The classic chef's knife is the Western cook's workhorse ''all-around'' knife.

The curved edge allows the knife to be ''rocked'' for dicing veggies with a rocking, chopping motion (that curve is called ''rocker''), and the wide blade gives enough handle clearance to avoid rapping your knuckles. The blade is rather heavy and has a thick spine (the part of the blade near the handle) so that it has enough power to chop through light bones, like chicken or fish. The edge is beveled at 25 or even 30 degrees, so that it can handle that heavy work without damage. The steel is somewhat soft, again so that it can do heavy work without chipping. The point is sharp and, well, pointy, to handle more delicate work, like slicing an onion for a fine dice. The blade is fairly long, so that it can slice largish things without lots of sawing. Many Western cooks will use a chef's knife for 90% of kitchen work.

The santoku is a fairly recent design, from the Japanese kitchen. Here the story is a little more complicated.

Traditionally, a Japanese cook has many knives, each one specialized for a particular function. He'll have a deba for heavy cleaving and chopping (including meat or bony fish), a nakiri for fine vegetable slicing, a yanagi for slicing soft fish (but not bones or meat), and probably multiple sizes of each. These knives have specific shapes, and also different types of steel (how hard, how soft, how brittle, how tough), and different edge bevel angles (a yanagi might be very acute, 0 degrees on one side and 12 degrees on the other, while a deba might be 30 degrees on both sides).

It wasn't necessarily practical for the Japanese housewife to own all these specialized knives, so the santoku was developed as a sort of general-purpose knife. ''San'' means three - as in fish, meat, and vegetables, or as in slicing, dicing, and mincing. It is still primarily a slicing knife for more delicate use. The edge doesn�t have enough rocker or knuckle clearance for the rocking dicing motion of a chef's knife, it isn't beefy enough to crunch through a chicken back, and the edge usually has a fairly acute bevel and, if it is true to its Japanese knife-making origins, is made of somewhat harder steel.

So there you have it. If you prefer a lighter, smaller knife and don't expect to do a lot of heavy chopping - or have another knife for that work - the santoku might be the right choice. If you want one knife to do everything including big/heavy work, the chef's knife is more versatile.

There are many variations, too. The classic French pattern chef's knife is lighter with a bit less rocker than the classic German chef's knife. Now that everyone makes a santoku, the average santoku may not have the acute bevel or harder steel that the original ones had.

I have a santoku (or, rather, a Western-made copy of a santoku) but don't use it much. I have a traditional heavy, forged chef's knife (French pattern) but don't use it much either. Instead, I use a 10'' chef's knife with a slim, stamped steel blade that I ground to a 15 degree bevel. I do almost everything with this knife except chopping hard stuff (I use a $10 cleaver to chop up chicken backs etc) and preparing Chinese food (I use the traditional Chinese vegetable cleaver for that). Realistically, most of my prep time with the knife is spent making piles of diced and minced veggies, and I like the fast rocking motion of the chef's knife for that.

Awesome, educational post, John - Thanks!

I was going to suggest that for most common prep they are largely interchangable. In general I'd simply say use what's comfortable for you.

I probably use my chef's knife 70% of the time. 20% of the time I use the santoku because the chef's knife is dirty, and 10% of the time I use it because I actually prefer it. Thinly slicing onions (or other veggies) and slicing off apple cheeks come to mind.

On the other hand I know that there are many folks here who reach for the santoku as their go-to knife. Whatever works for you!

(Mine are both Wushoff Classic)

Well, I know my chef's knife is long so I can chop big things, but I have a huge machete type thing I inherited from my bubbe that I use for cutting squash and watermelon, and it's heavier than my chef's knife so not as likely for me to slip using it. Plus it has a bevel top which is sharp on both ends so great for making the initial hack at a melon or squash. I like the chef's knife for the rocking stuff, but my kitchen counter and cutting board are so narrow that this particular chef's knife is just too long. I've seen smaller ones that I liked better, but I can't afford another knife. My santou is a cheapie I got at a big box store, it was a special edition type thing with a pink plastic handle in honor of breast cancer month or whatever. I suppose you can see why I got it, lol! It's OK but doesn't feel all that great or slice all that finely, but its size does fit my hand and kitchen better. I was all excited when I got this knife set from my mom, it is a German one I think, was probably pretty expensive, but I just don't like the knives in it, they don't work for me. The paring knife is just OK, (I like thicker, shorter ones) I don't use the boning knife hardly at all. The only thing I like is the bread knife! And the sharpening wand.

If I ever got another chef's knife, I would want the shape for the rocking but a smaller, shorter one.

I had the opportunity to meet with a chef when I was traveling in China. He showed me some of the skills in using the cleaver.

I have all kinds of knives, the cleaver is what I mostly use.

Amazing the kind of things a Chinese cleaver can do. I searched on Youtube, but didn't seem to be able to find too many demonstrations of advance cleaver skills.

Martin Yan has a few good ones.

If I find time, I will try to make a video.

So Much to do, so little time!

dcarch

LPink....I hate a santuko....doesn't work for me.
My grab-it knife is a Chicago cutlery 8 inch el cheapo chef's knife. It works for most things. I have a 9 inch better Chef's knife and a big 14 inch commercial grade chef's knife that I use for big volume veggie prep. but for chopping a little onion to go into a dish or cutting a stalk of celery...it's the little chef's knife.
A santuko is a jack of all trades and master of none...Get a little parer and a small or medium chef's knife....you will be happier.
The only way you can chop with a santuko is to literally chop....bang it on the board....you can't do that easy, efficient rocking thing you do with a chef's knife.
Try a commercial kitchen supply store....commercial knives are often very good and very cheap!
Linda C

A 8'' chef's knife by Dexter-Russell (restaurant supply store or online) or Victorinox Forschner Fibrox (online) are about $30. The chefs at your favorite restaurant quite likely use these. They are unfancy but quality, very functional knives made in, respectively, the US and Germany/Switzerland.

I've occasionally found okay knives at thrift and second-hand stores. But they need sharpening, which will cost $10-15, might as well buy the new $30 one. I never do seem to run across the prewar Sabatier for $0.50.

My rummage sale carbon steel Chinese cleaver is my go-to knife for chopping, slicing...just about everything except a paring knife. I even use it for cutting up chicken, everything except grabbing a boning knife to split the breast. It is amazingly versatile. Since discovering it, my chef's knife just takes up storage space.