Georgina A. Rowell Blog

Zhen Japanese VG-10 Light Slicer Chef Knife 6.5″ Great Asian knife similar to Shen. Nice size and easy to handle from cutting meat to slicing and dicing veggies. Would recommend to anyone looking for a cheaper alternative to Shen. very good to use it with confidence. Good grip and balanced weight. Looks elegant and its not that heavy. I am happy with this purchase. Although the plastic pouch to house the blade is very cheap. Click to Editorial Reviews

Zhen Japanese VG-10 Light Slicer Chef Knife 6.5″ Great Asian knife similar to Shen. Nice size and easy to handle from cutting meat to slicing and dicing veggies. Would recommend to anyone looking for a cheaper alternative to Shen. very good to use it with confidence. Good grip and balanced weight. Looks elegant and its not that heavy. I am happy with this purchase. Although the plastic pouch to house the blade is very cheap. Click to Editorial Reviews

Perfection….. First, this is not a cleaver, it is a vegatable cleaver, or chinese chef knife. The edge on this knife is very fine (15 degree) and is not suitable for chopping bone. The company, Zhen Premium knife, provides excellent shipping, 4 days from Texas to NY. The knife itself is perfection in design and dimension. Beautiful 67 layer damascus (or pattern welded) dragon pattern, light comfortable handle, perfectly sloped bolster and steel endcap (double bolster) make this knife both beautiful and comfortable. I work in Lake George N.Y, in a busy resort kitchen and this knife is the one knife I keep on the cutting board behind the line, the fine edge aids in final trim/presentation and the size is perfect for the limited space behind a line (sandwich cooler prep board, 7 1/2 inches wide). Perfect for scooping product into pans or onto plates after cutting, the steel butt cap makes a great mallet for garlic cloves ect. Light weight, razor edge, multi purpose design. The other knif...

Perfection….. First, this is not a cleaver, it is a vegatable cleaver, or chinese chef knife. The edge on this knife is very fine (15 degree) and is not suitable for chopping bone. The company, Zhen Premium knife, provides excellent shipping, 4 days from Texas to NY. The knife itself is perfection in design and dimension. Beautiful 67 layer damascus (or pattern welded) dragon pattern, light comfortable handle, perfectly sloped bolster and steel endcap (double bolster) make this knife both beautiful and comfortable. I work in Lake George N.Y, in a busy resort kitchen and this knife is the one knife I keep on the cutting board behind the line, the fine edge aids in final trim/presentation and the size is perfect for the limited space behind a line (sandwich cooler prep board, 7 1/2 inches wide). Perfect for scooping product into pans or onto plates after cutting, the steel butt cap makes a great mallet for garlic cloves ect. Light weight, razor edge, multi purpose design. The other knif...

My first Japanese knife There is much to like about this knife. I like how it feels in my hand. The shape of the handle is comfortable the tang could be thicker and the handle heaver. I love the shape/ size of the blade and how it meets the cutting board. It’s sharp right now I don’t know how it will hold an edge. This is the first knife I’ve owned that was made in Japan. My biggest concern is that the bolster and the blade are crafted from 2 different pieces of metal. Maybe this is common for Japanese cutlery. If I paid for a premium German knife and it had been crafted like this then I would return it. P.S. It does come in a cute box. This might be a very good gift for someone who cooks at home and likes nice things but probably not appropriate for a pro. chef. Click to Editorial Reviews

My first Japanese knife There is much to like about this knife. I like how it feels in my hand. The shape of the handle is comfortable the tang could be thicker and the handle heaver. I love the shape/ size of the blade and how it meets the cutting board. It’s sharp right now I don’t know how it will hold an edge. This is the first knife I’ve owned that was made in Japan. My biggest concern is that the bolster and the blade are crafted from 2 different pieces of metal. Maybe this is common for Japanese cutlery. If I paid for a premium German knife and it had been crafted like this then I would return it. P.S. It does come in a cute box. This might be a very good gift for someone who cooks at home and likes nice things but probably not appropriate for a pro. chef. Click to Editorial Reviews

zhen fish knife I bought this knife to process fresh fish, mostly crappie, blue gill and bass. The blade of the knife is very sharp out of the box, though polishing it on a leather wheel brought it to a fine, paper-slicing edge that is typical of VG-10 steel. I have used it a couple of times on salmon and crappie. It does exactly what one would expect of a premium-grade knife. It slices, cleanly. The ergonomics are good. The construction is excellent. This is a good tool, and attractive to boot. Great quality at a very fair price I own Wusthoff, Global, Shun and other high end Japanese knives, as well as an assortment of not quite so high end knives. I also own a moderate collection of pocket knives, including Cold Steel, Spydercos, Benchmades, CRK’s, Kershaws, and Zero Tolerance. So after a time I’ve acquired a fair to middling taste and knowledge about knives. The Zhen knives in my opinion offer great quality at a very reasonable price. VG10 steel from my experience is first rate: h...

Great First “real” Knife I decided one day that I wanted better kitchen “gear” so I did as much reading on the subject as I could. What I found from all the reviews was that VG-10 steel is a good compromise between hardness for staying sharp but still soft enough that it can be sharpened on a stone at home. I searched everywhere for the best value VG-10 knife, this is the one I chose. As I mentioned I’m a knife noob so I can’t compare this with $100 knives, but I can say that it is the nicest knife I’ve ever held (there aren’t many places to look at knives where I live, so I’ve only held my Cuisinart knives and my friends heavy Henckels). The wood handle is really well made, the knife has sweet looking blad with a matte finish on the upper-outside layer of steel and a shiny layer on the cutting area. Being an 8″ knife it isn’t heavy like my 10″ cuisinart, which I really like, I feel like I’m doing the cuttin instead of the weight of the knife. The one thing that a lot of people may no...

Great First “real” Knife I decided one day that I wanted better kitchen “gear” so I did as much reading on the subject as I could. What I found from all the reviews was that VG-10 steel is a good compromise between hardness for staying sharp but still soft enough that it can be sharpened on a stone at home. I searched everywhere for the best value VG-10 knife, this is the one I chose. As I mentioned I’m a knife noob so I can’t compare this with $100 knives, but I can say that it is the nicest knife I’ve ever held (there aren’t many places to look at knives where I live, so I’ve only held my Cuisinart knives and my friends heavy Henckels). The wood handle is really well made, the knife has sweet looking blad with a matte finish on the upper-outside layer of steel and a shiny layer on the cutting area. Being an 8″ knife it isn’t heavy like my 10″ cuisinart, which I really like, I feel like I’m doing the cuttin instead of the weight of the knife. The one thing that a lot of people may no...

Knives… Super Hesitant about ordering but very happy I did. Super sharp and as advertised. Love ‘em. Great wooden handle that fits the hand like it should. Sharper than any knives I’ve owned Great quality product. As advertised. Had them for 2 months now and still sharp. Just a pleasure to cook now with sharp knives. I hope they’ll last me for a long time. sharp but prestigious knife Hi! All, I’m using this knife for almost 2 weeks now and loving it. It was so sharp and easy grip and looks elegant. Its a great addition to kitchen and aside from that its a Japanese knife felt really proud having one. From having this knife inspired me to cook more. Click to Editorial Reviews

VG-10 Light Cleaver. The Pros. The design, and ergonomics of this knife are superb. It is well balanced, with a very nice convex grind to the blade. The clip point is extremely useful, and on the other end, the flat heavy pommel on the handle is ideal for crushing garlic, etc. The steel is very hard, and maintains an edge well. The TPR covering on the sculptured handle provides a secure grip at all times. The Cons. The biggest design flaws are the so called non-stick texture, (the black band at the edge of the blade), and the awful hollow grind finish that is put on the edge. My first tests out of the box were disappointing. Totally failed the tomato test, which is to draw the blade backwards 1/2″ across a tomato with only the weight of the knife to make a cut. I stone sharpened the edge, and tried again. Nice slices, but the roughened area produces a lot of drag, and the slices stuck to the blade anyway. I also found that the surface is so coarse, that when I first washed and dried… ...

VG-10 Light Cleaver. The Pros. The design, and ergonomics of this knife are superb. It is well balanced, with a very nice convex grind to the blade. The clip point is extremely useful, and on the other end, the flat heavy pommel on the handle is ideal for crushing garlic, etc. The steel is very hard, and maintains an edge well. The TPR covering on the sculptured handle provides a secure grip at all times. The Cons. The biggest design flaws are the so called non-stick texture, (the black band at the edge of the blade), and the awful hollow grind finish that is put on the edge. My first tests out of the box were disappointing. Totally failed the tomato test, which is to draw the blade backwards 1/2″ across a tomato with only the weight of the knife to make a cut. I stone sharpened the edge, and tried again. Nice slices, but the roughened area produces a lot of drag, and the slices stuck to the blade anyway. I also found that the surface is so coarse, that when I first washed and dried… ...

Really beautiful Good cutting experience, easy to sharp, but be careful, it’s design make that it’s really easy to cut one finger when you use it. No rust problem with this kind of blade. Click to Editorial Reviews

Sharp, but lacking a little more weight This Zhen knife claims to be a mimick of the Shun Chinese Chef Knife 8″. Well, I own two of the Shun Chinese Chef Knives, and decided to purchase a Zhen one for my in-laws and also to test out the claims. Out of the box, the Zhen knife is definitely very sharp. I did my usual “sharpness” test my slicing some food items (e.g. tomato, celery, semi-thawed chicken) and a piece of paper. I also test the blade against my thumb nail, which is a good indicator that the knife is sharp if the blade causes some friction against the nail. However, in comparison to the Shun knife, the Zhen knife blade is definitely slightly wider…maybe around 1.5 inch. Also, the Zhen knife weigh around 75% lighter than the Shun knife. One of the nice thing I like about my Shun Chinese Chef Knife is that its weight is just enough to assist with chopping food without me using much strength. With the Zhen knife, you do have to use a little more strength, but not much since the ...

Sharp, but lacking a little more weight This Zhen knife claims to be a mimick of the Shun Chinese Chef Knife 8″. Well, I own two of the Shun Chinese Chef Knives, and decided to purchase a Zhen one for my in-laws and also to test out the claims. Out of the box, the Zhen knife is definitely very sharp. I did my usual “sharpness” test my slicing some food items (e.g. tomato, celery, semi-thawed chicken) and a piece of paper. I also test the blade against my thumb nail, which is a good indicator that the knife is sharp if the blade causes some friction against the nail. However, in comparison to the Shun knife, the Zhen knife blade is definitely slightly wider…maybe around 1.5 inch. Also, the Zhen knife weigh around 75% lighter than the Shun knife. One of the nice thing I like about my Shun Chinese Chef Knife is that its weight is just enough to assist with chopping food without me using much strength. With the Zhen knife, you do have to use a little more strength, but not much since the ...