Review on Jourmet 3PC Damascus Knife Set: Japanese VG10 Super Steel Core, 67-Layer Handmade PAKKA Wood Handle, S/S 430 Bolster - Chef's Essential! by Brittany Rodriguez

The last time I used that name in a kitchen knife review, I used it because the knife in question was made from a steel that frankly wasn't well suited for knife making. Staying true to the yin-yang flow of the universe, I use it today because the steel here is GOOD. The focus of any knife review should be the steel used in its construction. Why do you ask? Because the steel used to make a knife affects SO many properties of the knife. The steel alloy used affects: durability (how resistant it is to breaking/chipping and bending), edge retention (how long you can use it before needing to sharpen), ease of sharpening, and corrosion resistance. In fact, any decent knife rating will have around 15 heels for the steel and 2 for the handle. This should be your absolute number one concern when purchasing a knife. The first question should always be "What steel is it made of?”. Let's answer that question here and see what it all means. This knife set is made of VG-10 stainless steel. VG-10 - Japanese steel (original). The G in VG stands for "Gold", meaning it is the gold standard steel. Not bad, right? VG-10 contains 1% carbon, 1% molybdenum, 15% chromium, 0.2% vanadium and 1.5% cobalt. Considered a "mid-range" steel, similar to 154CM, D2, A2, and 1095. Honestly, a good knife steel company. VG-10 is one of the best steels in the world for use in kitchen knives (good ones, at least). As such, on a scale of 1 to 10, VG-10 is rated in the following categories: Toughness: 4 Corrosion Resistance: 7 Ease of Processing Sharpening: 6 Edge Holding: 5 Knowing all of this, you know what you need to know when doing a buy knives. Strength and edge retention are in the middle, the sharpenability is even higher and the corrosion resistance even higher. So that tells you that you can't hit it like a cold chisel, that you need to spend a moderate amount of time sharpening it (which you should ALWAYS do), and that it's pretty easy to sharpen. sharpen so you don't need anything exotic to keep it sharp like diamond sharpeners and premium ceramic sharpening systems. Additionally, it's fairly corrosion resistant, meaning you won't have any trouble using it on pickled veggies or leaving it in water (briefly). It shouldn't rust easily and you don't need to oil the blade like you do with low-chrome carbon steel. In short, this is wonderful kitchen knife steel that is easy to sharpen but fairly often, so use caution. ready for it and it's pretty corrosion resistant so great for the kitchen. So, further from the steel in the blade, which I could honestly mutter about, to the rest of the knives and why I appreciate knives made with such a fantastic knife. were only 4 stars. First the pens. I don't have big hands, actually I usually wear medium sized gloves (I'm a guy by the way). So no big paws here. They have the smallest handles of all my kitchen knives. Where it's a bit small for me. No, REALLY small or uncomfortably small, but small enough that I would consider getting 600 grit sandpaper on the handles to "finish" them a bit and allow for some more shopping. They are polished so fine that they can be a bit smooth, which is not good for a knife. Sometimes they can be too pretty lol. But given their modest size, these knives should be a hit with the ladies, whose hands are traditionally smaller than us men. Guys with large mittens should make sure they are not too small for their hands to be comfortable to wear. My next (and frankly last) criticism of these knives is the boring damask pattern on the blades. I have an actual hand forged Damascus steel kitchen knife and the pattern is bold and bright. You can tell it's layered steel but it doesn't stand out like OTHER VG-10 Damascus knives I've seen (and own). The VG-10 is capable of creating some very nice layers of damascus so I have to scratch my head as to why I'm seeing a VG-10 knife with a dull pattern that doesn't really stand out. Maybe in the spring I'll see if the etching acid bath doesn't bring out the pattern anymore, it would be nice if I could get a little more out of it. Incidentally, the sharpness out of the box was excellent. . I usually have to sharpen a knife, even a brand new one, before I find it to be up to par. But they came from the factory with a VERY thin edge, actually razor sharp. So if you keep track of your maintenance and sharpen them regularly, you'll find them to be workhorses in the kitchen. I recommend (and mostly use myself) a V-shaped ceramic stock sharpener for most of my knives. 5-10 strokes in each direction will keep the blade sharp forever if made each time and it takes 15 seconds. But the VG-10 is soft enough to even sharpen an Arkansas oilstone. What I do not recommend is using a sharpener. Sharpeners don't sharpen knives, they just roll back the "wire blade" after it breaks. I always recommend actual sharpening. If you like the convenience of a sharpener, they make it out of ceramic, which I recommend trying. So I really like her. Unusually for me I'm hard on knives, especially on their evaluation and especially on their use. I love the steel they are made from, VG-10 is the #1 steel for kitchen knives for a reason. I could use a slightly larger pen for myself (people with small hands rejoice!), and the damask pattern is a little "boring". Hence my deduction of one star. But I definitely recommend these. These are high quality knives that are easy to maintain and sharpen, have a beautiful edge and are resistant to corrosion. If you're looking for a decent set of kitchen knives, these should definitely be on your list of potential candidates.