant the extra expense. The knife block is fine and functional so all-in-all I’m happy with my Shan Zu purchases.

Bought the set in Oct 2023 in the sale... So glad I did. I thought I had got sharp knives before but this set redefined what I think of as sharp ! I'm an old dude and have been cooking daily for most of my life. I'd got into the habit of compensating for less than sharp knives by changing the way I cut things. Let's just say that once I started using this set, I had to relearn some skills to save my fingers and nails ! I use the Santoku and Chef's knife almost daily ( normally one or the other ) on veggies and meats and they will retain a good edge for around a month before I think about honing them again which (though I'm no expert in any way) shows that the steel is a good quality and holds an edge well. On sharpening them... Despite my best efforts with previous knives, I never got on with whetstones, so I use the Horl 2 rotating drum sharpening system. I used it once to set the edge to 15 degrees (which took a while for each knife even though I think that's what they are ground to from the factory), then I honed it using a 3000 and 6000 grit disk and leather strop (from the premium kit) monthly. That gets the knives paper slicing sharp, though I've never yet got a blade "hair shaving" sharp using any method, so that's a me thing I guess. Short version is that for me, this set plus the horl means I always have super sharp knives to cook with, and can even look almost like a pro chef when I'm chopping and dicing sometimes ! Final word - You won't be disappointed, but don't forget to hone them regularly using your preferred method... I have never used the honing steel which came with it, as I have heard bad things about honing steels in general, and find the regular honing I do negates the need to use it.

bad ass knives!!! they cut rocks like butter.

The knives are very sharp when they arrive, as expected. They have a really good weight and feel so are very nice to use. They don't keep the sharpness as long as I thought they might but the supplied sharpener is easy and quick to use, and restores the cutting edge without much effort.

Beautifully balanced. Lethally sharp. Aesthetically stunning. A perfect addition to any kitchen.

Fabulous quality knives and real Damascus steel too. FYI Damascus enables very high hardness ( Rockwell 60+) steel to form the cutting edge, whilst sandwiched forged between lower hardness more robust layers of steel. The result is an incredibly sharp and fine blade, which is also very tough. Don’t be fooled by knives that look like Damascus but are only laser etched stainless steel. These are the real thing. Fantastic value and well balanced too. I added a fillet knife, and a leather travel bag and my long suffering super tough Katto knife too….see photo..

Die Messer waren in einem sehr gutem Zustand. Die Messer sind sehr scharf und liegen gut in der Hand. Die Messer behalten lange Ihre Qualität.DasSantoku Messer ist das beste Messer mit dem ich bisher geschnitten habe. Die Messer lassen sich gut reinigen und nachschärfen.

Prezzo elevato per un articolo molto elegante e di buonissima qualità. Solo il tempo confermerà la fattura, ma le lame sono sorprendenti. Più che consigliato!!

Antes de comprar estos cuchillos me estuve informando muy a fondo. Los tipos de acero, la forma de la hoja, la virola, el nervio, cómo se afilan etc. Después de probar estos, creo que es absurdo gastarse miles de euros en cuchillos de Solingen tipo Zwilling o Wüsthof. Los chinos (nos guste o no) fabrican hace años de todo y en todo tipo de calidades. Llevo poco tiempo con estos cuchillos así que ya veré en cuanto a durabilidad, pero por lo pronto, por 200€ por un juego completo con su bloque en madera de acacia es una compra fenomenal. Usa tablas de cortar de madera de roble (nunca bambú) para que te dure el filo, y usa la chaira (que no afila, sino que deja recta la hoja) después de cada uso. He hecho la prueba de cortar un folio con todos los cuchillos y van como la mantequilla. Literalmente afeitan y puedes tirarles un tomate desde el aire para partirlo en dos. El único pero: hay que estar 100% concentrado y con buena técnica de corte si no quieres lonchearte un dedo. Además he comprobado (a base de dejarlos de un día para otros mojados o semi-sucios) que tanto el acero de damasco (capas exteriores) como el núcleo de AUS-10 son realmente inoxidables. No se quedan con ninguna mancha. Casi compré los Shan Zu GYO pero al final preferí los PRO porque estos tienen la espiga completa y por tanto son más duraderos y además están mejor equilibrados.

Couteaux très bien, bonne rigidité, bonne prise en main, équilibrés (ça dépend des gens, de la taille des mains et de la prise en main de chacun par rapport au couteau), et évidemment aiguisés comme jamais au sortir de la boîte. Lors des premières utilisations, en coupant une pomme de terre (et en la tenant mal), la lame est venue buter contre mon pouce, c’est rentré direct, donc niveau tranchant … on est au top ! Pour garder le tranchant, il faudra le faire avec une pierre à aiguiser, mais ne l’ayant pas fait, je ne peux pas dire. Les couteaux sont à laver et sécher dans la foulée. Mais j’ai recommandé ces couteaux à d’autres personnes, ma mère en a achetés, et elle en est elle-même très contente aussi. Concernant le service client, vraiment au top : après plusieurs mois, quasi un an, je les ai contactés pour un couteau qui commençait à présenter des points de rouille sur un côté de la lame. Ils ont écouté mes remarques, et après vérification de l’achat par mail, ils m’ont renvoyé un autre couteau (4-5 jours entre la prise de contact et la réception du couteau). Aucune lourdeur administrative, pas de problème de compréhension (même s’ils ont sûrement utilisé un outil de traduction), vraiment rien à redire, service client digne du service client Amazon (c’est pour dire). Ils m’ont aussi indiqué qu’ils renforceraient leurs process et vérifications afin que cela ne puisse se reproduire (évidemment, ce n’est probablement pas avec une retour que la perfection sera atteinte, mais la prise en compte du retour d’expérience est primordiale pour s’améliorer). Bref, je recommande !

Really good quality on the knives for its price ⭐️