Zelite Damascus 8 Inch Chef Knife - Executive Tsunami Rose Damascus Pattern Japanese Chef Knife for Kitchen with Curved Handle; Professional Kitchen Knife with Japanese AUS-10 Super Steel 67-Layer

Note that I am not a professional chef but am an avid home cook, with a fair knowledge of advanced cutlery care and maintenance practices. I have long sharpened all my own knives by hand, know how to produce edges for very specific purposes, and when desired, make them "scary sharp". I just received my Zelite Infinity Executive (ZIE) 8" Chef's Knife and have only used it a couple of times, so time will tell in the long term, but here are my rambling thoughts on it thus far:- While definitely a "form follows function" type of guy, my first impressions of this knife were very positive. After opening the high quality packaging, a truly stunning blade emerged. The combination of patterned damascus steel with hammered tsuchime finishing is absolutely gorgeous. Fit and finish is top notch. High grade handle material is curved in a manner complimentary to the deep belly of the blade. Nice little details like mosaic center pin and seamless transition of handle to bolster. Would prefer more understated laser etching of logo and blade specs. Nitpicky, but I think it detracts from the beauty of the knife.- Feels excellent in hand. Substantial. Smooth. Balanced. No need to grind down any sharp edges of the spine on this one. Tsuchime finish extends to very top edge, adds to traction and doesn't dig into your forefinger when using a pinch grip. I like the flat sided heel of the Japanese knives. It makes them easier to sharpen and there are no weird edges that need ground down to make them comfortable to use like some German blades, but I've nicked myself on the razor sharp back corner of my Global G-2 more than a couple times. The curved cut into the heel on the ZIE will prevent this from happening. Looked slightly odd at first, but I think it's a nice touch. Clearly a lot of thought (and likely feedback from chefs) was incorporated into the ZIE's design.- Overall look and feel are indicative of quality that belies the cost of the ZIE. I feel like this knife was an excellent value and have zero buyer's remorse.- Being a VG-10 core, the out-of-the-box edge on the ZIE is terrifiyingly sharp, as expected. Polished enough to push cut easily, but also slices very well. I'm guessing if you stick to vegetables and boneless meats, with regular steeling and proper treatment, it should hold up for a long time before having to be reground.- Those used to lightweight Japanese knives like Global's should be aware this knife is heavy. The 8" comes in at 11 oz., but if this is what you're looking for, which I was, you should be very happy. For certain jobs it's nice to have that extra heft that comes with a German blade, but other times, you want the light feel and screaming narrow angle edge of a Japanese knife. The ZIE seems a bit of a hybrid of the two. I sharpen my German chef's knife to 20 degrees with a 15 degree back bevel to give it the durability and edge retention required for abusive tasks like hacking up chickens and such, but it can't reasonably hold a 10-12 degree per side edge, which you can easily take VG-10 steel down to. The factory says to sharpen the ZIE at 12, which to me seems about right for this blade.- If you use a knife block for storage, be aware that the ZIE may not fit in all slots designed for regular chef's knives. It's blade is significantly deeper than the more "classically" styled ones.- I compared it to my other regularly used chef's knives to see if there were any improvements in veg slices (onions in this case) sticking to the ZIE's tsuchime blade. It fared better than my Wusthof, but there was only negligible difference when compared to my Global G-2.- The ZIE appears to be comparable to similarly styled offerings from manufacturers like Shun, Kramer/Zwilling, and Miyabi, but can be purchased for significantly less cost. If you're thinking of getting one of these high-end knives, but are put off by the price, I'd enthusiastically recommend taking the ZIE for a spin first.As a buyer, I'm loyal to performance and value. Not brands. My knife block is stuffed with everything from the usual suspects like Wusthof, Henckels, Global and MAC, all the way down to Tramontina's, Dexter's, and even a cheap southpaw yanagiba that I only use for slicing fish. The ZIE is my first product from Zelite, and I'm quite impressed. I couldn't find any in-depth comparison reviews of it online, so purchasing it was kind of a roll of the dice in my book, but I'm extremely happy so far. I'd give this review 4.5 stars if I could (nothing's perfect, right?), but Zelite seems like a solid outfit that makes quality blades and I don't want to drag down their average unnecessarily so I'm awarding them 5 as they significantly exceeded my expectations. I'm going to keep an eye on their product line in the future and will update this review should my feelings about this knife change.In short, if you want a break from the more utilitarian MAC's and Global's, are looking for a "step-up" Japanese chef's knife with artful styling, and value performance over a brand name, you should give the ZIE 8" serious consideration.

I have 3 Zelite knives. To be clear, these are not "Japanese knives", they are Chinese knives made with Japanese blades. I also have a Chinese knife made with a German blade, but that's another story (though it's also an excellent knife). I have seen comments about this brand and others sold on Amazon that these are "fake" or "copies of" Japanese knives, which is really in the eye of the beholder. Here's how I see it: The part of the knife that you use and maintain, i.e. the blade and its cutting edge, are Japanese and of a very high level of performance. Goods of Chinese manufacture are often characterized as "cheap" or "mass-produced" and in many (most?) cases that's true. But let's also remember that Asian cultures have been blacksmithing for at least 3,000 years. 2,000-2,500 year-old Chinese swords have been found intact by archaeologists that were still so sharp that they drew blood upon discovery. So the notion that Chinese manufacture of cutlery is arbitrarily a low-grade enterprise is a false premise. I've had my 8" Chef's knife for two years, this one for a year. All of them clean, sharpen and hold an edge as well as the $200+ Japanese knives I also have in my block (Shun). For less than $70, this knife compares favorably to others that cost $150 or more and that's not an exaggeration. Same with the Chef's and slicing blades I have - I'd say value is on the order of 30-40¢ to the dollar compared with premium Japanese products that utilize Damascus (layered) forging. I can probably afford to spend more, but I honestly don't feel as if I have to. The thing that I actually like better about the Zelites is their heft: between the solid tang and weighted handle, plus the fuller size and shape of the handle, these knives actually feel better in hand than do Shun. Leverage of this slicer and especially my 8" chef is perfect; I've seen a complaint from one buyer about the knife being handle-heavy so I think that may be a subjective preference. I have small hands for a guy, so I find the feel to be just right (if you're a knife nerd, the balance point is where the handle material meets the bolster, which isn't all much out of balance for the length of these blades.) I am especially pleased at how well my straight blades sharpen with just a few swipes on my ceramic rod - they're easy to keep EXTREMELY sharp if you have skills with sharpening rods or steels. This one, the serrated edge, has required NO maintenance since I bought it, just cleaning. Every one has their preferences; I use it primarily on mushrooms, tomates and smaller loaves of bread. These knives perform remarkably well - I'm not a pro but a an experienced enthusiast - and these blades work well enough for pros and are more than adequate for amateur cooks. In fact, for people who don't have good knife skills, these might be TOO sharp.

Buen metal, buen filo. Cortar jitomate con este cuchillo es súper fácil.

Use it all the time for slicing the roast beef or any meat that is large. Nice sharp knife and excellent quality.

Soy profesional de la cocina, lo uso a diario duración del filo buena, muy equilibradado, genial para el día a día en m la cocina

Liegt super in der Hand und sieht auch sehr gut aus.Top Messer, sehr schöne Verpackung, auch als Geschenk geeignet.

buona fattra ottima affilatura e bella estetica