B2B

Interesting facts about
KAI kitchen knives

A sharp and high-quality chef's knife is an indispensable tool for every passionate cook. To ensure that your chef's knife is always in top condition and maintains its cutting performance, regular and appropriate care is essential. In this chapter, we would like to tell you more about our high-quality chef's knives and give you information worth knowing about the materials used and the different types of knives. Dive with us into the world of chef's knives and learn what distinguishes a first-class chef's knife and why it is a valuable investment for every chef.

Japanese
Blade types

Santoku -

the three virtues/benefits

The Santoku is the traditional Japanese shape for a utility knife, comparable to the German chef's knife. The name 'three benefits' is derived from its versatility for cutting fish, meat and vegetables.

Usuba -

the vegetable cutter

The Usuba blade shape is a traditional Japanese vegetable knife, and it is therefore used primarily for this purpose. Despite its axe-like shape it is not suitable for chopping bones.

Yanagiba -

the willow leaf blade

The Yanagiba is a traditional Japanese slicing knife. Due to the slender, one-sided, hollow-ground and relatively long blade, the knife is particularly suitable for very thin cuts. The knife guarantees a skilful - and particularly clean, smooth cut. Such cuts are particularly important in the preparation of sushi. The length and shape of the blade allow for a long, pulling cutting movement.

Deba -

the protruding blade

The Deba is used in Japanese cuisine as a traditional axe. The sturdy, heavy knife has a strong, broad blade and a single cutting edge. The front part of the blade is used mainly for filleting fish. The rear part of the blade is stronger and is used, among other things, for cutting small chicken and fish bones.

Material

Damascus steel

is in its modern form an alloy consisting of multiple visible layers produced in combination with a core steel. The base material used for the production of modern Damascus steel derives from steels with various contents of accompanying elements. The combination of steel grades with contrasting properties allows the production of particularly hard and at the same time flexible steels.

HRC

refers to hardness tests according to Rockwell's C scale, employed for particularly hard materials. The Rockwell hardness value arises from the depth a testing object reaches whilst penetrating the test material (diamond, as the hardest material, serves as the value of reference with 100 HRC).

A(US)10 steel

00 (±1) HRC

characterized by its high carbon content which ensures a high hardness and enables an excellent cutting quality. The other elements give the steel more flexibility and toughness, which contribute to a better resistance to wear and corrosion, making AUS-10 knives less likely to rust and giving them a better edge retention.

SUS420J2 steel

56 (±1) HRC

is a corrosion-resistant stainless steel with a high chromium content (14%) and an average carbon content (0.3%).

6A/1K6 steel

57 (±1) HRC

is a newly developed steel. Blades fashioned from this material are especially resistant to corrosion due to their high chromium content. This is a very pure type of stainless steel. Its greater carbon content ensures a better edge holding ability.

VG 2 steel

58 (±1) HRC

is a Japanese steel distinguished by its high flexibility and resilience. Thanks to its high chromium content, this blade steel is particularly resistant to both wear and corrosion.

VG 10 steel

61 (±1) HRC

is a classic Japanese high performance steel with excellent properties that have awarded it the moniker "gold steel". It is a stainless blade steel of the highest quality with a high carbon content. This allows it to be tempered particularly well in contrast to other stainless steels. Moreover, VG 10 boasts a particularly good edge retention.

VG MAX steel

61 (±1) HRC

is based on VG 10 steel with further optimisations to its properties. Enriched with a higher chromium and vanadium content than VG 10, it demonstrates improved edge retention and resistance to corrosion. A higher carbon content also makes it harder than other steel grades.

VG XEOS steel

00 (±1) HRC

A very hard stainless steel, represents the further development of VG-Max steel. This steel allows the production of knives with even thinner cutting edges, which reduce friction while cutting and allows a better edge retention. Although VG-XEOS is made without cobalt, it still achieves the same hardness and resistance to corrosion as VG-Max. As a result, it offers an outstanding cutting performance and a high resistance to wear.

Pakkawood

does not refer to a particular wood species, but rather the general term for impregnated layered wood veneers bonded using high quality resins to ensure the handle's stability and guarantee lasting durability in the face of moisture and organic material.

Care
Instructions

Cutting

We recommend that you cut on wooden or plastic chopping boards. Glass, stone, and granite are unsuitable as cutting surfaces, as they can cause permanent damage to the knives' delicate blades.

The blades are principally not suitable for cutting bones, including fish bones or frozen foods.

Cleaning

Rinse the knives in hot water before using them for the first time. After each use, make sure that the knives are washed without delay (with a mild detergen) and dried off with a soft cloth. Acidic foods in particular should be rinsed off immediately after use.

For your own safety, you should always wipe the knife away from your body and away from the cutting edge with a cloth or towel.

Knives do not belong in the dishwasher, under any circumstances. Always wash the knives by hand in order to protect the material and maintain long-lasting sharpness.

Storing

When storing the knives, make sure that the blade does not come into contact with other metallic objects. This way, common causes of damage and staining can be avoided.

The best way to store the knives is in a knife block, in a wooden drawer insert, on a wooden magnetic knife rack, or in the drawer with a blade guard or sheath.

Sharpening & Care

Ensure that all knives with natural wooden handles do not remain in water too long. Oil the handle from time to time with a little neutral vegetable or camellia oil.

It is also advisable to have the knives professionally resharpened from time to time to repair signs of wear on the cutting edge and to ensure lasting sharpness.

Due to the high degree of hardness of our knives, sharpening steels are completely unsuitable. From the traditional whetstone to a complete electric system, our range offers the right tool for each of our knives.

Wood care

Cutting Boards & Knife Blocks

Our collection of chopping boards and blocks is crafted exclusively from European wood species. We make sure that our raw materials are sourced from sustainable forestry. Besides first-class workmanship and a modern design, we consider this is an equally important aspect for the quality of your product. Kindly take note that wood is a ‘living’ material and that it will retain its natural properties, even after use.

Natural material

Natural contents of wood such as tannic acid and tannin reduce the risk of germ layer formation caused by food residue. We recommend nevertheless that you clean your chopping board thoroughly after each use. In case of a light use, consider using a damp cloth and then wipe with a dry towel. Scrub the board vigorously under flowing, warm water with a little detergent to get rid of a bigger amount of food leftovers. Afterwards rinse the board in clear water and then wipe dry. Never place this board in a dishwasher or leave it to soak in water.

Please treat the board carefully and observe the following instructions to ensure that you enjoy using it for a long time. Oiled surfaces like those on cutting boards and blocks require good care. We especially advise using linseed oil, Japanese camellia oil or normal sunflower oil. Do not dry your chopping boards close to radiators or ovens, as the dry air may cause the wood fibres to crack. To prevent warping, you should ideally ensure that air can circulate freely around both sides of the cutting surface.

You will enjoy using our products for many years to come if you observe these care instructions.

Grinding Instructions

Soak the whetstone in water until no air bubbles appear, and keep the whetstone constantly wet while sharpening. Place the whetstone on a dedicated stand or on a wet cloth to prevent it from moving.

Hold the knife as shown in Figure 1, and sharpen the knife while maintaining a constant angle to the whetstone. As shown in Figure 2, position the knife so that the angle between the knife's cutting edge and the whetstone is 45-60 degrees.

Double bevel knife: The angle between the whetstone and the knife should be about 15 degrees, as shown in Figure 3.

Single bevel knife: Place the knife on the whetstone as shown in Figure 4.

Sharpen the knife by moving it back and forth, using the full length of the whetstone, with just enough force to lightly carry the weight of your arm without exerting too much pressure. When burrs appear, sharpen the other side in the same manner until burrs appear. For single bevel knives, see Figure 5 for the knife angle. Once burrs have developed along both sides, spread newspaper on a flat surface and rub both sides of the blade to remove the burrs.

In order to continue sharpening accurately, use a flattening stone to flatten the surface of the whetstone.

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