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What you need is a knife that can perform your intended task well without any deviation in terms of price as well as performance. Thus, you need a tool that performs well, lasts long, and is available at the most competitive price. This is exactly what a Misen knife ensures.
The collection of Misen knives include chef’s, serrated, utility, paring, and Santoku. All are finely crafted to take food preparing and cooking to its optimal level. In this post dedicated to Misen knife review, you will find information about the brand and its top 5 knives.
About Misen Knives
Pronounced as Mee-Zen and not Mise-en, Misen stepped into the world of knives and other cookware in 2015. This marks the time when its esteemed chef’s knife became virally popular due to the Kickstarter campaign. Soon after this incredible success, the brand launched one more campaign to expose its cookware to the world and establish the respect of being one of the leaders in the industry.
The founder of the brand, Omar Rada, derived the brand name from ‘mise en place’, a French phrase as well as a culinary term that stands for ‘to put in place.’ The company follows this ideal by delivering the right tools for better cooking.
Chefs tend to practice ‘mise’ daily while preparing their workstations for cooking. In other words, they properly prepare with the best tools and the right ingredients for cooking. The company aims to deliver these tools to all the cooks across the globe.
All of the Misen knives are made using upscale materials and thoughtful designs such that their prices are quite competitive when compared to those of the well-established brands. The brand stands behind its knives such that it offers free lifetime sharpening to ensure that you use its knives to their fullest. It also provides a lifetime guarantee!
5 Best Misen Knives
Misen Chef’s Knife
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If the prices of the chef’s knives from Wusthof, Global, and Shun seem to be high, try this Misen knife. You are ensured of the same build as well as performance quality but at half the prices of the chef’s knives from the aforementioned brands.
This chef’s knife could gather over a million dollars through its Kickstarter campaign, which marks the beginning of the success of this brand. It has won the heart of all cooks, ranging right from zealous home cooks to hotel professionals.
Well, there is a reason behind this success; the credit goes to the blend of upscale build materials, creative design, and direct-to-consumer selling rate in a single versatile pack.
The overall weight of this knife is more than the Global chef’s knives. However, this weight is still comfortable, as it makes it easier to cut fibrous, thick items such as potatoes and carrots. The lighter Global knives are better for getting delicate, paper-thin slices of bell peppers and onions.
The look is classic, but the performance is versatile from this 13-inch knife. This is perhaps because it combines the best features of Japanese- and Western-style blades. In simple words, its 8-inch blade excels at any cutting technique.
The design is a cross between the Japanese sharper and thinner edge and the European curved belly admired for its rocking motion. The blade is made using upscale AICHI AUS-10 steel, a high-carbon steel type made in Japan.
This steel ensures a better balance among durability, toughness, and sharpness than a few other premium steel options. The presence of Vanadium in this steel means good toughness and enhanced wear resistance.
This is because it has double carbon content than these latter options, due to which the edge ignorantly remains sharper for a longer time than expected. The exact period for which the sharpness retains well depends on which items you cut and how frequently you use the knife.
If used for rigorous tasks in a professional kitchen, the edge lasts double the time for which the edges of the costlier chef’s knives remain sharp. Another unique feature of this knife is its sloped bolster that does dual tasks.
The inclining shape facilitates a good pinch grip to deliver comfort with control. Similarly, the position of bolster allows more comfortable access to the full blade. Due to such bolster, your thumb will slide well in place, and the forefinger will hook straight into that groove.
Unlike several Western-style knives that have an edge angle of 25 degrees, this chef’s knife from Misen has an edge angle of 15°, which is more acute. Such an angle delivers a remarkably sharper cutting surface. Undoubtedly, this one could be your lifetime kitchen knife if you are on a strict budget.
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Misen Santoku Knife
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Since the success of its chef’s knife, Misen expanded its product line to encompass more knife designs. One of them is this Santoku knife. You may think as to why you would consider buying this Santoku when there are many good equivalents available in the market. Well, there are a couple of reasons for you to make this consideration.
This santoku is a superb alternative to a chef’s knife due to its favorable shape. A flatter edge than what is normally seen in Santokus and a distinguishing rounded-down tip make this knife an all-purpose tool. In other words, it will chop almost anything you place in front of it regardless of how hard or soft that item is.
Many chefs indeed love a rockered-style blade. However, this tool with its straight edge is ideal for cutting almost everything. Its decently deep profile is capable of holding your sliced items and putting them into a container. Both cutting and scooping are done in precision.
The knife is identical to a classic chef’s knife in terms of performance and utility. However, it is a bit shorter and lighter than a typical chef’s knife. Its smaller size has already made it a preferred knife for new cooks or those who want to cut or slice cuts.
Built upon the typical Japanese design, this tool has a flat edge and thinner blade due to which it is versatile enough to cut any fruits or veggies. The 7.5-inch long blade is made using the premium AICHI AUS-10 steel to strike the proprietary balance between durability and sharpness.
For you, it simply means that you can easily resharpen the edge whose sharpness starts fading only after a long time. The sloped bolster ensures a pinch grip that new cooks admire. The edge angle of 15° ensures an extraordinarily sharper cutting surface.
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Misen Paring Knife
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Many times, using a chef’s knife seems to be too big for the job to be done in the kitchen. This is where having a paring knife becomes essential. Yes, you may love your chef’s knife, however, a paring knife is a real workhorse.
The one from Misen seems to have met all the expectations, namely, good balance, super sharp, versatile, easy maneuverability, and comfy weight. As an ideal pal of a chef’s knife, this knife is capable of handling all cuts with precision and fine-detail tasks in your kitchen.
Whether it is peeling fruits or doing some small task, this tool seems to prove itself again and again. This small paring knife slices soft items such as tomatoes, garlic, and shallots with ease as well as precision.
Its total length of 7.75 inches and weight of around 85g makes it easy to maneuver and quite comfortable to hold. However, both the blade and handle are longer than several other paring knives, due to which it is more versatile than shorter-bladed knives.
Another cool quality of the knife is that its blade does not flex. Cheaper equivalents usually have a thinner blade that makes the knife flexible, which is not preferable. The blade is made using the same upscale high-carbon steel, AICHI AUS-8. It also features a 15 degrees edge angle and a mirror-polished edge to deliver a truly sharp-cutting face.
Regardless of the cutting technique, you intend to perform; this specifically weighted and balanced knife tends to make short work of anything in preparation. The handle is cozy and grip-ensuring; it stays in place firmly, never slips around, and reacts favorably to different levels of pressure and resistance.
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Misen Bread Knife
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Do you make a lot of sourdough bread loaves or difficult-to-cut boules? Is it so that you purchase small but very crusty bread loaves from a bakery store frequently and find it tough to slice? Well, for both jobs, you would expect a versatile serrated knife to do the job. Well, this is how the serrated knife from Misen is!
It is known to make slices of very crusty loves easily as well as evenly without messing up with crumbs all over. You can even get these slices into the toaster with the knife. The knife is known to cut through the crustiest as well as the biggest loaves of sourdough as it is passing through butter. It is that easy to use while applying pressure without using both hands!
It is a fact that the serrated edge is used mostly for slicing crusty bread loaves. However, this serrated or bread knife can also easily handle hard things such as pineapple, coconuts, and squashes. Yet, it is careful enough to slice delicate items such as tomatoes without smashing or splitting them unevenly.
The credit for this goes to the long blade length of 9.5 inches and the D-shaped serrations that are responsible for making it far easier to cut any items ranging right from bread loaves to juicy tomatoes. These design features make it superior to its customary C-cut short counterparts.
Another distinct feature of this paring knife is the set of pointed 32 points. These sharp tips with wide as well as profound serrations or shark-like teeth take care of smoother but optimal cuts regardless of whether it is faced with tough or soft things.
Just like other Misen knives, this one also has a distinct sloped bolster for ensuring pinch grip to deliver control and comfort. However, unlike other Misen knives, this paring knife is made using AICHI AUS-8 steel, which is one step down from AICHI AUS-10 steel.
Still, you can expect a great balance of longevity and sharp edge retention as compared to several other bread knives. So, it is still a powerhouse for your kitchen!
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Misen Utility Knife
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You may be having a big chef’s knife, a small paring knife, a serrated knife, a santoku, and a boning knife. So, what is the need for a utility knife from Misen? Well, it is an ideal all-purpose knife that sits in the middle of this tool spectrum.
If you wish to slice not-so-firm tomatoes without smashing, use this Misen knife. If you want to slice a white bread loaf without making crumbs out of it, consider this Misen knife. If you want a single knife to do all jobs of a paring knife and chef’s knife, just put this Misen knife at work. Sized between a chef’s knife and a paring knife, this undervalued utility blade can do it all.
Yes, such is the versatility of this utility knife. It is an ideal, cost-effective tool to rely upon when you cannot purchase a full knife set, as it can play multiple roles. Indeed, a utility knife is not a mandatory tool to have, but most people who have it will agree how useful it is.
This robust medium-sized knife comes with a narrow, 5.5-inch blade having a 15-degree edge angle. While it is small enough to carry out all the tasks of a paring knife, it is big enough to make all cuts a larger knife can make. Just like other Misen knives, this one too is made using AUS-10 Japanese steel and comes with a sloped bolster. Once held in hand, the knife truly feels good due to its nice weight.
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FAQs
Where are Misen knives made?
All Misen knives are produced outside Shanghai, China using imported, premium Japanese steel.
Are Misen knives any good?
A Misen knife is admired for its unique characteristic of sustained balance among rust resistance, sharpening ease, and longevity. One of the factors responsible for this balance is its Japanese high-carbon steel, which is used to several mid-grade kitchen knives in Japan. Another factor is the way its knife is tempered. A Misen knife is tempered to achieve the Rockwell hardness rating of 58º-59º. The higher the rating, the harder is the steel. The harder the steel, the more durable its knife is! In simple words, such steel will hold the edge for a longer time than usual, although it may be a bit more brittle.
Conclusion
Overall, Misen knives are of top quality in terms of build and performance. You can expect an upscale performance at an affordable price. With a lifetime as well as sharpness guarantee, it is almost impossible to overlook or go beyond Misen Knives as budget-friendly kitchen companions.
Hi, I am Jay. I am the creator of Knife Guides, your one-stop site for everything related to knives. I am a computer engineer by profession, knife aficionado by passion. Here I work with a group of people who’ve always had a passion for knives and blades. Over the years we’ve kind of become experts and decided to share our knowledge and ideas. I am also an avid hiker and enjoy offshore gamefishing.
