Sontoku knives

[Chris]

Calling all cooks and chefs.  I have a nice set of Henkles knives in a block on my kitchen counter.  I do pretty well with the chef's knife (8" blade) on most things.  However, I've noticed on the cooking shows that many of the chefs are now using the sontoku knives, which are kind of a hybrid between the chef's knife and a cleaver.  Anyone know if they are worth the cost?  I've got a $50 gift card burning a hole in my pocket, and the Henkles sontoku knife that matches my block is $42 at Bed, Bath, and Beyond.

[SADShooter]

I want info also. I "think" they're supposed to be good on delicate/slicing work with veggies. Got a similar empty spot in my Henckels block, although I was thinking about a boning knife.

[TarpleyG]

I bought my wife a Messermeister for ~$80 and she loves it but I really can't see the difference.  Just make sure you get the one with the grantons to help keep veggies from sticking to the blade (they still do anyway just not as bad).  Oh, and it's santoku.

Greg

[brimic]

Wusthof makes a really nice one for around $50-ish

[charby]

I want info also. I "think" they're supposed to be good on delicate/slicing work with veggies. Got a similar empty spot in my Henckels block, although I was thinking about a boning knife.

Boning knifes are nice. I used mine yesterday to skin and bone out a button buck I shot on Sat AM. I couldn't find my normal deer knife at the time so I grabbed the boning knife from my block and it worked better than hunting knife.

Charby

[SADShooter]

Cool! In my case I was more focused on parting out poultry, but I had considered it for butchering deer as well. Nice to know it's practical.