Scouting Report: This small but mighty chef's knife is perfect for those who need something a bit easier to wield in the kitchen. It's perfectly balanced for a better cutting experience.
As a small person, you don’t always realize how much your stature impacts the things you use. One of the things I always struggled with was actually in the kitchen: knives. The hulking chef’s knives my boyfriend can easily wield were making me less than confident in my knife skills. They felt out of balance and way too big for my small hands. Then, I got to try Misen’s short version.
A traditional chef’s knife blade is 8” long, while the one on Misen’s Short Chef’s Knife is 6.8”. This smaller chef’s knife from Misen is still extremely balanced and easy to maneuver, even with its shrunken length. I can pick up the knife and pinch grip correctly while dicing onions or chopping garlic. I never feel out of control with my knife, something I struggled with when I would pick up an 8” knife at home. Because just the blade is slightly smaller than their traditional chef’s knife, it still feels sturdy and robust in my hand, just with less surface area. Misen knives are made from AICHI AUS-10 steel, which gives a better feeling of balance and stays sharp longer than some of the other knives sitting in my knife block. And because of the shape of the bolster (where the knife starts to meet the handle), I can actually pinch grip correctly and comfortably. This knife has truly made me more confident in the kitchen — that and the multiple seasons of Top Chef I’ve watched during quarantine.
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While I still gravitate towards the Santoku knife (the feel of the square blade makes chopping veggies a breeze), I can no longer use an 8” chef’s knife without feeling like something’s off. The Short Chef’s Knife is now my go-to tool in the kitchen and if you have small hands and are struggling with knife cuts, it should be yours too.
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