Aichi Burja – Prosciutto Knife 300mm (11.8″)

Burja [pronounced as ‘booryah’] is a prosciutto knife. Burja is a knife of our own creation – we love good knives, we love good prosciutto, and good prosciutto should be sliced by hand using the sharpest knife around.

Burja is the first Japanese-made prosciutto knife. Designed by SharpEdge, forged by Japanese smithy Suncraft, based in the famous blacksmith town of Seki, made of Japanese steel and optimized for cutting prosciutto. No one has ever paid so much attention to making a knife that will meet all the needs of cutting prosciutto. It is especially difficult to make a universal knife since there are a lot of different types of prosciutto, as well as there are many cutting techniques to slice it. But no worries – Burja is not just a knife for cutting prosciutto. Because of its harder, but still flexible blade, it can be used for cutting other dry meats as well. And due to its thin and long blade profile, it will perform well as a slicer for larger pieces of meat and fish.

Burja knife is a combination of the rich culinary tradition of prosciutto ham with the Japanese tradition of forging knives. Since Japanese blacksmiths are the best blacksmiths in the world, possessing centuries of knowledge and experience of forging steel, it made perfect sense to make our prosciutto knife in Japan. From idea to design, after many conversations with knife makers, trial&errors, finding the right steel and handles, many sliced (and eaten) prosciuttos, visits to Japan, the process finally ended after a good two years.

BLADE SHAPE:
The shape of Burja is unique, although at first sight resembles other prosciutto knives. It has an extremely thin spine of the blade at 1.8mm. The blade is 300mm (11.8″) long and finishes with a thin, pointy tip, revealing its origins and traditions of blacksmiths that were once forging katanas.

The Aichi steel Burja is suitable for the softest prosciutto because it has the most flexible blade and is made from the softest steel with a (still high!) hardness of 58 HRC. It is most recommended for use with tender cured meats from Italian prosciutto regions such as Parma and San Daniele. It is also exceptional for slicing cooked ham and less cured meats.

Recommended for: Prosciutto di Parma, Prosciutto di San Daniele, Culatello di Zibello, Spanish Jamón Serrano, and similar.

FLEXIBILITY OF THE BLADE:
Flexibility is necessary to some extent, but we have opted for somewhat more rigid flexibility with Burja since this makes it more versatile and suitable for many different types of prosciutto, and at the same time excels when cutting other large pieces of dried meats and other proteins.

STEEL:
Burja knife is made of Japanese Aichi steel 1K6M VM which will take care of the long edge retention and will be easy to sharpen.

HANDLE:
Burja was fitted a black handle made of pakka wood with a decorative red ring and a stainless bolster for a comfortable grip. Pakka wood is laminated wood, consisting of 70% wood and 30% resin, which makes the handle extremely durable and resistant to humidity, plus it is easy to maintain.

LAMINATION:
Only one layer of steel is used for the knife to be flexible. When deciding on the steels we wanted to make a knife from, we weigh the characteristics such as hardness, sharpness, ease of maintenance, graininess and ease of sharpening. The biggest challenge was to make the blade flexible enough while keeping the hardness at 58 HRC.

GEOMETRY:
The slightly concave secondary grind helps the knife to glide smoothly when making longer cuts. The profile of the blade is not completely straight. The slight curvature of the sharp edge reduces the point of contact, which greatly eases the cutting.

BLADE FINISH:
The hammer’s imprints, called Tsuchime, were left on the top part of the blade. This keeps the air in the dents, which helps the knife sliding smoothly through prosciutto.

ABOUT THE BLACKSMITH:
Suncraft is a family company spanning four generations and specializing in the production of kitchen tools. The smithy was founded in 1948 and is located in a thriving manufacturing area of Seki in Gifu prefecture, where steelwork dates back to the times of the Samurai warriors.