Zwilling Pro 7-Inch Santoku

“A lot of people will suggest Japanese knives, and knives without a bolster. I personally suggest the Zwilling Pro 8", and other knives from Tojiro, Mac, Artifex, and Yaxell. The important thing first is, what's your budget? Does she have any favorite knives? Will she clean and dry them after each use? They should never go through the dishwasher. This used to be my favorite before I found other better favorites. This has a bolster, but at $50, it's a solid value. https://www.zwilling.com/us/zwilling-four-star-8-inch-chefs-knife-31071-203/31071-203-0.html Zwilling Pro 8" (one of my current favorites) is not on sale as far as I can search, but the 7" model is on sale for $79.99. https://www.zwilling.com/us/zwilling-pro-8-inch-chefs-knife-38401-203/38401-203-0.html This Wusthof Gourmet 8" chefs knife is on sale at $80. https://a.co/d/bGUYlfL This selection of knives are not Japanese. The metals used for most Zwilling and Wusthof knives are resistant to corrosion more than most high carbon Japanese counterparts. Learning how to sharpen can be really rewarding if you cook often. Most knives that are suggested here will hold a sharp edge for some time, but after that, they need a little touching up here and there to maintain that sharp edge. Some new knives aren't actually as sharp as they can be right out of the box, so a lot of us sharpen knives after a couple uses just to see where the original sharpness is at. I think in her case, it'll be sharp enough. Please warn her to be careful. If her knives are kinda crappy like you described, going from dull knives to a new one can be dangerous. She's used to putting in a certain amount of pressure to cut things. With the new knife, it might glide right through whatever she's cutting since it's new and sharp. This is a common reason some people accidentally cut themselves, new knives.”