Kitchen Knives Review

Haiku Knives Review

Haiku 8 1/4" Chef Knife

When Mark asked if I would like to review the new Haiku series of knives from Chroma I readily jumped at the chance. You may have seen Chroma's Type 301 series designed by F.A. Porsche. Well this is supposed to be the exact opposite of that. Where the 301 series looks to the future, Chroma touts the Haiku series as looking to the past, going so far as to use a mekugi (bamboo peg) to secure the handle and tang, a technique originally used in the creation of Samurai Swords. Needless to say, I was stoked to try out their return to tradition.

As always, the shipping from CKTG was great. The package arrived quickly and there was neither dent on the box nor scratch on the blade. On opening the box, however, I was a bit disappointed. A return to tradition? Really? While these knives do come with a nicely finished, unstablized, traditional Ho Wood handle with a mekugi, the ferrule (the black piece between the handle and the blade) is made of resin, making the entire handle look plasticy and cheap. Moreover, it doesn't appear that the mekugi does anything other than hold that resin ferrule in place. Ignoring the resin ferrule, however, the F+F on the handle is quite good. The gaps between the handle and tang are filled and sanded smooth, the wood has a good feel to it and a nice rich color.

I was also a bit disappointed with the blade profile. It's likely a minor point to most, but the blade, made of a "High Carbon Stainless Molybdenum Steel", is more reminiscent of a Western Chef's knife than a Japanese Gyuto. In fact, I'd call it a hybrid between a German and French Chef's knife and about as far from a traditional Gyuto as I've seen. It has a very large belly making it far more suited to rocking than push or pull cutting again. The knife came with what I'd call an "adequate" out of the box edge, sharper than most grocery store knives to be sure, but not on the level of some of the knife's competitors. If you have the capability, the knife benefits immensely from taking it to the stones. And as long as you are sharpening the knife, you might as well thin it down a bit as this knife is THICK, approximately 3mm at the spine. Luckily, though, the steel is fairly soft and the knife is quite easy to sharpen and can take a very, very nice edge that lasts quite a long time. And in hand, the knife's relatively short length and light weight make it feel nimble while the thick spine makes it feel indestructible.

So what do you get if you combine nimble, indestructible, stainless and sharp? You get a great go-to beater knife! And that's what this has become for me. The knife gets the job done and does it well! And if it gets scratched or chipped, who cares?! The knife wasn't exactly a looker to begin with. So if I want something I don't have to worry about, that I can just use and abuse, this is the knife I grab.

And now to the final negative. This isn't priced as a beater knife. At $120 bucks, the knife is priced to compete with the Shuns and Hiromotos of the world, and the fact is, it falls WAY short of both. Moreover, the knife seems to be targeted at home cooks, most of whom don't want a beater knife, they want something they can use easily, show off on occasion, and be proud of. And the Haiku is only one of those three.

Bottom line: Ignore the marketing because this knife is no traditional gyuto. It's a Japanese-Western hybrid with some pretty poor aesthetics. It's a great knife to use and abuse, but ultimately not worth what's being asked for it. Unless you find it on super-duper discount (i.e. greater than 60%) keep looking.

Haiku Knife Review

Haiku Knives Review

Haiku Damascus Chef Knife 8"

Price: $202
Length: 8"
Height @ spine: 48mm
Width @ spine: 2mm

Weight: 120g
Blade material: VG10, 16 layers stainless per side
Blade finish: Damascus
Balance: 1" above heel
Hardness: HRc 60
Handle type: Oval
Handle material: Hinoki

Scores:

1. Performance: 8
2. Usability: 7
3. Ergonomics: 6
4. OOTB Sharpness: 9
5. Edge profile: 8
6. Blade fit & finish: 4
7. Handle fit & finish: 2
8. Quality Control: 3
9. "Wow" Factor: 4
10. Value: 2
    

Overall: 53

 Haiku Knives are a division of Chroma. Finding information online about them is a bit tough and the Chroma website is also rather sparse with the details about these knives.

Much like their competitors, the Shun Classic, the Haiku Damascus knives have 33 layers — 16 stainless per side and a single VG-10 (stainless steel) cutting core. The outer layers are folded and etched to show off a wavy pattern called suminagashi, after a Japanese art technique that dips paper into water that has ink floating on top of it. It's very pretty but as far as I can tell has no functional purpose — food sticks to it just fine, thanks.

This knife has the feel of a mass-produced offering. Printed ink lettering on both sides of the blade showing off the brand and line speak to me of "outsourced", but for those wondering, the profiles of the Haiku vs, say, the Shun Classic, are different. The Haiku has a spine that juts out straight from the handle and then dips to the point about 2" from the tip, which is located in the top-third of the blade height — very un-Japanese. The edge curve also starts at the heel and curves up to the point, with the curve increasing dramatically in the tip. This profile is odd — the heel-curve is French, but the tip curve is German. Again, neither are typically Japanese. By comparison, a Shun has a traditional German profile — curve begins mid-blade and increases sharply in the tip, but the heel of the edge is parallel to the spine. It's like the knife can't decide what to be.

The blade is very thin, which is good. Tapers nicely to the edge, which is ground with a very pronounced primary/cutting bevel, and comes terrifically sharp. Hair-popping sharp. Push-cuts are clean. All in all, this is one of the best out of the box performances I've seen. However, under a loup, the edge looks like it was ground on an 800 grit stone and left there — the edge is very toothy with very obvious scratches perpendicular to the edge. Given the relative softness of the steel, I'm not expecting it to last. And given that the cutting performance is a function of this micro-bevel, sharpening the knife is going to be tedious as that bevel will have to come off before being re-cut.

Spine is not rounded and the choil is unfinished. Holding this knife in a pinch grip is not comfortable.

This is a Japanese-style knife, so there is no bolster. Instead, a plastic ferrule covers the top 1" or so of the hinoki-wood handle that covers a full tang construction. Hinoki is a very soft wood, and the manufacturer is quick to tell you that it will, over time, mold to the shape of your hand. I have no idea how accurate that is, but in general, soft woods are great for cutting boards, but for handles? Not so much. I expect this handle to get as marked up as a traditional ho-wood handle. Not a plus here. Additionally, the ferrule is not firmly mounted, but bound to the handle with a single bamboo pin. Interesting touch, but the ferrule should not slide around, regardless of how traditional the attachment. Further, the tang hole in the handle is too wide for the tang, but a thoughtful soul has filled the extra space with what looks like wood putty and sanded it down flush. And scratched the blade up in the process.

I think the problem I'm having with this knife, aside from the obvious fit and finish issues, is the price. I cannot fathom why this knife costs this much, but instead, strikes me as a situation of someone offering a knife at a price point in comparison to a perceived competitor, and not as a function of value. Whatever and whomever this knife was pitched at, a Shun Classic is superior in every way to this knife and is, on average, 40% less expensive.

 

By Scot Hull