Ask any professional chef if they were stranded on a desert island and could only bring one kitchen tool, and they’d probably pick chef’s knives.
While other kitchen knives, like serrated knives and butcher knives, have more individualized uses, a good chef’s knife can do it all, from slicing and dicing to more complicated tasks, like carving a chicken and cutting a pineapple.
In the Zerox24 Kitchen Lab, we tested more than 45 knives to find the best kitchen knives on the market.
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We tested with home cooks in mind and evaluated how well each knife cut and retained an edge after slicing and chopping through onions, whole chickens, cooked steak, carrots, and cheddar cheese.
We sliced basil into fine ribbons, minced garlic and parsley, and sliced tomatoes. The most impressive knives were super sharp and made paper thin slices of tomato with no effort at all.
We also checked the comfort of the handle and grip and the overall experience using the knife, looking for knives that rocked back and forth easily and required little pressure to cut through meat.
We took note of how each handle felt and the weight of the knife: While heavier ones felt sturdier, they can tire hands when slicing hard ingredients like carrots.
Larger handled, lighter knives give more control, while the smaller handles knives allowed us to slice quickly and thinly.
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Below we rounded up the top-tested knives that we think are universally appealing for everyone’s needs — here are the ones that made the cut!
1. Best Overall Chef’s Knife:
Wusthof Classic 8-Inch Chef’s Knives
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Why we like it:
- Razor-sharp and extremely versatile
- Balanced and ergonomic
- Dishwasher-safe
2. Best Value Chef’s Knife:
J.A. Henckels Classic 8-Inch Chef’s Knives
J.A. Henckels International Classic Chef Knife, 8 Inch, Kitchen Knife, Black
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Why we like it:
- Budget-friendly
- Versatile; excels across tasks
3. Best Chef’s Knife for Beginners:
Pampered Chef 8-inch Chef’s Knives
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Why we like it:
- Easy to use
- Comfortable to hold
- Safe storage
4. Sharpest Chef’s Knife:
Global Santoku 7-Inch Chef’s Knives
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Why we like it:
- Super sharp to power through any task
- Entirely stainless steel
- Notched blade prevents food from sticking
5. Best Multi-Purpose Chef’s Knife:
Misen 8-Inch Chef’s Knives
………….. to be updated …………………
6. Best Chef’s Knife for Small Hands:
Shun Classic 6-Inch Chef’s Knife
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Why we like it:
- Smaller blade and handle
- Super-sharp edge
7. Longest-Lasting Chef’s Knife:
Kramer by Zwilling 8-Inch Chef’s Knives
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Why we like it:
- Stays sharp between sharpenings
- Reviewer favorite
- Great across delicate and tough tasks
8. Best Ergonomic Chef’s Knife:
Victorinox Rosewood Forged 8-Inch Chef’s Knives
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Why we Like it:
- Curved handle is easy to hold
- Excels across kitchen tasks
9. Best Lightweight Knife:
MAC Mighty Pro Chef’s Knives
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Why we like it:
- Thin blade allows for precise cuts
- Lightweight and sharp
10. Sturdiest Chef’s Knife:
Mercer Culinary Renaissance 8-Inch Forged Chef’s Knife
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Why we like it:
- Durable but not overly heavy
- Super sharp for effortless cutting
11. Most User-Friendly Chef’s Knife:
Made In 8-inch Chef’s Knife
………to be updated
12. Most Versatile Chef’s Knife:
Wusthof Classic Craftsman Knife
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Why we chose it:
- Works as a boning knife and carving knife
- Hollow edge design for slicing, boning, and filleting
- Super sharp edge for effortless cuts
13. Serrated bread knife
Serrated knives are for more than just bread: They make quick work of soft fruits or vegetables and even carve up leftover roast or chicken.
Most serrated knives in sets are too short (8 inches). Our picks have the optimal length of 10-plus inches.
The Best Serrated Bread Knife
Thin, sharp, and comfortable to use. This serrated knife is light and precise—and won’t break the bank.
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Best Cutting Board
A good cutting board is crucial to keeping your knives sharp. Go with plastic or wood. Granite and glass boards are very hard and will dull a knife’s blade; be sure to avoid them.
This beautiful, eco-conscious teak board requires more careful cleaning than a plastic board, but it feels better under a knife and is easier to maintain than the other wood boards we tested.
The best wood cutting board
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Boning Knife
Boning knives evolved—over centuries of practical design iterations—to efficiently trim, debone, and carve meat, poultry, and fish. If you do those tasks often, you’ll be glad to own one.
The ergonomically shaped handle is comfortable to hold and provides a good grip even when wet, while the blade is thin and flexible enough to gently curve around bones and tissue, creating a clean cut.
Sharp and flexible
Steak knives
If you eat meat regularly, you should consider owning some proper steak knives.
Although many knife sets come with steak knives, we’ve found that you can do much, much better if you buy them separately. We have options for every budget.
Beautiful to look at and as high-performing as knives six times their price, the Messermeister Avanta Pakkawood steak knives are great tools and an exceptional value.
The black-resin-handled version is even thriftier.
Sharp and distinctive
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Best budget set
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A luxury upgrade
You can find showier (and pricier) steak knives, but Wüsthof’s Classic Ikons are beautifully designed—the most comfortable to hold of all the knives we tested—and as finely crafted as their German engineering suggests.
Knife Sharpener
Everyone who owns a knife should have a sharpener. Even the highest-quality knife will lose its edge over time and with use.
The simple, foolproof sharpeners here will satisfy most people, and they all do the job quickly.
Beautiful utility
B&T bucks tradition in design and mechanics, producing a highly effective sharpener whose form encourages regular (and necessary) blade maintenance.
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Things To Skip
There are plenty of knives, tools, and accessories to avoid, especially if you’re just starting out.
Knife set
We’ve tried to recommend the best knife set, but in our experience, most of them offer many little-used knives and compromise on the main ones—too-short, 8-inch bread knives being the primary offender.
Knife block
Counter space is always at a premium, and knife blocks are total counter-space hogs. They can dull knife blades and are difficult to clean. And if you acquire a knife from outside the set, it probably won’t fit.
Electric carving knife
Although these can be good at slicing big, largely boneless pieces of meat, if you’re cutting apart a whole turkey or chicken, you’re better off using a traditional carving knife or a chef’s knife—they’re better at navigating around bones.
Whetstone
Unless you really want to dig in and learn how to sharpen your knives like a pro, use our knife sharpener picks or get your knives professionally sharpened.
Granite or glass cutting boards
They may look pretty, but granite and glass are very hard materials and will easily dull a knife’s blade. Stick with plastic or wood.
How To Choose The Best Chef’s Knife For You
When it comes to chef’s knives, there are two main categories to choose from: German knives and Japanese knives.
They’re not as dissimilar as one may think (and many knives actually combine aspects of both styles!), but here are the key points of differentiation worth noting:
German knives:
Heavy and thick, especially at the bolster (where the blade meets the handle), German knives can be used for everything from mincing garlic to cutting through chicken bones. They have thicker blades that tend to be curved to facilitate rocking and are made from softer steel, so you’ll need to sharpen frequently.
Japanese knives:
Lightweight and razor sharp, western-style Japanese knives tend to have a thinner blade and straighter edge than their German counterparts, making them ideal for precise tasks like cleanly slicing cucumbers or tuna.
And because they’re crafted from harder steel, they can typically go longer between sharpenings but may be prone to chipping or cracking.
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