Santoku knife

I received a set of knives for Christmas and never took the time to Google "santoku" knife. Now I know what the knife's purpose is and will use it. I am sure I am not the only person who didn't recognize the knife so I am posting the information I found from Donna Currie.  

What's the Difference Between Santoku Knives and Chef's Knives?

Find out the difference between these two common kitchen knives

BY DONNA CURRIE / Updated 02/21/17

Santoku knives are a Japanese-style knife that is becoming more popular in the United States, with many versions being made in America as well as abroad. Santoku translates as “three virtues” or “three uses” and refers to the three types of cuts the knife is made for: slicing, dicing, and mincing.

The blade has a flat cutting edge and the handle is in line with the top edge of the blade. The end of the blade has a rounded curve called a sheep’s foot, rather than a sharp point that’s more common with western blades.

Because of the flat blade, the santoku doesn’t rock on the cutting surface the way that the blade of a chef’s knife does, so it might take some practice to get used to the style.

Santoku knives are shorter, lighter, and thinner than Western-style chef’s knives. Because of the thinness, they tend to be more hardened than Western knives, to add strength. Many santoku knives have flat divots on the sides of the blade near the cutting edge, which is known as a granton edge. These divots help keep food from sticking to the knife. It’s not foolproof, but it does make a difference, particularly when slicing hard vegetables like potatoes.

Most santoku knives have a 6- or 7-inch blade, compared to the more common 8-inch length for many chef’s knives. While most Japanese blades are sharpened on just one side with, compared to Western blades that are sharpened on both sides, traditional santoku blades are sharpened on both sides, but with a more extreme angle, similar to other Japanese blades.

There are traditional-style Japanese santoku knives sold in the US, and there are also santoku knives that have some attributes more common to Western-style knives.

Santoku knives aren’t better or worse than chef’s knives—they’re simply a different style of knife that performs similar tasks.

Chef’s knives were originally designed for slicing and for disjointing large cuts of beef, but they are now a general use knife that’s good for slicing, chopping, or any other basic cooking task.

Chef’s knives come in two basic styles, either French or German. The French knives have a somewhat straight edge that curves more at the tip, while the German style is more continuously curved along the entire cutting edge. The blades of both styles are typically eight inches long.

While there are basic styles of chef’s knives and santoku knives, there are a number of variations of both styles. Blades can be made from metal or ceramic, and metal blades can be forged or stamped. Forged blades are considered to be superior, while stamped blades are lighter and less expensive. Handles can be wood, composite, or plastic.

Some knives have a large bolster (the thick transitional piece between the handle and the knife blade) that strengthens the knife and helps the knife’s balance. Other knives have no bolster or a very thin one.

Full-tang knives are made from one piece of metal with two pieces of the handle material riveted through to hold the handle in place. These are the strongest knives, but also more expensive.

The best way to determine whether a knife is right for you is to hold it in your hand and see if it feels comfortable and balanced. Try cutting something with the knife, or if that’s not possible, mimic cutting action and see if it feels right. You might find that you prefer a chef’s knife for some tasks while you prefer the santoku for others.

While some knives are rated as dishwasher safe, it’s best to hand-wash any good knife to preserve its life and for safety when loading and unloading knives from the dishwasher. Some dishwasher soaps can also speed the dulling of the blade, and banging against other cutlery can also cause damage.

All knives need to be sharpened occasionally. How often depends partially on the blade material, but also on how often the knife is used, what surface you cut on, and how the knife is taken care of. While sharpening is an occasional task, it’s good to hone the blade regularly. This doesn’t cut material off the knife, but straightens the edge.

Consumers deserve full transparency about the performance of the hospitals they choose

Consumer Reports / By Catherine Roberts / April 06, 2017
www.consumerreports.org

More than 1,000 U.S. hospitals perform heart surgery, and about half voluntarily share their complication and mortality rates with Consumer Reports.  

That’s a good start, and up 16 percent from 2014, when we first published heart hospital ratings. But it also means that many hospitals still don’t make heart surgery success rates readily available to patients.

That’s a problem, says David Shahian, M.D., who oversees data and quality measures at the Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS), the organization that gathers the numbers from hospitals and shares them with Consumer Reports.

Public reporting not only provides vital information to patients about where to get heart surgery but also encourages hospitals to improve, “by comparing them to their peers and showing them where they are falling short,” he says. “We believe transparency and sharing your outcomes is a professional ethical responsibility.”

We contacted these 23 hospitals that perform a large number of heart surgeries but don’t publically report through STS or Consumer Reports to ask why not—and if they would share results with us, and with patients.

• Arkansas Heart Hospital, Little Rock, AR
• Baptist Memorial Hospital, Memphis, TN
• Christiana Care Health System, Newark, DE
• Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Lebanon, NH *
• Florida Hospital, Orlando, FL*
• Forrest General Hospital, Hattiesburg, MS
• Hackensack University Medical Center, Hackensack, NJ*
• Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA*
• Houston Methodist Hospital, Houston, TX
• Kansas Heart Hospital, Wichita, KS
• Leesburg Regional Medical Center, Leesburg, FL
• Mayo Clinic Hospital, Rochester, MN*
• Methodist Hospital, San Antonio, TX
• Mount Sinai Medical Center, Miami Beach, FL
• New Hanover Regional Medical Center, Wilmington, NC
• Northeast Georgia Medical Center, Gainesville, GA*
• NorthShore University Health System, Evanston, IL
• OhioHealth Riverside Methodist Hospital, Columbus, OH
• Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, Philadelphia, PA*
• Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center, Hartford, CT
• St. Vincent's Medical Center Riverside, Jacksonville, FL
• The University of Vermont Health Network University of Vermont Medical Center, Burlington, VT
• University of Maryland Medical Center, Baltimore, MD*

* This hospital does not currently make its data publicly available but has committed to doing so in the next update.

More on Heart Health

• Take Charge of Your Heart Health
• Understanding the Stages of Heart Disease
• The Healing Power of a Heart-Healthy Diet
• How Heart Attacks in Women and Men Are Different
• Slowing Down the Rush to Open Heart Surgery
• Top Hospitals for Congenital Heart Disease
• Who Really Needs Cholesterol and Blood Pressure Drugs
• Blood Pressure Monitor Buying Guide  

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What Hospitals Say About Heart Surgery Success Rates

Some hospitals, such as the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., said they missed the deadline. One, Kansas Heart Hospital in Wichita, told us that it doesn’t report due to the costs of belonging to the STS database, which usually come to several thousand dollars per year.

Note that some hospitals, including prominent hospitals such as  Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles and New York-Presbyterian Hospital in New York City, do provide heart surgery success rates to STS, and make it available on the STS website, but don't consent to publish that information through Consumer Reports.

Providing patients with that information should be a priority for any facility, especially those with national standing, says Doris Peter, Ph.D., director of Consumer Reports’ Health Ratings Center. “Hospitals that do these procedures likely profit nicely from them, and I would expect them to invest some of that into improving quality and sharing data with the public.”

How to Get the Data You Need

Shahian says that if the hospital you’re considering doesn’t share its data with Consumer Reports or STS, try to get that information on your own.

But calling the hospital directly isn’t the best bet: When we tried that at several hospitals, the staff wasn’t able to connect us with the right person to answer our questions.

Instead, Shahian recommends asking your surgeon these questions:

• Does the hospital where you perform surgery participate in the Society of Thoracic Surgeons database?
• If so, how does it perform in the STS ratings, and would you be willing to go over their most recent report with me?

If the surgeon won’t have that discussion or says the hospital doesn’t collect the data, Shahian says to consider another doctor and medical center.

Are you willing to be a Choosing Wisely Champion?

http://consumerhealthchoices.org/champion/

Nominate Yourself or Someone Else to Become a

Choosing Wisely Champion!

Consumer Reports is launching a nationwide search to recruit and recognize Choosing Wisely Patient Champions, some of whom we will train to become volunteer activists for the Choosing Wisely campaign. Think you might be one or know one? If so, the details are below, and we’d love to hear from you!

1. Why Choosing Wisely, and what is it?

• Some medical tests and treatments provide little benefit to patients. And in some cases, they even cause harm. Choosing Wisely, a long-running national campaign, promotes conversations between providers and patients with a goal of making sure everyone’s care is as safe, useful, and affordable as possible.

2. Who is a Choosing Wisely Patient Champion?

• Someone who asks their healthcare provider questions to find out if certain medical tests or treatments really are needed – or if there are other options;
• Someone who encourages their friends and family to do the same; and
• Someone who understands that more care is not always better care.

3. Who can be a Patient Champion?

• Almost anyone, including a patient, parent, or caregiver – though you must be at least 18 years old. We are looking for everyday people.
• You cannot be a Patient Champion if you are a healthcare professional (such as a doctor, nurse, or medical student).

4. What does a Patient Champion do?

• Works with Consumer Reports to publicize your story online, in our magazine, via social media, and/or possibly in other ways, such as regional and national conferences; and
• Spreads the message of Choosing Wisely and the importance of talking about overuse with others, and encourages them to share their stories with Consumer Reports; and possibly,
• Considers joining a team of activists by attending and completing the Consumer Reports Consumer Leadership Academy (online and by phone), to learn how to effectively change our culture of medical overuse.

5. What is the nomination process?

• Nominate yourself or someone else by filling out the nomination form. We may contact selected individuals for more information.
• Nominations will be reviewed by a doctor, a patient advocate, and staff from Consumer Reports and the ABIM Foundation to choose 25 champions to be trained as the first group of activists.
• Nominations must be submitted by April 30, 2017.

Please use the form below to nominate yourself or someone else to become a Choosing Wisely Champion. You can also print and complete this form and mail it to us.

More questions? Contact us at HealthImpact@cr.consumer.org.

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Choosing Wisely turns 5!

Happy 5th anniversary to the

#ChoosingWisely campaign

The Choosing Wisely campaign turned 5 on April 4, 2017, and we’re doing all we can to celebrate smart conversations between patients and providers:

1. Seeking Choosing Wisely patient champions.
2. Publishing stories from healthcare providers.
3. Releasing a new video.
4. Tweeting about it.
5. Doing a little dance.

Meet the Consumer Reports' Choosing Wisely team (left to right):  
David Ansley, Yelena Dasher (no longer with us), Dom Lorusso,
Claudia Citarella, Beccah Rothschild

For 5 years Daniel Wolfson (ABIMF) @WolfsonD 
& Tara Montgomery @TaraCivicHealth 
have provided stellar #choosingwisely leadership. 

About the Choosing Wisely campaign

Family doctors know that many patients get unneeded prescriptions. Obstetricians know that too many babies are delivered by C-section. Radiologists have seen a lot of pointless chest X-rays. Blood tests, EKGs, Pap tests and MRIs all are overused.

In fact, when doctors sit down with the medical evidence within their specialties, hundreds of tests and treatments turn out to be frequently unnecessary, duplicative or even harmful.

For the U.S. health system as a whole, it means 30 percent of medical spending is wasted.

For patients? It means their time, energy and money could have been focused on smarter, safer, and more effective care.

The Choosing Wisely campaign aims to help patients and doctors talk about what’s truly needed. The ABIM Foundation has joined with more than 70 medical specialty societies to develop evidence-based lists of tests and procedures that should be questioned.

And as a partner in that effort, Consumer Reports has created more than 120 free brochures for patients and their families, addressing the most common of these concerns. We also have free posters, videos, rack cards, and wallet cards that help people ask their healthcare providers the right questions.

To distribute this material, CR has engaged with more than 50 organizations across the country, who help share it with yet more patients and families.