An excellent kitchen knife serves as the foundation for a fantastic dish. The truth is that the finest knife for you will depend on different criteria, including your degree of comfort with knives, the size of your hands, and the sort of food you cook. Finding the ideal knife for you might be difficult.
There are many brands to pick from, and it may be challenging to know where to begin. We’ve narrowed it down for you. The knives listed here are among the finest on the market today.
Top Kitchen Knife Brands
🔪The MAC Knives
It is a Japanese-inspired brand that has developed into a well-known Western favorite. Mr. Tatsuo Kobayashi founded the brand in 1965, and it is known for its sleek design and feel, as well as its amazing craftsmanship.
It has a Rockwell hardness of 58-60, although the company offers a plethora of other series varying from Japanese classic to Damascus steel.
Its blade-making procedure is completely manual, from scraping to sharpening, and it boasts razor-sharp edges that last longer than other brands. The brand is famous for its sharpness and longevity.
🔪The J.A. Henckels
One of the most well-known firms on this list of the Best Kitchen Knife Brands. The company produces high-quality German knives that are popular all around the world.
Since the establishment of the Zwilling trademark in 1731, the knife brand has been forging blades out of high-carbon stainless steel. J.A. has had a long career. Henckels established themselves as a dependable knife brand.
Though it specializes in knives, it also sells cutlery, cookware, electrics, and even tabletop items. As a bargain brand, with sharp edges and nice grips, you’ll find a reasonable price for its high-quality items.
Customers give J.A. Henckels knives five stars because they are all produced in Germany.
🔪The Misono
The company is operated and owned by a family. It began by specializing in vegetable peelers. Misono is a good choice if you enjoy the familiarity and reliability of small brands. In Japan, it was founded in 1935.
The brand is Japan’s oldest Western-style blade manufacturer, producing 150,000 blades each year with only 50 people. The brand makes just seven knife designs, with a few sizes per category, for Japanese dishes such as sushi and ramen.
Users give its knives 5/5 ratings on average, saying they’re exceptionally sharp right out of the box and very well balanced.
🔪The Mercer Culinary
Performance is everything at Mercer Culinary. Designed specifically for the foodservice industry. The company is known for its amazing workmanship and long-lasting products, and it is geared toward professional cooks and everyone in between.
The brand’s goal is to make your job more pleasurable, simple, and efficient. In terms of design and color, Mercer outperforms the other brands on this list. Pick its all-white line to complement a cream kitchen, or add a splash of color to change things up.
Mercer Renaissance knives are made of high-carbon German steel, are triple-riveted, and have a superb balance. Customers rave about Mercer knives, praising their sharpness and exceptional cutting abilities.
🔪The Imarku
Imarku, which was made for professionals, originally appeared on the culinary scene roughly 13 years ago. Professional chef knives, steak knives, and Japanese knives are all available at Imarku.
The brand utilizes a variety of handle types, some ergonomic and some made of beautiful Pakkawood. It is claimed that the product would preserve its balance, longevity, and sharpness. Imarku knives are robust, sturdy, and reasonably priced.
🔪The Tojiro
Tojiro is known for his razor-sharp blades. The brand’s guiding objectives are good faith and creativity. Fujita originated as an agricultural tools manufacturer, making machine components and tractor blades.
Tojiro believes that the most important part of a knife for cooking is its sharpness. Thus it only uses the finest raw materials to begin its blades.
The handles are available in metal, wood, or resin, and we appreciate that the brand’s website allows customers to browse by material or series.
🔪The Victorinox
Victorinox, the original creator of the Swiss Army Knife, is a Swiss brand that was made in 1884. The brand promises its shoppers that each blade will be distinct in times of strength, but they will all function to the best of their abilities.
Unlike the majority of the other brands on this list, Victorinox knives cannot be bought through the company’s website. Rather, you’ll need to look for shops that do.
According to almost 12 thousand consumers who bought a certain model of the brand’s knife, it’s nearly perfect, highly sharp, and of great quality.
Factors to Evaluate When Purchasing a Kitchen Knife
When buying a knife, there are numerous factors to consider. However, comfort is essential, and each knife should act and handle like an extension of your hand.
✔ The Material
Knives are often manufactured of one of four materials: stainless steel, carbon steel, Damascus steel, or ceramic.
The most popular type of knife is stainless steel, which is easy to sharpen and does not corrode quickly. Carbon steel is the traditional material used to make blades, and it retains its sharpness for an extended period. Damascus steel knives are made of carbon steel with a stainless steel exterior. Ceramics are lightweight, and razor-sharp knives are reasonably priced.
✔ The Weight
There is no such thing as a perfect knife weight; it all comes down to personal liking. Most professionals would agree that a chef’s knife, for example, should have some weight behind it, but not so much that it weakens your wrists.
✔ The Comfort
Some knives have rubberized handles for added grip, while others are contoured to fit the shape of the hand, and some styles combine the two.
Check that the handle does not have any angular or sharp edges that could cause pressure points in your hand. Smooth bolsters on certain handles are intended to allow your fingertip to rest comfortably on top.
✔ The Balance
The weight of a knife must be evenly distributed between the handle and the blade. Examine it by gently putting the knife across your middle and forefinger where the handle and blade meet.
If the handle is excessively hefty, the blade will not cut as well. It will be difficult to use if the blade is too heavy.
✔ The Tang
The unsharpened exposed part of the blade that spreads down the handle is referred to as the tang. Tangs are classified into three types: full tangs, rat tail tangs, and half tangs.
The full tang blade is a single portion of metal that runs the entire length of the handle. Rat tail tang blades are thin as they pass through the handle and are frequently soldered at the base. Finally, the half-tang blade runs the size of the handle.
✔ The Handle
Plastic handles are usually smooth and devoid of grooves that might collect dirt. Some plastic blades are also slightly textured to provide a better grip. When cooking, keep them away from heat sources to prevent melting the handle.
Some pure wood handles will require oiling with a knife handle oil. To shield them, most contemporary wooden-handled knives have a light transparent plastic coating.
How to Use a Whetstone or a Diamond Stone to Sharpen a Knife
Cutting with a dull knife is risky. You’re more probable to cut yourself if you have to work harder to cut through whatever you’re cutting. Fortunately, sharpening a knife using a whetstone is simple.
● Choose an Angle to Sharpen
If you know what angle your knife is honed at, you’ll probably want to hone it again at that angle. Sharpening at a different angle may take much longer and may require several attempts before any rough angles are smoothed out.
● Lubricate your Stone
Honing oil will lubricate the whetstone, making it simpler for the knife’s blade to slide over the stone and preventing steel shavings from clogging the stone’s pores.
● Use a Guide
If available, use an angle guide to adjust the angle of your edge. A sharpening guide is a tiny gadget that is put beneath the knife to keep the knife at a consistent angle when scraping it across the surface of the stone.
Otherwise, you’ll have to manage the angle by hand, which is difficult and necessitates a solid understanding of angles.
● Begin with the Rough Grit Side of the Stone
To determine which is which, look at the grit on your stone or the packing that came with it. Whetstones and diamond stones, in general, have distinct grits on either side.
The rough grit side is used to sharpen or hone the knife, while the fine grit side is used to grind down the steel. And because the grinding procedure happens first, you start on the rough grit side.
● Turn the Stone Over
The purpose here is to smooth over and remove the burrs caused by sharpening the knife on the coarser grit. The blade edge is transformed from a ground edge to a finer, honed edge as a result of this process.
● Alternating the Swipes
Sharpen one side of the knife in a single stroke, then turn it over and sharpen the other side. Repeat this process numerous times for the best results.
Why Is Knife Sharpening Necessary?
Every knife eventually becomes dull. Utilizing a dull knife not only slows you down but also causes harm to your components.
► Sharp Knives are more Secure
A sharp knife provides greater control than a dull one. A sharp knife will swiftly dig into whatever component it’s cutting, but a dull knife would likely slip off the surface, maybe into one of your delicate fingers.
Consider how much more pressure you need to apply to a dull knife than to a sharp knife to make the same cut. When these two realities are combined, we have a prescription for disaster.
You’re more prone to lose the power of a dull knife when cutting, and you’ll also have more tension behind the stroke, making it quicker and more violent.
This implies that a dull knife is more likely to cause significant damage to oneself, but a sharp knife can assist avoid such a circumstance from occurring in the first place.
► Sharp Knives Improve Kitchen Preparation
Even if you aren’t concerned about the dangers of dull blades, it’s difficult to refute the time-saving ability of a sharp knife. Yes, you’ll have to spend some extra time bringing your knives to a sharpener or polishing them yourself. But considering how much a sharp knife can quicken up dinner prep, you’ll almost certainly save time in the long run.
A dull knife may make every cut a drawn-out effort, but a sharp knife can cut through components swiftly and effectively, which is especially important when cooking meals for a group.
► Sharp Knives Help to Keep Food Fresh
Sharp blades, on the other hand, cause less damage to your components than dull ones. This is because, while they cut more efficiently, the cut is more accurate, causing less harm to the cells of the food.
While this discrepancy may not appear to be significant at first look, it can be critical when cooking fruits, vegetables, herbs, and other plant-based items. All of your ingredients will look their finest if you use a sharp knife.
► Sharp Knives give you more Dish Variety
Given all of the ways a dull knife may make cooking more risky, difficult, and time-consuming, you may find yourself avoiding dishes that involve a lot of chopping. You might not even be conscious that your knife is the source of the issue.
If you come across an intriguing dish that requires a lot of knife work, you may determine that it sounds like too much of a nuisance without investigating why.
The reality is that a sharp knife can make even the most difficult dishes less scary, giving you the courage to try recipes that a dull knife may destroy.
Given how much a sharp knife can expand your recipe variety, a decent sharpening may be a significant benefit to anybody who enjoys cooking.
How to Store Your Kitchen Knives Properly
You must keep your knives in a secure location. They will also survive longer if the blade is properly protected from the normal wear and tear of kitchen debris.
⫸ Wooden Block
If you buy a knife set, it may probably come with a wooden block for secure storage. That is a realistic solution, but the problem is that you may find yourself purchasing blades that you do not require as part of the set.
It is, nevertheless, a viable solution. If you purchase one separately from your knives, you’ll want to ensure that they all fit and that you have sufficient slots to fit your collection.
⫸ Magnetic Knife Holder
This is a popular option that just needs you to attach a store-bought magnetic holder to the wall. The blades then connect to the magnetic edge, carefully holding them out of harm’s way until they’re needed.
⫸ Knife Drawer
If you have enough room in your cutlery drawer, you may purchase a specialized knife drawer that is intended to safeguard the blade’s edge. Simply set it next to your regular silverware and slip the knives into place.
These drawers are widely obtainable on the internet. If you have the room, it’s a rather inexpensive solution.
⫸ Blade Guards
Another low-cost option that will keep your blades secure – and sharp. These just slide over the blade and act as a wall between the knife and anything else it’s being stored with.
Just be sure you double-check the sizes before purchasing. You want to make certain that they will cover the whole length and tip of the blade.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What is the purpose of a kitchen knife?
A: A chef’s knife, sometimes known as a cook’s knife, is a cutting instrument used in the preparation of food.
Q: What are the three most important kitchen knives?
A: There are three basic knives: the chef’s knife, the serrated knife, and the paring knife.
Q: What should I look for in a kitchen knife?
A: Knives are a personal decision, regardless of how well they cut or how sharp they are. You need to pick one that fits well in your palm.
Q: How can you know whether a knife is of high quality?
A: Quality knives are well-balanced, with little weight in either the blade or the handle. The traditional method is to place your finger at the finger grip at the hilt or blade end of the handle while holding the knife horizontally with the cutting edge down.
Q: Is full tang superior?
A: In general, a complete tang provides for more power and leverage. Many people believe that full is the strongest kind of tang or handle construction since the tang is significantly broader and hence more resistant to bending.
Final Thoughts
Every kitchen, whether you’re an experienced cook or just starting, needs a solid set of knives. It’s critical to have the correct blades at your disposal. There are several trustworthy kitchen knife brands on the market. The brands mentioned above are among the best.