Kiwi Brand Stainless Steel 8 inch Thai Chef's Knife No. 21

I am a pastry chef and having been using this as my every day knife for 2 years now. I bought it on recommendation from a colleague and have not been disappointed! This knife is lightweight, well balanced, and comfortable. I have tried many of my colleagues knives all at varying price points, and while some of them were a little better or could be used for more things, I just can't bring myself to spend that much money on a knife.This knife arrives really sharp and has maintained that edge fairly well over the two years I have had it. I can count on one hand how many times I have had to sharpen it on a wet stone. I do use a steel to hone the blade everytime I use it, and if I'm doing a lot of. Slicing and dicing I may hone it multiple times. Just a couple pulls on each side and it can slice through tomatoes ease and cut herbs without bruising them.The blade is a little thin for cutting anything that is too hard, like a block of chocolate, but I have a larger, sturdier knife for things like that. But for an everyday knife to chop fruits, veggies, and some meats, it gets the job done. You will not find a better knife for the money. And everyone of my co-workers who have tried it out cannot believe that it cost me less than $10.I have 2 other Kiwi knives as well, and while this one is my favorite because of the size and utility, they are also of equal quality and have maintained an edge with only one wet stone sharpening each. Kiwi has a customer for life in me!

I am an owner of several higher end knives from Japanese forges (Makoto Kurosaki, Toshihiro Wakui and so on), and this knife is by no means the same level of production, it's not a particularly impressive steel, it doesn't have nearly the same hours of work put into it as those, but this is not a high end knife, this is a 10 dollar knife.With all that said, I was actually pleasantly surprised by this knife. The knife is overall lightweight, the handle is a lightweight wood with a half-tang construction which ends up tipping the balance point towards the blade itself, this makes the knife more suitable for a pinch grip (for those less experienced, this is a good thing)The fit and finish was surprisingly good as well, neither the spine, nor choil has particularly sharp edges, making the pinch grip very comfortable for a 10 dollar knife. While the handle is reasonably fitted to the blade.Cutting performance is really exceptional for such a low-pricepoint knife, it is by no means exceptional, but the blade is significantly thinner than that of European style knives, this means the blade geometry will make the knife better at cutting soft produce. In order to compensate for the thinness, the steel is not hardened to a very high HRC (probably around 56 I'd say), this means that the edge retention is not particularly good, this knife will need frequent honing if you want to maintain the out-of-the-box sharpness, this is the same as with most low-mid end knives. That said, this knife is so thin and soft that honing is actually quite enough to maintain a decent edge, you will not need to sharpen this knife if you are otherwise used to European knives. And because of the blade geometry, this knife will still cut quite well even when dull.It should be noted that this knife is NOT intended to handle the same workloads as thicker blades of equal or lesser hardness would. This is absolutely not a knife meant for hard produce such as bones. It is purely a vegetable and filet knife, which it does better than any other knife in this price bracket, from my experience.Overall, this is an expectational knife for the price. Personally, I grab this knife whenever I just want to do a quick prep without performing the ritual of care that high-end knives require. But I can imagine that if you don't otherwise have a high-end Japanese-style knife, this knife can easily become your favorite knife for vegetables and fileting.

I cook a lot. Both personally and professionally. If you asked me what knife to recommend as a general all-purpose chef's knife I would tell you a Global G-2. And I wouldn't be very wrong. Anthony Bourdain said it is the best starter chef's knife. But it would likely cost you something north of $100.So why am I telling you this when I'm reviewing the Kiwi Brand Stainless Steel 8 inch Thai Chef's Knife No. 21? For perspective.I was in Bangkok a couple of years ago. My wife and I took a cooking class for fun. I'm always interested in learning something new. It wasn't so much cooking techniques that I learned as it was that this knife existed. I liked it. The knife was surprisingly sharp, easy to hold, and enjoyable to cut a variety of produce and proteins. Searching around on Amazon I found this knife which looks to be the same one I used in the cooking school. So I bought it. Why not? Spend $10 or so and see what it can do.Well, it pretty much does almost everything. I wouldn't recommend cutting bones with it. That said, for 95% of what one is likely to do in the kitchen this knife will more than accomodate. And the price is right.I wouldn't toss it in the dishwasher if I was you. Oil the handle occasionally. And sharpen/hone as needed (or every time you use it if you want the very best results). Enjoy it. This knife punches far above its weight. I highly recommend it. You won't regret buying it.