Chroma Haiku Original H-15 - Chef´s Knife, fluted 20 cm

The heart of a good kitchen. Perfectly balanced for weighing, cutting, dividing and butchering. For cutting meat, fish, fruit and vegetables - the all-rounder in the kitchen. The hollow grind reduces the annoying sticking of cutting material to the blade.

For weighing, cutting, dividing and butchering. For cutting meat, fish, fruit and vegetables.

• Blade length: 20 cm, with hollow grind
• Blade: Japanese molybdenum / vanadium blade steel
• Grind: Japanese V-grind
• Handle: Honoki wood. The black ferrule with the Meguki pin is located at the transition to the blade.
• Meguki pin: A small bamboo splint that connects the ferrule to the shaft. This is a traditional Japanese type that was also used in samurai swords. It can be seen as a small dot on the ferrule.

HAIKU knives are and remain sharp for an extremely long time - provided they are handled and cared for correctly.

Cleaning:
After each use, wash the knife under running lukewarm water with a sponge or cloth and dry briefly. CHROMA HAIKU knives - like any good knife - must not be put in the dishwasher. The aggressive salts and heat attack theCHROMA HAIKU special steel and the Honoki wood just like rust. The knife should also not be left in the sink, which may be filled with water. Mustard or horseradish residue can also eat into the steel if not washed off.

Storage:
CHROMA HAIKU knives are very sharp and should therefore be stored safely (in a place that is inaccessible to small children). We recommend storing high-quality knives in a knife block, on a magnetic strip or in a knife bag/case. To avoid damaging the blades, they should not be placed on top of one another or stored together with other kitchen utensils, e.g. in a drawer.

Sharpening:
CHROMA HAIKU knives stay sharp for a long time, but – depending on how often you use the knife – these knives also need to be resharpened. CHROMA HAIKU knives are particularly easy and quick to resharpen. Sharpen them using special wet sharpening stones, never pull them over a sharpening steel or have them sharpened by a grinder. Regular sharpening using a stone guarantees a very good sharpness and fun while cooking. We also sharpen your knives for you - see: "Sharpening tools"

Please do not cut bones or other hard things with these knives. A kitchen cleaver is recommended for this.

What does HAIKU mean?
The HAIKU is a highly artistic form of poetry that developed in Japan during the 16th century. Translated, it means "farce". The meter and content of the HAIKU are particularly “sharply honed”: It is constructed from three lines and often conveys a razor-sharp criticism of the existing conditions.

There are many knives from Asia that look similar to CHROMA HAIKU knives – but you notice the difference when cutting and sharpening. You can recognize Japanese HAIKU knives by the falcon and the “Meguki”, the small bamboo pin that holds the black ferrule, just like on samurai swords.

Not only well-known chefs, such as Tim Mälzer, cook with CHROMA HAIKU knives, but also the winners (Fabrice Desvignes 2007) of the Bocuse d’or Serge Viera (2005).

How often do you need to eat? You have to sharpen your knife whenever it starts to get blunt. How do you notice this? If you cry when you're cutting onions, for example, that's an indication that your knife is blunt. You're squeezing out the essential oils instead of cutting smoothly.

There is no formula or guideline here - a knife can be blunt after 5 minutes of work or still be acceptably sharp after a year. This depends on many factors:

• How stable the blade is depends on the cutting style - so you cut with a lot or little force.
• What is being cut - mainly soft vegetables or meat or harder foods.
• What surface is being cut on.
• The quality of the knife is of course important. Only high-quality and stable steel can be ground very finely.

Unfortunately, we often get used to the decreasing sharpness and try to compensate for this with force. More frequent resharpening guarantees that the knife is always perfectly sharp and that you can work safely, quickly and cleanly.

Why do I need a sharp knife?
A sharp knife reduces the risk of injury many times over because you can use it more easily and more precisely with less pressure. That's why surgeons use a scalpel. It's more hygienic. The more surface area the cut meat has, the faster it goes bad, e.g. minced meat with a large surface area spoils quickly.
But you also cook much better. With a smooth cut, the cells close immediately and the juice stays inside instead of running out.

A sharp knife makes daily work in the kitchen easier. It saves time when cooking because it allows you to work quickly.

A good, sharp chef's knife saves money because it can easily be kept permanently sharp with a whetstone. There is no need to go to the knife sharpener - a good chef's knife lasts almost forever if well cared for - investing in a good knife and a high-quality MINOSHARP whetstone quickly pays for itself.

A sharp knife makes more out of your high-quality food. If you cut parsley with a sharp knife, the cutting board stays clean; if you chop the parsley with a blunt knife or the ever-popular chopping knife, you often end up with a parsley puree rather than fresh, crisp, juicy parsley, and the cutting board is colored green by the juice.

I prefer the valuable ingredients in the food - not on the work surface - and YOU?

A really smooth and clean cut is only possible with a sharp (not too short) knife. With a smooth cut, germs have a smaller surface area to attack, which can quickly spoil your cut food. Blunt blades tear the cells and fibers, developing a

Translated, this means that a sharp kitchen knife contributes to a healthy and tasty diet.

Who should sharpen?

If possible, always do it by the same person so that the knife is always sharpened at the same angle, which shortens the sharpening time.

The knife becomes a little sharper after each sharpening than the last time, especially at the beginning.