A Fascinating trip to the Henckel Knives Website
Wow I just got back from a tour of the Zwilling J A Henckels factory. It is a pretty impressive place; no I didn’t go there physically. I took the tour through the amazing power of the internet. The company began when Peter Henckels registered his trademark in 1731. That would make the company about 278 years old.
The original trademark the “Twins” was registered on June 13th in Solingen Germany. Interesting since 50% of all businesses fail in the first 5 years these guys must have something going for themselves. Indeed they do! as they now have proprietary stores in 100 countries and own three distinct brands; two German and one Japanese. The top of the line brand of their German line is the J A Henckel twin 
trademark on the handle or the blade. You can even order your own custom registered set.
These knives come in all the standard formats including shears and cleavers. These are made from a carbon steel alloy blend and “stamped” out in a single piece. The knife is then heated to form the bolster and sent through a rigorous robotic process of shaping, grinding, honing, and then heated to 1000 degrees, cooled to minus 70 degrees and then re-heated to 250 degrees to give it strength and flexibility. This process is known as the Friodor process. Then the handles are added and the knives get rivets or hollow handles depending on the line. After another round of grinding to insure the handles have no exposed seams or burrs they are given a thorough inspection to guarantee quality control and then released for shipping.
The second Brand is JA Henckels International using one of the twins as its’ logo this line includes several grades of never needs sharpening “everedge” serrated knives in all the various formats including a santuko style. Also in the line are flatware, kitchen gadgets and complete stainless or nonstick cookware sets.
The third line is the Miyabi line a collaboration of German technology and Japanese skill this line was acquired in 2004. The name Miyabi means graceful or elegant and to look at these knives they certainly live up to their name. Japanese cuisine contains a lot of foods that are “delicate” by nature,(Have you ever tried to cut a sushi roll with out tearing it?)consequently they demand a sharp knife. Two important things make for a sharp knife, the steel that is used must be capable of holding an edge and for that Miyabi offers 4 different lines and combination’s of steel, ranging from 66 Rockwell hardness down to 57. The other aspect is the use of the single bevel method of putting an edge on the blade. Traditional double beveled knives can hold an edge when ground to 15 degrees, whereas the single bevel enables the knife edge to be 12 degrees and still hold an incredibly sharp edge. This gives the knife edge an almost razorlike quality. I mentioned the Rockwell hardness scale, the higher the number the harder the steel,(More alloys etc.) the 66 will hold an edge for a long time but it will be tougher to sharpen than a 57.
The Miyabi series knives are the 7000 MC, 7000 D, 7000 Pro and the 5000 S series. Since they are single beveled knives they need to be purchased with right or left handedness in mind. I have been staring at this USUBA for 20 minutes. This is a traditional vegetable knife with a square tip, I would love to go after a 25# sack of carrots or onions with this thing. Maybe even try my hand at garde manger making sheets of paper out of a diakon for a fancy garnish. Here is a link to the world wide site, be prepared to spend a couple of hours looking everything over it is quite an education.
The Miyabi Fusion Santoku is a seven inch blade made of VG10 Carbon alloy steel and 32 layers of Damascus style stainless on each side. The blade has been “hollow” ground to prevent foods from sticking while cutting.
- Created in collaboration with Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto.
- Beautiful knives combine the thin, razor-sharp edges of the East with shapes more accommodating to Western chefs.
- Every knife is lovingly crafted down to each exclusive detail.
- Graceful Damascus pattern exposes the meticulously forged 65-layer steel construction.
- A core layer of VG10 “super steel” is clad on either side with 32 layers of special stainless steel, ice-hardened for toughness, flexibility and corrosion resistance.
- Knives are finished by master craftsmen using traditional honbazuke blade-honing technique.
- All knives feature an extremely hard and lasting edge, optimally sharpened to 9½-12° angles on each side.
- Exclusive rounded spine and blade heel are gentler on fingers and hands.
- Beautiful and ultra-durable full-tang, triple-riveted composite handles are equally comfortable for right- or left-handed cooks and feature eye-catching red accents.
- Made in Seki, Japan.
Update:
Sur La Table Introduces The Birchwood Collection
I have mentioned the blending of technologies in another post. The decision by JA Henckel to develop a Japanese knife making company has led to a blending of the technologies of the art. Here in this knife you see a great example. The inner core of the blade is “SG2 Microcarbide Steel” which is then clad on each side with 50 layers of Damascus patterned stainless steel. The description says “CRYODOR-Hardened” Does that sound familiar? Above I mentioned the FRIODOR process for the Henckels regular lines which involves heating then cooling to minus 70 degrees as part of the hardening process. Now they have applied a similar process here. This enables them to get the inner carbon steel very hard, (66 on the rockwell scale) so they can put a razor edge sharpness on it. Then they protect the inner carbon/alloy (It is a secret blend and they ain’t sayin) core with a softer but beautiful and corrosion resistant outer layer of stainless.
The set is on sale for a nice chunk of change at $999 with the block included. This may sound like a lot, but it is the last set of knives you will ever have to buy. Your grand kids could inherit this and still have lots of usable life left in them. As the chef in your kitchen there is a certain joy in being able to efficiently cut up the vegetables and slice the meats with a set like this you will enjoy that experience every time you take one of these out of the block.
Update: The link for the Birchwood collection has gone south. This link will get you to the Miyabi fusion page, the collection is at the bottom!
Disclaimer:”All brand names and product names used on this website are trade names, service marks, trademarks, or registered trademarks of their respective owners.”
Popularity: 49% [?]
I wonder if there is a knife that is made from precious metals like, platinum or Palladium.
I am sure you have seen the picture floating around the internet of the Saudi Shiek with his dozen silver, gold and platinum plated cars. Sure there are show knives and swords made from precious metals. They are not usable for for anything except hanging on the wall. I was looking at a “Bob Kramer” collectors knife last night an incredible mosaic patterned steel the description clearly says yes you “could” use it , but don’t go trying to cut more that a tomato or it might break. Nice wall hanging if you have $10,000 in loose change hanging around.:>)
It`s great for learn about the knife. Here have also good knife idea.
Miyabi knives are awesome, they’re so beautiful. Henckels has always made premium knvies and th mix of German engineering and Japanese design is a great idea, not just for their business, but for knife lovers too. Also the first lines of Miyabi lines were created in collaboration with Rokusaburo Michiba (first Japanese Iron Chef), and then they made another line with Morimoto (Iron Chef too). Anyway they are superb knives and if you can afford them they are a nice investment.
I would love to get my hands on the The Miyabi Fusion Santoku, hopefully i can order it next month!
that was good for Henckels Knife Set
I am starting up a small fast food/restaurant business.
Could you recommend me some set for that type, but please consider
that my expenses went over board, so nothing too fancy:)
Kevin,
No one is going to care for your knives as much as you! If you are buying a set of knives to simply a set that will hang around in a commercial kitchen then you would be better off going for an inexpensive Victorinox set with plastic handles. A nice set like the Miyabi Line would be abused by your employees. You don’t want to come in someday and see it sticking in a cardboard box or the wall, much less dropped with the tip bent. Unfortunately,I have seen all of that.
Michael Brown
I’m interested with the Miyabi Birchwood Slicer. How much does it cost?
Abbey
This line is exclusive to Sur La Table. They list the knife as costing $380 and then give you a 25% discount to $279. The knife has a 9″ blade which is the ideal size for slicing. It has an inner core of powdered steel alloy called Sg2 which has been processed to hold an extremely sharp edge. That blade is then coated with a “damascus” process of 50 layers of stainless steel on each side for a knife that will last several lifetimes. Your mileage may vary but this is a usable collectors item that is suitable as a work of art as well.
Hi, Interesting, I`ll quote it on my site later.
Thanks