Honorary mention
Photo: Molly Higgins
New West Kniforks Joy Bauer 6-inch Chef Knife for $225: Like the choice above my new West Knife, this luxurious knife is very beautiful with bold red and white handles, accompanied by a relief leather sheath. Created in collaboration with nutritionist and TV personality Joy Bauer, this 6-inch blade is Japanese Santoku style with blade drops and a solid top slope made of 440c 440c stainless steel made in the United States. I found the food stuck to the side of the blade and the vague food had a great appeal.
Henckels Classic Precision 7-inch Santoku Knife for $80: I found the flat blade and straight edges of this Santoku style knife to work best for slices and tilts, lower points and flat blades to be very effective for easy sliding and transporting chopped vegetables. The blades of this Spanish-made cutter are made of German stainless steel and have a separate satin finish that reduces food sticking to the sides. The Mannkitchen Santoku model below is more sturdy, but this is a more affordable and easier Santoku option I’ve tested.
Zwilling 4-star 8-inch chef’s knife for $100: This German-made knife is made of high-carbon stainless steel, which Zwilling claims is made of “proprietary specialty form steel, perfected for nearly 300 years” and has a popsicle blade. Fine V-edge forged blades are designed to be harder and retain longer clarity. I find that thicker blades require greater cutting force and when it comes to dense foods like root vegetables, the cutting is sometimes not as smooth as other picks. The plastic handle is large and has extra handles, but I find it harder to control the cutting than some of the other tools on this list. It’s a solid choice, but cutting requires more effort and chopping isn’t that fast.
Henckel’s Classic 8-inch Chef Knife for $75: This 8-inch Spanish-made Henckels knife features a classic German-style blade, which is made of German stainless steel. only Feel Like a heavy main knife. The carefully modified blade transitions to an ergonomic three-bar handle. Despite being only 0.28 pounds, the knife feels heavier than comparable zwilling, partly because of this handle, which is more comfortable, more severe, and more square than some of the other knives I’ve tested. The blade is super sharp and I quickly and easily cut most produce, although it cuts down on the thick food of potatoes (like potatoes) less cleanly. In addition, hungry agricultural products seem to stick to this knife more than other knives.
Photo: Molly Higgins
Mannkitchen 7-inch Santoku Mk71s priced at $130: This Santoku Japanese knife feels heavier than most on this list, although despite its larger size, the triple handle is ergonomically designed and easy to hold. The huge handle blends seamlessly into the stainless steel knife, and despite its heavyness, I feel control when cutting. This heavy knife has lower points, which makes it easier to cut and chop it without much arm/shoulder movement or exercise. The blades are also wide and thick, making it more sturdy and easier to transfer vegetables from the cutting board. This isn’t my go-to choice for everything I cut on the Reg, but I especially like it for faster, rougher cutting and cutting things like herbs and garlic cloves.
HAST Select Series Japanese Carbon Steel 8-inch Chef Knife, $79: This smooth HAST knife is Japanese carbon steel made from famous steel manufacturer Koike (more on carbon material). Overall, it feels lightweight and slim, with the ergonomic handles very easy to hold, although it is a little slippery when wet (which may be potentially dangerous). Overall, it doesn’t feel like the heavy duty that others have tested, and it drops a little while cutting more dense foods like potatoes. It is capable of super smooth cutting of soft foods and I feel it’s easy to control when chopping garlic. For the Japanese Carbon Steel Chef’s knife, this is a very affordable option, and it does a great job of doing more precise tailoring.
Ninja 8-inch Chef’s Knife, priced at $60: This knife was our first choice before and we still like it. It is cheap, the round handle is comfortable, the knife is well balanced and easy to use. The stainless steel blade is strong and holds good edges and does not require frequent sharpening.
Victorinox’s Fibrox Pro costs $45: A long time ago, this knife was our top pick and it was still a great knife. We are not the biggest fans of plastic handles, but we like the almost non-stick finish because there is almost nothing to stick to the blade, and even fresh cilantro.
Let’s get out of the situation: The best knife is sharp. After spending a few hours in the kitchen, I found that what makes the knife really great is a very sharp edge. A dull knife is dangerous – you need to put more pressure on the cut, which means you cut yourself deeper when the knife slips. Also, the tailoring of the sluggish knife is not so precise or fast.
Especially with a higher priced knife, you need to make this investment as long as possible. This means sharpening regularly to keep it in the shape of the tip slice. Unfortunately, no sharpener can rule them. Different blade materials and shapes require different sharpening techniques. For example, many stainless steel blades are too difficult to effectively sharpen by traditional water stone. Former chef and current wired reviewer Scott Gilbertson recommends waterstones for carbon steel and loves these shapton stones.
Most chefs’ knives can be (relatively) easily sharpened when needed, which is usually done with whetstone at a 15-20 degree angle, and then the rod or leather is ground to the edges of the smoother blade. I have always used popular (easy to use) pull sharpeners that are more precise than steel and sharpeners and more precise than whetstones. But they are not usually recommended, especially for serious Chefs™, as they emit a lot of metal in the process, which undermines durability.
Most home cooks only need to sharpen the knife twice a year and use sharpened steel to keep the blade in shape at other times. Despite several years of history, we keep going back to epicurious about how to sharpen the knife in the right way to keep the knife in its shape at its best.
Should you buy knives?
One word: No. Despite what the door-to-door salesman or your cousin who likes MLM says, knives are usually not a good investment. You only need a few good knives. An 8-inch chef’s knife will suit most tasks in the kitchen. My hands are very small, so in addition to the chef’s knife, I also like a small knife and a serrated knife. The price of a knife is usually twice or triple, just like buying just a good chef’s knife. Not to mention, wooden storage blocks also take up useful counter space, especially when you live in a small New York apartment like mine. We recommend saving you money by skipping a set and investing in a solid chef’s knife. (Also, if you want a little variety, use one or two.)
What makes the knife a chef’s knife?
As mentioned earlier, it is a versatile tool for cutting meat, dice vegetables, chopping nuts or crushing garlic. Typically, the chef’s knife is made of multiple layers of forged steel, with sharp end points and prominent edges with inclined curves, which helps with a quick swing motion, allowing the chef to cut food quickly.
The chef’s knife is one of the most versatile knives in the kitchen and can be used for anything from chopping to cutting. Common uses of chef’s knife include cutting meat, cutting vegetables, slicing herbs and chopping nuts. The flat side of the knife can even be used to crush garlic. The versatility of this versatile knife makes it a must-have in any kitchen. It is important to avoid any hard surfaces that will make the blade dull. Additionally, learning how to hold a knife is an important first step in ensuring the best results when used.
The most popular knife
The chef’s knife usually lands in two camps, the Japanese Santoku and the Germans. Both have their advantages, and you may just need it in the kitchen, depending on your usual cooking. Japanese blades are very thin and are best for precision, while German chefs have thicker knives and are more practical.
German Knife: A bent blade means you will perform a back and forth motion to chop quickly. German chefs’ knives can be used to go from chopping fresh herbs to taking off roasted whole chicken.
Japanese Santoku Knife: Used to precise edges, you can cut it directly with the entire blade in no time. These are often used for precise and specific purposes. They are usually made of harder steel, which makes them brittle.
There are also materials for blades to consider – these days, most blades are made of carbon or stainless steel.
Stainless Steel: This material is resistant to moisture, keeps the razor edges longer and is more flexible than carbon, making it more effective in absorbing impacts. However, it takes longer to re-cross the stainless steel, which makes it harder to maintain without a professional sharpening system.
Carbon Steel: This material has a high carbon content, which makes it very hard steel and stainless steel in general clarity. Most of the time, they also have longer time and are easier to re-cross. Carbon steel is more sensitive to elements such as humidity or water, so they require more timely and thorough cleaning and maintenance.
All the tools on our list are measured in Rockwell grade/measurement called the HRC of steel. HRC measures how much marks can be produced in metal in weight; therefore, the smaller the marks, the harder the steel is, and vice versa.
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