Get your hands on the best kitchen knives and ace your cooking game! find our top picks on Review Me First!
Forget those expensive blenders and complicated spiralizers. What is the most useful tool in any home cook's or chef's culinary toolbox? A good kitchen knife. This culinary essential has the power to make or ruin a meal. Just try slicing a tomato with a dull knife to understand what we mean. There's no faster way to wreck a Caprese salad.
And it's not just about how your meal looks or how quickly you serve it. A dull kitchen knife may be pretty harmful. Cutting butternut squash with a dull knife is a fight that no inexperienced cook should have to face.
But what are the best kitchen knives? They are incredibly sharp and quite robust, with blades that will take a long time to dull. They're also ergonomically engineered, with ideal balance, simplicity of usage, and ultimate comfort in your hand. Oh, and they're also visually appealing.
So, whether you're aiming for a Michelin star or simply want to make dinner prep a bit easier, treat yourself to one of the best kitchen knives. We've included a wide variety for you to select from, including sturdy and classic German kitchen knives as well as modern Japanese innovations.
We've also chosen the finest budget-friendly knives and luxury knives that have earned the approval of culinary gurus such as Jamie Oliver and Gordon Ramsey. With these sharp knives, you can slice, dice, cut, and carve your way to culinary stardom—or at the very least, the respect you deserve at the dinner table.
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The Best Kitchen Knives 2022
1. Japana Sakai Kyuba Set: Our Showstopper
The elegance of this Sakai Kyuba Japanese knife set initially drew us in. It would be an understatement to admit that these knives are little pieces of art. Their design, paired with their exceptional performance and traditional artistry, gave them an advantage over all the other products on our list.
These Japanese knives are intended to elevate the joy of cooking to new heights. A flexible chef's knife, a thin and ultra-sharp vegetable knife, and an agile paring knife for more intricate jobs are included in the set.
Professional Japanese blacksmiths forge the blades from excellent Japanese VG10, a material that blends the toughness of carbon steel along with the corrosion resistance of stainless steel. They also deliver the razor sharpness that all cooks desire, with a Rockwell Hardness rating of 62.
The handles are crafted from premium-cut European Maple Burl that has been coloured blue, brown, or olive green. They're entirely waterproof to prevent germs development and have an octagonal shape for a secure grip. They are neither too hefty nor too light, allowing for optimal accuracy and control.
Japana's stunning design extends to the packaging, a handcrafted minimalist wooden box with a traditional Japanese picture showing ancient Onna Bugeisha female warriors.
2. Wüsthof Classic: Expensive Kitchen Knife
Wüsthof is all a typical German kitchen knife should be, and then some. Their 20cm (8-inch) Cook's Knife is robust, strong, and distinctively well-designed and will exceed the highest expectations of any top chef.
Each knife is handcrafted in Solingen, Germany, from durable, razor-sharp chromium-vanadium steel and blends precise attention to detail with the hearty force of a Western blade.
It has a complete tang (the blade continues through the handle) and bolsters superb balance and control. It can handle the rigours of a professional kitchen but is also appropriate for more casual use in the house due to its comfort and ease of use.
In addition, each knife is professionally rubbed and polished by hand for that added touch. The Wüsthof 20cm (8-inch) Cook's Knife has a lifetime warranty.
3. Global G-2 Classic: Best Affordable Kitchen Knife
If you're searching for a good kitchen knife at a reasonable price, go no farther than the Global G-2 20cm (8-inch) Chef's Knife. This ultra-lightweight multi-purpose blade weighs only 170 grammes (6 ounces). Although the handle and blade appear to be one piece, they are composed of two different metals then welded together.
The circular form of the handle is common in Japanese knife manufacture. Still, the G-2 handle is hollowed and filled with the appropriate amount of sand to keep it perfectly balanced. In place of a bolster, there is a slight finger indentation for added grip and control.
Since its release, the Global G-2 Classic knife has received hundreds of honours and tested by various reputable cooking journals. It also doesn't cost as high as some of the other knives on our list, making it the greatest buy. Furthermore, the lifetime warranty ensures your peace of mind, and the slick silver style will look great in your kitchen.
4. MAC Professional Hollow Edge: Japanese Kitchen Knife
The MAC knives carry a tremendous punch thanks to their superb Japanese workmanship when it comes to accuracy. The 8-inch Hollow Edge chef's knife is our favorite pick for both the home and professional kitchen, and it will unquestionably meet any chef's standards.
It can handle almost anything, from cutting through stubborn chicken bones to carefully mincing a garlic clove. The sturdy handle is made of Pakkawood resin and features a bolster for balance and weight.
The blade is composed of high-quality, rust-resistant, and tempered steel. This allows the knife to slide through food with no effort, and the excellent balance makes it a joy to use. A 25-year manufacturer's guarantee also backs it.
5. Made In Cookware: Best Multipurpose Knife
If you just need one knife in your kitchen and want a quality chef knife, choose Made-In Cookware's 20cm (8-inch) blade. The knife, made of solid steel and nitrogen-treated, is a joy to wield. The nitrogen protects the edge, and when combined with its lightweight, robust, and well-designed exterior, it is ideal for a commercial or residential kitchen.
On top of that, Made In's knife has a complete tang – a single piece of high-quality stainless steel that goes from handle to needle-sharp tip – and is entirely forged. This makes it incredibly flexible and capable of handling any culinary activity, from delicate slicing to vigorous chopping, mincing and even deboning. When it comes to a well-rounded top kitchen knife, this is without a doubt the best option.
6. Zwilling J.A. Henckels: Premium Kitchen Knife
Henckels leads the knife chart when it comes to the cream of the crop. Their 20cm (8-Inch) Chef's Knife features a great multi-purpose blade that can cube a pineapple as effortlessly as it can turn fresh basil leaves into ribbons.
The knife's high carbon steel is ideal for a professional chef (whether you're cooking at home or in a restaurant), but it takes more knowledge and care to maintain due to the type of steel used to produce the edge.
Nonetheless, users will benefit from the precision and sharpness that only high-carbon steel can provide. The ice-hardened blade has been skilfully shaped into a spectacular high-end kitchen knife that cooks seek, and chefs like Gordon Ramsey and Jamie Oliver prefer.
This knife's capabilities will astound you with a full tang for balance, a bolster for support, and a comfortable polymer three-rivet handle that matches the contour of your palm. This distinctive blade from Zwilling J.A. Henckels has armed cooks worldwide with a razor-sharp hidden weapon.
7. Mercer Culinary Wavy Edge: Bread Knife
If you've ever attempted to cut a fresh loaf of crusty bread with a chef's knife, you'll understand why bread knives are essential in every kitchen. Bread knives contain a serrated blade suitable for items with a hard outer and a soft centre, such as a French baguette, a crusty tiger loaf, or soft dinner rolls.
The Mercer Culinary Wavy Edge Bread Knife is light, balanced, and beautifully crafted. The Japanese steel blade is corrosion and stain resistant due to its high carbon content. Furthermore, the handle comprises a slip-resistant polypropylene and Santoprene blend, making it simple to grip and comfortable to carry.
8. Victorinox Spear Point: Best Kitchen Knife for Paring
A paring knife may be the best blade in a chef's block after the chef's knife. This Victorinox knife will glide through cherry tomatoes, feather strawberries, making it ideal for smaller and somewhat more tricky chores.
The Victorinox Spear Point paring knife is a useful small tool for both the home and business kitchen. In reality, due to its wide availability in conventional home stores, it's rather frequent in both, and, quite honestly, it's extremely good at what it does! It's also not overly pricey! So, for the ideal tiny paring knife, we'd go with Victorinox every time!
9. Shun Classic: Best Knife for Serrating
The utility knife is ideal for items with a firm outer and soft or juicy, such as tomatoes, sausages, or avocadoes. This Shun knife's serrated edge will slide through these delicacies with minimum pressure and not ruin their wonderful, delicate centres. It's also ideal for more delicate activities that need a more accurate slicing to get the desired result. This makes it very handy in a commercial kitchen.
The Shun Classic has an eye-catching woodgrain pattern on the 34 layers of its Damascus encased stainless steel blade, as well as a sturdy, ebony PakkaWood handle. The resulting knife is razor-sharp, corrosion-resistant, long-lasting, and a joy to handle and use.
10. Mercer Culinary Granton: Best Knife for Carving
Although it's not strictly necessary, there's no disputing the brilliance of a well-crafted carving knife. It's ideal for slicing and chopping up those succulent slivers of your favourite cut of meat. Technically, unless you're frequently cooking roasts, you can probably get away with using a chef's knife for these duties; but, it's still a handy tool to have in your arsenal.
Mercer Culinary's slicer is handcrafted in the United States, yet it has a sharp, rust-resistant edge made of high-quality Japanese steel. The blade is quite well-made and allows you to follow the contours of the flesh. It's also dimpled, which prevents the slices from sticking to the blade after they've been sliced.
The handle is also of professional quality, composed of Santoprene and polypropylene for optimal balance and textured finger protection. So, whether you want wafer-thin ham slices or huge portions of meat, this carving knife is a no-brainer.
