Kiwi No. 21 Chef Knife, Wood Handle | Thinning & Sharpening Practice Knife (57 HRC)

One of my favorite knives to practice on, and one I keep in my own kitchen.

Kiwi knives are inexpensive, flexible and surprisingly good in the kitchen, which makes them ideal for building real sharpening and thinning skills without risking an expensive blade.

The thinning challenge:

Every Kiwi knife comes with a hologram on the blade. If you're learning to thin, here's your job: remove the hologram without removing any height from the blade. It's a genuinely challenging task, and once you can do it cleanly, you'll have the control that thinning takes.

Great practice for support bar systems:

These are also a good knife for anyone learning a Tormek or another support bar system. The blade is flexible, so it will challenge your technique. A wide knife jig is recommended when sharpening these on a support bar, because it supports more of the blade.

From practice knife to kitchen knife:

Every Kiwi I thin ends up in my personal collection, and I love cooking and prepping food with them. They take a very sharp edge and are easy to keep that way: a couple of swipes on a ceramic rod between uses helps keep a nice straight apex.

Specs:

• Model: Kiwi No. 21 chef knife
• Handle: wood
• Steel: stainless (exact alloy not published by the maker)
• Hardness: 57 HRC (hardness tested by Dr. Marvin Groeb)
• Blade: thin and flexible, with the Kiwi hologram
• Maintenance: a ceramic honing rod between uses