A Santoku is a general purpose knife, designed for all basic kitchen cutting tasks: slicing, cheese & charcuterie, vegetables and fruit. Its blade shape is slightly shorter than a standard chef's knife, and it is light, agile and easy to maneuver. Even with its unique blade shape, there is enough curve to make effective rocking cuts as well. The Dual Core series by Shun features 71 alternating micro layers of high carbon, high chromium VG 10 and VG2 stainless steels. These two steel types are roll forged to produce a finer grain in the steel and to give it strength and beauty. Then it is hot forged to give it the herringbone texture which allows the layers to alternate along the cutting surface. Since the two steels wear at different rates with normal use, the blade will gain a micro serration over time, allowing these extremely sharp blades to feel sharper longer.
