Mercer CulinaryAsian Collection Chinese Chef's Knife with Santoprene Handle

I added this Mercer Asian Collection Nakiri to my collection of kitchen knives in March and it has been my primary food prep knife for about 5 months. I could not be happier with it. I have become a Mercer Cutlery fan over the last couple of years because every Mercer knife I own is stunning for it's price and compares favorably with knives costing three times as much. This Nakiri is no exception. Prior to this purchase I had been using a Mercer M22907 Nakiri style knife and it was great too but the blade shape more closely resembled a Santoku. Before that I used a Calphalon Santoku for a number of years. I tried the M22907 because I wanted something lighter in that Santoku shape and I bought the Asian collection Nakiri because I wanted to try this more traditional blade shape as well as the traditional handle shape. In my case I bought the traditional handle shape in the NSF material and I feel it was an excellent choice.I love everything about this knife. It is extremely light weight. The steel takes a very keen edge which lasts as long I I could reasonably hope...I sharpen about every 10 days. The simple traditional handle shape in the super grippy NSF material is perfect. I always feel like I have a solid grip on the knife no matter what I am cutting or how sticky, gooey or slippery my hands get.In addition to the two Mercer knives mentioned so far I also own a plain edge slicer, a wavy edge bread knife and several paring knives and these are just the Mercer brand knives that I own and use. I have a lot of food prep knives and the Mercers are all among my favorites.I just added a Mercer 4" Deba to my knife collection and I have to say that Mercer really messed up on this one. While the knife itself is just fine, albeit a little small, the handle for it is so tiny that it is really difficult to use. I ended up having to remove the handle and installing a longer one. The factory handle is so tiny it is only suitable for someone the size of a 10 year old. That said, with a longer, larger handle, it is pretty useful.

i don't normally write reviews but i am so impressed with this knife i had to write it. i've always wanted a chinese chef's knife due to its versatility and practicality. when i did my initial research my top choice was the dexter chinese cleaver, which was very popular. in the end, i opted to try the mercer primarily because of the rubber handle.i was very happy with the knife. over time i got more interested in knives, german vs japanese steel, and i decided to "upgrade" to the ZHEN VG-10 Damascus Cleaver. the steel was noticeably sharper when you touch it, and the damascus pattern was beautiful. however, when it came time to actually cut, the mercer was actually better. the secret here is that the mercer has a convex grind, while the zhen was a more conventional V-grind. this meant that vegetables did not stick to the blade nearly as much. with the mercer, i can half a cucumber, and slice into thin slices by draw cutting through the cucumber. i could not with the zhen -- the cucumber would stick to the other side of the blade.next up, i tried the Wusthof Chinese Cleaver. i disliked it immediately -- it was very heavy. in fairness, heavy is in the title, but i didn't expect it to make that big of a difference. the fit and finish also wasn't as good; the spine was not smooth, and neither was heel...which meant holding the knife properly by choking up to the heel was uncomfortable. the mercer's spine and heel of the blade are smoothed. and speaking of weight, this is when i realized that the mercer is 8.8 ounces, which is super light. it's also only 2mm thick at the spine.still wanting to find "the best" knife, i tried the other german brand, Zwilling. this one was slightly heavier than the mercer, slightly thicker, but the balance was off. i prefer the 7 inch size of the zwilling more, but the size of the handle relative to the blade was awkward and made for weird balance. if you're holding a chinese chef's knife properly, you're pinching the blade, so in the zwilling half of the handle is sticking out the back of my hand. and this was when i realized that i really, really like the non-slip rubber handle of the mercer.next up, was the Messermeister Asian Precision Chinese Knife, 8-Inch. i don't know why i didn't try this one first before the others, since this is the knife that celebrity chef Martin Yan uses. it was the only knife that was competitive vs the mercer. it is a little bit heavier, which makes certain cutting tasks easier as the weight of the knife helps, but not so overwhelming like the wusthof. it's thicker at the spine, but it actually gets even thinner than the mercer (which you can see in the picture, is already very thin). it's full-tang, 3 rivet, with a nice "ping" when you tap on the blade vs a "thud" of the mercer, so it definitely feels like quality in your hand if you're into that kind of thing. i still liked the rubber handle of the mercer more, so i eventually ended up wrapping the messermeister handle with rubber splicing tape.5 chinese chef's knives later, the mercer and messermeister are my favorites. for the mercer, the only downsides i can think of are not really downsides at all, but personal preference. the tip is a bit more rounded than the others, not a 90 degree angle. this makes rocking and draw-cuts easier because it doesn't dig into the cutting board as much, at the expense sacrificing ease of delicate tip work. it's also 8 inches instead of 7, but i've gotten used to it.if you're looking for a thin and light vegetable cleaver, this is incredible value at this price point.

Great value for the money. It is holding its edge very well and does a nice job cutting.

I purchased this originally with the intent of getting a santoku with more traditional features such as a round handle and a blade without the arguably useless grantons (dimples) present on every western-style santoku. Mercer's Asian Collection offering fits all of the criteria at a very low asking price compared to a blade actually shipping from Japan.Despite the economy pricing, the knife itself is well-made and reliable. I've purchased several of Mercer's knives and they tend to be very consistent for a relatively low asking price. My copy was extremely sharp out of the box, it only needed a light stropping on leather in order to push-cut cleanly through paper.The German/western steel will not have the long-lasting edge retention of the specialty Japanese steels such as VG-10, but a few swipes on a honing rod will keep the edge keen enough to thinly slice tomatoes for several cycles before a full sharpening session on a whetstone is required.On ergonomics, the handle is comfortable, although the blade does not offer any special ergonomic features such as a rounded spine or a smooth choil (the underside corner where the blade and handle meet). People looking to chop vegetables for several hours per day will probably want to look to other options, however this is not unusual for a knife at this price point. Mercer offers a handle selection of either natural wood or santoprene (a rubberized grip). The wooden handle is comfortable and serviceable, however it does not appear to have been treated or stained. The santoprene handle may be advisable if you prefer a more textured handle that is durable and easier to keep clean.Overall this is an easy recommendation if you are looking for a traditionally shaped santoku at a budget price.