I just got a set of three MasterChef DuraCut santoku knives just for fun. Truly dreadful knives as they came out of the package.
They appear to be decent material (magnetic, so likely 440C or something similar), very hard (I'll check the Rockwell hardness this week sometime), but badly finished with divots ground into the blade well above the edge so they don't do anything and badly sharpened at something like 25 degrees on each side of the bevel. Edge was very sad out of the box, wire edge was still present and the finish looked like about an 800 grit equivalent in Japanese waterstones, but obviously diamond wheels. Big scratches, rough finish.
Razor sharp in comparison to a splitting maul, maybe, and the large knife actually cut radishes without smashing them flat (didn't try the other two, just sharpened them first), but I'm not surprised the Amazon reviews essentially repeated "save your $8".
With all that, an hour or two with a diamond hone and a full set of good waterstones and they aren't terrible knives. I'll see how the edges hold up, but they sharpen well once that half inch unground heel is fixed and the terrible blunt edge is worked down to a decent 15 degree or so bevel on each side. Very light, very stiff, cut paper thin radish or orange slices easily, might be decent knockabout knives.
I'm new to Japanese style knives and wanted to try some out with spending money, so this should be fun. I'll have to take a diamond hone to the large knive, it will take forever to grind off the unsharpened area at the heel, nearly half an inch on that knife. Then I'll see if I like them better than my German style knives next time I cook.
As far as the video goes, dollar to a donut someone sharpened that knife properly before it was shot. I'd bet the ones for sale at the flea market might cut mashed potatoes pretty well, but would struggle with anything else.
Peter
