MAC Black 18cm Japanese chef's knife

The MAC Black knife is made in Seki, Japan, a town that has specialized in the production of knives and cutting utensils since the Middle Ages. It's a smart and efficient way to equip yourself: you'll benefit from Japanese cutlery expertise, without having to invest huge sums of money!

It is particularly recommended for professionals looking for efficiency and ergonomics, as they use them daily and almost intensively. It is also ideal for the passionate amateur, thanks to its intuitive operation.

The MAC Black 18cm Chef's Knife is a versatile knife, enabling you to cut, chop, chisel or mince meat, fish, vegetables or fresh herbs. It's an all-purpose knife, and the perfect way to get started!

Blade :

Made of AUS-8 stainless steel, the alloy has been enriched with 0.8% carbon (the average for a good Western kitchen knife is around 0.5%).

The addition of carbon makes the blade slightly stiffer, so that it achieves a hardness of -+59 HRC on the Rockwell scale. This index highlights the excellent ratio between edge retention and ease of sharpening. Your Mac Black knife will therefore retain its precision over time, and will be easy to maintain when you start to feel it losing its edge. Take a sharpening stone and make a few passes over its surface.

Its cutting edge is worked to a hybrid shape, combining a Japanese cutting angle (asymmetrical) and a Western cutting angle (V-shaped symmetrical). This special shape ensures a perfect combination of formidable cutting edge and longevity. You can produce fine, straight cuts. What's more, the finesse of the cutting edge ensures clean penetration that reduces fatigue over the long term, as you don't need to force it.

For even greater efficiency, sharpening has been carried out manually by a craftsman, using a whetstone. You'll feel the effectiveness of such a finish from the very first use.

The blade has a black non-stick coating, visible on both sides of the cutting surface. Slightly rougher than steel to the touch, it enables you to cut wet foods more easily: they will stick less to the blade. This coating also protects the alloy from oxidation and bacteria, a plus in the kitchen.

Handle:

The handle is made of Pakkawood, a composite material combining laminated wood and hot-compressed resin. As a result, it is resistant to moisture, shock and temperature variations.

It is completed by 3 rivets that hold the Pakkawood to the full tang blade (which extends to the end of the handle). The whole remains lightweight (a feature accentuated by the absence of a bolster), despite its respectable size, making it more pleasant to use over time. The shape has also been designed to ensure a perfect grip, and is perfectly suited to Western use.

The MAC Black knife should be washed by hand, using lukewarm water and a soft (non-abrasive) sponge, then dried immediately before storage. This gentle care guarantees long-lasting use of the knife.

MAC has been developing its techniques since the early 60s, and its know-how is backed by several registered patents. The brand is now internationally renowned and equips some of the world's finest chefs. Its founder used the term "Macrocosm" to find the name of the brand, retaining only the first three letters. In simplified terms, this term means "immense universe", in the image of the founder who, by using such words, wanted to make a link with his ambition to equip kitchens the world over.

The founder studied in the United States. He worked as a part-time cook, in addition to his studies. It was there that he had the opportunity to test kitchen knives that weren't necessarily to his taste. He was using a blunt, heavy and very sharp German knife when he dropped it, narrowly missing injuring his foot. Instead, the knife stuck in the ground, and when he tried to pull it out, about 3cm of the point had broken off. To fix this, he took a sharpening stone to the blade, making the point "rounder" than it had been at first. Gradually, he realized that this modification had significantly increased the knife's efficiency, and with it his own output.

When he returned to Japan, this experience gave him the idea of establishing the MAC company, with the aim of creating knives with a formidable cutting edge, but at the same time safer, more durable, lighter and therefore easier to use.

Find MAC Black knives on our site, and complete your cutting equipment!