Brands and Ranges Stocked at The Essential Ingredient

Kanetsune An 800 year old history of making Japanese swords they now make 33 layer Damascus Steel knives suitable for the more discerning cooks. Extremely sharp blades with a HRC 60-61°. A black plywood handle with full tang.

Mcusta A Japanese range featuring many unique ideas such as ergonomically designed handles to reduce fatigue and a seven point screw system. Blade tempered to HRC 60°.

Shun Another range from the Japanese 'sword city' of Seki. Full rod tang with the wooden handles which have an unusual “D” shaped handle – right handed only. HRC 61° and as with similar Japanese knives with a blade angle of 16°.

Mac The Japanese knife favoured by Tetsuya Wakuda and Shannon Bennett. 13° angled tungsten alloy blade and edge tempered to HRC 60° . Lightweight and well balanced for ease of use.

Kasumi. VG high carbon steel from Japan. Blade tempered to HRC 60°. Hand finished for extra sharpness with the distinctive Damascus layered finish

Messermeister from Solingen, Germany. Fully forged and bolsterless using high carbon Molybdenum Vanadium tool steel HRC 55°. 15-20° angle blade. Very sturdy knives.

Wüsthof from the knife capitol Solingen, Germany. High carbon steel HRC 58°. A large comprehensive range of knives including an all-steel handle range plus steels, shears and blocks makes this a popular range. Honed by hand to ensure sharpness.

Henckels, also from Solingen. A comprehensive range of knives and sharpeners for most jobs and budgets. Similar to Wüsthof in weight with a nice solid feel and full tang.

We also stock various ranges of inexpensive knives which are ideal for students or workplaces where knives are shared ( and lost! ).