We love good knives and good prosciutto, and we believe that exceptional cured meat deserves to be sliced by hand with an exceptionally sharp knife. That is why we created Burja [pronounced “boor-yah”], our first Japanese-made prosciutto knife.

Designed by SharpEdge and made by Suncraft in Seki, Japan, Burja combines Japanese knife-making expertise with the culinary tradition of hand-sliced prosciutto. Its shape, steel and geometry have been carefully optimized for producing long, thin and even slices.

ZDP-189 Burja is designed for firmer, long-aged prosciutto, including Jamón Ibérico, Pata Negra, Bellota, Serrano, Karst prosciutto and Istrian prosciutto. These cured meats have a denser structure and benefit from a harder, less flexible blade.

This blade is supplied without a handle. It is ideal for users who want to install their own handle or create a custom combination. You can explore our selection of Japanese handles and select the handle installation option when adding the blade to your cart.

WHAT DOES BURJA MEAN?

Burja is the Slovenian name for the Bora, a cold, dry and gusty northeasterly wind characteristic of the Adriatic region. It plays an important role in the traditional drying of prosciutto, making it a fitting name for a knife designed specifically for slicing cured meat.

BLADE SHAPE:

Burja features an exceptionally thin 1.9mm blade and a length of 300mm (11.8"). Its long profile allows cured meat to be sliced using fewer, controlled drawing strokes, helping create smooth surfaces without the marks produced by repeated sawing motions.

The blade is not completely straight. Its gently curved cutting edge reduces the contact area during slicing, while the symmetrical V-edge geometry supports smooth and controlled movement through dense cured meat. The pointed, tanto-inspired tip reflects the Japanese origins of the knife and provides additional precision.

Although Burja was developed primarily for prosciutto, its long and thin profile also makes it suitable for slicing other cured meats, larger boneless cuts of meat and fish.

Recommended for: Jamón Ibérico de Bellota, Pata Negra, Presunto, Jabugo, Serrano, Karst prosciutto, Istrian prosciutto and similar firm cured meats.

WHY HAND-SLICE PROSCIUTTO?

Hand-sliced prosciutto offers a distinctive culinary experience. Thin, even slices improve the texture of the cured meat and allow its aroma and flavour to be appreciated more fully.

Although prosciutto can also be sliced by machine, traditional hand slicing provides greater control over the thickness, length and presentation of each slice.

KNIFE FLEX:

A certain degree of flexibility is useful when slicing prosciutto, but different cured meats require different blade characteristics. The ZDP-189 Burja has relatively low flexibility, rated at 3 out of 10, making it particularly suitable for dense, dry and long-aged prosciutto.

Its firm blade provides stability and control when working through cured meats with a compact structure, while retaining enough responsiveness for long, smooth slicing motions.

STEEL:

The cutting core is made from ZDP-189 powder steel, one of the hardest steels used in Japanese knife production. With a hardness of approximately 65–67 HRC, it offers outstanding edge retention and allows the blade to maintain a precise cutting edge for an exceptionally long time.

ZDP-189 contains approximately 3% carbon and 20% chromium. Its high carbon content enables exceptional hardness, while the high chromium content provides strong resistance to corrosion. Due to its complex composition and demanding heat treatment, ZDP-189 requires considerable expertise during production and sharpening.

ZDP-189 composition: C 3.00% | Cr 20.00% | W 0.60% | Mo 1.40% | V 0.10% | Mn 0.50% | Si 0.40%

LAMINATION:

The blade uses a san-mai construction. Its hard ZDP-189 core is clad between two layers of softer steel that support and protect the more delicate core.

This construction combines the cutting performance and edge retention of the hard central steel with greater structural support from the outer layers.

GEOMETRY:

The blade is sharpened symmetrically with a double bevel, making it suitable for both right- and left-handed users. Its V-edge profile provides a practical balance between cutting performance, stability and durability.

The gently curved cutting edge and thin blade geometry help Burja glide through cured meat using long, controlled drawing motions.

BLADE FINISH:

The upper section of the blade features a textured tsuchime or hammered finish, while the lower section is polished toward the cutting edge.

A visible, gently undulating line marks the transition between the outer cladding, known as jigane, and the hard cutting core, known as hagane. The kanji inscription reads Kouhei-Shinmatsu 耕平新松 and pays tribute to the founders of Suncraft.

ABOUT SUNCRAFT:

Suncraft is a family-run Japanese manufacturer with four generations of experience in producing kitchen knives and tools. Founded in 1948, the company is based in Seki in Gifu Prefecture, one of Japan’s most important centres of blade production.

Seki has more than 800 years of blade-making history. Knowledge developed through the production of traditional Japanese swords continues to influence the region’s modern kitchen knives and cutting tools.

THE DEVELOPMENT OF BURJA:

Burja brings together the European tradition of cured meats and the Japanese tradition of precision blade making. Its development took more than two years and involved conversations with Japanese knife makers, testing different steels and geometries, refining the design and, naturally, slicing plenty of prosciutto.

The result is a purpose-built slicing knife designed to produce long, thin and even slices of firm cured meat with control and minimal effort.

PROTECTING THE BLADE:

We recommend adding the Burja leather saya, a protective sheath developed specifically for this knife. It protects the long cutting edge from scratches and accidental damage while making storage and transport safer.