Sign up for our newsletter to receive weekly recommendations about seasonal and trending products. Use your knife only on a wood, plastic, or rubber cutting board. We reached out to most of Tojiro’s authorized retailers (ArtsiHome, Cutlery and More, DistrictSale, EZbrands, and Top Quality Merch), and as of this writing, only Cutlery and More affirmed that it honors a lifetime warranty on Tojiro knives. I also used them for daily meal prep to see if I found them sharp and comfortable to use day in and day out. Victorinox Fibrox Pro 8-Inch Chef's Knife (5.2063.20) Mac Professional Series 8" Chef's Knife With Dimples (MTH-80) Wüsthof Classic Ikon 8" Cook's Knife (4596/20) Shun Classic 8" Chef's Knife (DM0706) Mercer Renaissance Collection 8" Forged Riveted Chef's Knife (M23510) Misono UX10 8.2" Gyutou (HMI-UXGY-210) Global G-2 8" Chef's Knife However, at this writing, the TH-80 costs less than our top pick. That problem didn’t happen for us, though. The Zwilling J.A. The Mac Professional Hollow Edge Chef's Knife is the most commonly used size in both the home and professional kitchen. Most mass-produced Western-forged knives are drop-forged, meaning the manufacturer heats a blank of steel to an extremely high temperature and then uses a high-pressure hammer to pound it into the shape of a blade. A sharp knife is more precise, and there’s less of a chance of the blade slipping off your food and into your finger. No We used it on shallots, herbs, and even slicing fluke for crudo. Steel at the lower end of the scale is softer and more durable. But the softer steel makes German knives more resistant to chipping. The chefs and line cooks there used the knives during prep and service for a week. Easy to use, reliable, and able to put a razor edge on almost any type of knife, the best knife sharpener for home cooks is the Chef’sChoice Trizor XV. Most testers agreed that this model was a little too heavy for their liking. It’s my go-to knife for chopping vegetables and delicate herbs with precision. He said, “It’s a mentality perspective. The Mac 10-inch hollow edge knife is very sharp can be used to cut a wide range of items. But the task is not as difficult as it looks. The blade geometry is unique in that the edge curve is more articulated than on a classic gyuto but not quite as extreme as on a German knife. Finally, make sure you have one of the Best Knife Sharpeners or Best Electric Knife Sharpeners on the market 2020. As the manufacturer states, this knife does require a little extra attention to prevent the blade from staining. Each week our editors answer your most pressing questions. For online tutorials, check out these videos from Murray Carter and Korin that show you how to use whetstones. Comparatively, the Fibrox Pro has a slightly thinner blade and feels lighter in the hand than the Classic Ikon. The blade, handle, and sometimes a bolster all contribute to a knife’s weight distribution. © 2020 Wirecutter, Inc., A New York Times Company, Victorinox Fibrox Pro 8-Inch Chef’s Knife, Wüsthof Classic Ikon 8-Inch Cook’s Knife, A classic German knife: Wüsthof Classic Ikon 8-Inch Cook’s Knife, Budget pick: Victorinox Fibrox Pro 8-Inch Chef’s Knife, Zwilling J.A. Although the Genesis was sharper out of the box than our Victorinox pick, the latter was more comfortable to hold and had better balance. Senior staff writer Lesley Stockton explains the difference between full and half bolsters. After cutting through onions, butternut squash, sweet potatoes, and carrots, we concluded that the Made In knife’s deep blade curve and angled bolster (which sets the handle too far back from the blade) made chopping and slicing awkward. Wall-mounted magnetic strips—such as the Benchcrafted Mag-Blok we recommend in our guide to small-kitchen gear—are better and safer. But by paying a little attention to care, you will keep your Mac knife clean and spot-free. You’ll know it’s time when you have to work to get through skins of tomatoes or cucumbers. There are many debates over which knives are the sharpest, most durable, or best bang-for-your buck. This model was one of the knives we gave to pro chefs to try, and no one mentioned it in any of our interviews as a favorite. We understand that the price of the Mac MTH-80 may be off-putting for some people. This product that I received was … When a blade is thin and made from a hard steel, the edge can take and hold a tight angle. The Victorinox’s gentle curved edge is good for any chopping style, and its wide blade lets you easily scoop and transfer food from the cutting board. We found a tiny, almost microscopic nick in the Tojiro knife’s blade after cutting butternut squash. We found some reviews on Amazon complaining about the blade staining. The Victorinox’s stamped blade is made from the same steel (an alloy called X50CrMoV15, known for its durability, edge retention, and rust resistance) as most German knives, including the drop-forged Wüsthof Classic Ikon. We looked for sharpness, precision, maneuverability, and comfort. It’s good for folks who don’t want to spend a lot, and especially good for beginner cooks because it’s durable. It offers the best of both worlds. The Victorinox Fibrox Pro 8-Inch Chef’s Knife is the best knife you can buy for under $50. Forged or stamped blade: Blades are either forged or stamped, and both methods can produce high- or low-quality knives. On a budget? We like this Tojiro model for slicing leeks, green onions, and herbs into fine julienne, but it’s also great for handling most fruit and vegetable prep, and slicing boneless meat filets. In 2020, we had to pare down our testing. The Mac Knife Chef Series Hollow edge is an extremely sharp and durable Japanese knife. We’ll update this guide when we get information from the other sellers. If you can, cut some vegetables to look for knuckle clearance—nothing is quite as annoying as banging your knuckles on the board while chopping. I spoke with a Mac customer service representative, who explained that the knife’s high carbon content meant that sometimes—especially when you don’t rinse and dry the knife after cutting corrosive acidic foods, like citrus or tomatoes—you might see a rust spot. It’s important to wash and dry the knife thoroughly after use (especially after cutting acidic fruits and vegetables). Some manufacturers offer a lifetime warranty on their knives, but Mac only offers 25 years. We gave the Global G-2 gyuto an honorable dismissal. Here are the knives we've come to love after decades in professional and home kitchens. Whether you cook seven nights a week or hardly at all, every kitchen should have a chef’s knife. It creates hard blades that take and hold an edge very well but are also pretty brittle. If you want to send your knives out for sharpening, it’s important that you look for a professional who knows what they’re doing. Chromium protects against corrosion and is what makes the knife stainless, while molybdenum and vanadium increase machinability and wear resistance, and refine the grain. The panel included Wirecutter staff members as well as Sam Sifton, food editor at The New York Times. If you learn how to sharpen your own knives, you will have tools that are truly yours. Compared with the other forged German knives we tested, the Classic Ikon’s thinner blade cut more smoothly through butternut squash and carrots. We suggest asking a local chef where they would send their own personal knives (not the cheap kitchen prep knives). Its factory edge is sharp, but not as keen as those of our top pick and runner-up pick. It was much more comfortable than the Messermeister Meridian Elité’s handle, with its hard angles. [The Mac MTH-80] held the best edge.”. For each update, we look at new releases, up-and-coming brands, and more knives from the producers of our picks. Many testers liked the Classic Ikon’s smooth, rounded handle, which fit nicely into the palm. Japanese steel generally has higher carbon content and, in addition to the ingredients in German steel, contains tungsten and cobalt, which improve hardness. Pour one out for one of the sharpest affordable knives we’ve ever tested. Balance: Knife balance means different things to different people. For the rocking motion style of chopping, this comes in hand. We think the Mac Mighty MTH-80 is a better knife, but if you like the heft and the more substantial feel of a drop-forged German knife, we recommend the Wüsthof Classic Ikon 8-Inch Cook’s Knife … Compared with the Mac Mighty MTH-80, this Wüsthof knife was less agile and sharp when peeling the skin from butternut squash. The Victorinox Fibrox Pro 8-Inch Chef’s Knife is the best you can buy for under $50. As such, some of the links on this page may earn us a commission when you click thru and purchase from the associated partner, like Amazon. That thinner blade makes the Classic Ikon a tad lighter than other German knives, and it means that over the long run, it will be able to take a sharper edge than the thicker knives. We wouldn’t go so far as to call the Victorinox a “beater knife,” but the polished stainless steel blade and ergonomic plastic handle can withstand more abuse than, say, the Tojiro DP gyuto. We strongly urge you to train yourself to use the pinch grip. A ceramic rod is better because it’s harder than the hardest steel but has a smooth grit, so it won’t chew up the edge of your knife while it realigns the edge. Your knife should remain sharp through moderate use for six to 12 months, as long as you hone it regularly, wash and dry it by hand after each use, and store it so the edge doesn’t get dinged up. The Tojiro  knife is thinner and more brittle than our top pick, so its edge is more vulnerable to microscopic chips when you use it on dense vegetables like butternut squash. But if you want to sharpen our budget pick, a German steel blade, or an inexpensive stamped blade, go ahead and try one of our knife sharpener picks. Gyutos generally have thinner blades with flatter belly curves than German knives, and they taper to a very sharp tip. It’s by far the best knife you can buy for under $50. But we saw one big problem with the 8-inch Classic Uber 4583-7/20: Its belly curve was much more articulated than those of other Wüsthof chef’s knives. Compared with other German knives we tested, the Classic Ikon has a thinner blade, a more comfortable handle, and a more manageable belly curve for better leverage and control. You can read more about our honesty pledge for additional insight on this matter. For this guide, however, we focused on gyutos with even bevels, which are easier for home cooks to sharpen and maintain. Master Smith Murray Carter explained, “Anything that has any degree of hardness that approaches metal, especially ceramic that’s 10 times harder than metal … as soon as it makes contact with the edge, it dulls it.”. Balance boils down to personal preference. In short, we’ll always remain objective and find you the best products regardless of any monetary incentive. She likes the comfortable handle and appreciates the weight compared with lighter knives, which “often feel like they’re going to fly out of my hand.”. In our tests, the Wüsthof Classic Ikon cut smoothly through butternut squash and onions, although carrots did split slightly. It’s a favorite of several food publications and budget-conscious home cooks, and it has an ergonomically shaped plastic handle that appeals to most people. It lacks the weight and the smooth transition from blade to handle, though, and we found that it simply wasn’t as comfortable to use. Full bolsters add weight to the knife and require a professional sharpening service to grind away the extra steel at the heel of the blade. We're on a mission to fix the broken user review system. Mercer Culinary Millennia Santoku Knife. This granton edge, as it’s called, has long been a common feature on slicing and santoku knives. Stamped blades, as the name suggests, are punched out of sheet metal before further refinement and sharpening. After quitting IT hell I found a new lease of life as a writer. It’s been our pick since 2013, and over the years it has proved to be dependable, sharp, comfortable to use, and a crowd favorite in our tests. It’s an extension of your hand that can slice and dice most vegetables, chop a mound of herbs, and handle simple meat cuts like cubing beef or slicing chicken into strips. But high-carbon steel can develop rust easier than stainless steel, so Japanese gyutos require more care than German knives. The Five-Two 8-Inch chef’s knife from Food52 has many characteristics we look for in a knife: half-bolster, comfortable handle, and gradual curved edge. Testers with smaller hands found the Tojiro DP F-808’s handle comfortable and didn’t have any issues with their knuckles hitting the cutting board. A new chef's knife from Misen promises high-grade steel, a santoku-style blade angle, and free sharpening for life, all for $65. So factors such as sharpness, edge retention, durability, versatility, and easy maintenance are key to the performance of any good chef’s knife. Read more about blade steel below. Brendan McDermott, chef instructor of knife skills, phone interview, February 27, 2015, Murray Carter, 17th-generation Yoshimoto Bladesmith, phone interview, March 27, 2015, Wendy Yang, showroom manager at Korin Japanese Trading, email interview, April 27, 2015, Howard Nourieli, owner of Bowery Kitchen Supplies, email interview, March 18, 2015, Chad Ward, An Edge in the Kitchen: The Ultimate Guide to Kitchen Knives, June 10, 2008, Daniel Rose, executive chef, Le Coucou, New York City, in-person interview, August 8, 2017, Scott Markowitz, sous chef, Le Coucou, New York City, in-person interview, August 8, 2017, Adam Brach, cook, Le Coucou, New York City, in-person interview, August 8, 2017, Shinji Nagasuga, cook, Le Coucou, New York City, in-person interview, August 8, 2017, Chef’s Knives (subscription required), Cook’s Illustrated, Betty Gold, 12 Best Chef’s Knives, According to Cooking Experts, Good Housekeeping, July 24, 2017. Stamped from American stainless steel scraps, this knife couldn’t make straight cuts in our butternut squash or our carrots. Like the Mac MBK-85, the Mac HB-85 garnered lukewarm reviews from our testing panel. Brendan McDermott, chef instructor of knife skills at Kendall College, said, “I tend to always tell people to go bigger rather than smaller, but I think an 8-inch chef’s knife is a happy medium and perfect for almost anybody.”. (Best With Sheath) If you want to find a small knife with a … One colleague fell in love with the Tojiro DP F-808 and bought it immediately after the test. The last thing you want is to have to … In this motion (shown above), the tip of the knife mostly keeps contact with the cutting board, and you raise and lower the heel while your guiding hand pushes food underneath the blade. German knives generally weigh more and have thicker blades than their Japanese counterparts, making them great for tough jobs like breaking lobsters and splitting bone-in chicken breasts. After putting in over 150 hours of research—and chopping more than 70 pounds of produce with 23 knives—we recommend the Mac Mighty MTH-80. We endeavor to always link to authorized vendors, but Amazon sometimes redirects to unauthorized vendors in times of low stock. I currently follow my passion, writing about different topics like product reviews, video games, and insurance. This flatter edge of a Mac Knife offers less resistance making the knife quicker and sharper. Like the Tojiro DP F-808, it lacks knuckle clearance for large hands, but the Tojiro is a better value. Full bolsters make sharpening your knife more difficult, because eventually you’ll need to find a professional sharpening service to grind away the extra steel at the heel of the blade and maintain a flat edge. You’ll have more control over your knife and, as a result, cut yourself less. The lack of extra steel allows you to sharpen the knife yourself, because you can evenly grind the edge all the way to the heel on a home sharpener or whetstone. Bolster: Bolsters are metal cuffs that can help balance knives with a heavy blade—such as the Wüsthof Classic Ikon—where you want more weight in the handle. Generally, chefs sharpen their own knives, but they usually know of a reputable knife person. Across our 15 testers, everyone agreed that the Mac model was comfortable to hold and use. The hollow edges help the knife to glide through sticky foods such as potatoes, apples, and summer squash. We found it had the best weight and balance; it felt more agile than the German models and more durable than the thin Japanese gyutos. It also made straight cuts through the thick center of butternut squash, which, again, the Victorinox couldn’t do. On top of that, it's fairly safe to say that Wusthof Classic Chef Knife is a more popular chef's knife, based on its 800+ reviews. German knife blades are curved and designed for a rocking chopping motion. But the Classic Ikon’s blade is made of softer steel than that of our top pick, the Mac MTH-80, which means it will dull faster. This design makes gyutos great for paper-thin slices and precise cuts. Never put any sharp blade in the dishwasher because it’s not good for the edge to bump up against other things, such as glassware and ceramic—materials that are harder than the steel. It would’ve been one of our top picks, but our testers were split down the middle: People either loved the Global for its lightweight and razor-sharp edge, or hated it because of its dimpled steel handle, which could get slippery in wet hands. However, most testers preferred the Victorinox for its maneuverability and comfortable feel, compared with the other budget knives we tried. This means it’s less likely to chip (which the Tojiro DP F-808 did after we used it to cut hard butternut squash). It has also come to our attention that Mac’s 25-year warranty is voided if you purchase the knife through unauthorized third-party vendors. Because Japanese knives have straighter edges, with these knives it’s better to use a push-pull motion, lifting the whole knife off the board for each cut (demonstrated above). If you see any light reflecting back at you, that indicates a roll spot in the factory edge. Even though the Mac MBK-85 is an objectively good knife, our testers were pretty lukewarm about it. Photo: Michael Hession, We tested chef’s knives on a bounty of produce. This is why many gyutos are laminated with softer stainless steel to protect against shock and staining. Since an 8-inch chef’s knife can tackle 90% of cutting jobs, you can sidestep the sticker shock of buying an entire knife set by getting one good chef’s knife, which you can use until you generate more funds to build out your cutlery collection. A chef’s knife is the main workhorse in your kitchen-cutlery arsenal, tackling 80% to 90% of cutting tasks. In that respect, $145 or so is a bargain. Repeat on the other side of your knife and continue for four or five reps. Mac knives are known for their exceptional quality and this model made it onto our best chef knife list. We then sent the top-performing knives to the kitchen at Le Coucou in New York City (the James Beard Foundation’s Best New Restaurant of 2017), where the cooks used them for prep and during service. Henckels Zwilling Pro (0.1298 inch). If you’re starting out, it’s safer to place the tip of the honing rod on a cutting board, with the rod perpendicular to the board. In our tests we found that well-designed ones worked nicely, causing minimal wear to knives while creating a fine edge. If you’re going to be cutting lots of sticky things on your cutting board, the Mac chef knife is one of the best tools for the job. The polymer handle comes in four color choices and is secured with brass rivets. Photo: Michael Hession. As it turns out, the company’s website recommends the knife not be used for cutting pumpkin (or frozen foods), because the hard vegetable can chip your blade. RELATED: The Best Knife Deals for Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2020. Over the course of my two-decade (and counting) culinary career, I’ve cooked in fine-dining restaurants, brewpubs, small cafés, private homes, and test kitchens. Most people already have knives in their kitchen. But it has a slightly less durable blade, and the handle doesn’t provide as much knuckle clearance. We also recommend Wüsthof’s Classic Ikon in our guide to knife sets. (But that kind of treatment will destroy the blade’s edge, so don’t do that to your knife.) Shop for MAC Chef Knives at Cutlery and More. The seven-piece Classic Ikon set is a great option if you know you like German knives and have the cash to drop on a whole set. Head on over to our Best Chef Knife Under 100 dollars review. The straight handle in line with the spine of the blade is the European influence, while the thin blade is a Japanese hallmark. In short, annealing relieves the steel of inner stress and prepares it for shaping and grain refinement. She is perfectly happy to leave all that behind to be a full-time kitchen-gear nerd. The blade itself is made from Chrome Molybdenum Vanadium steel, which is also used for hard tools because of its strength. In our tests, the dimples were merely mildly effective, and we noticed the difference only when cutting butternut squash. (130mm) Paring Knife This Mac knife is ideal for professional cooks because it uses AUS-8 steel which is … Tojiro’s steel core is harder than the surface material; that hardness helps the blade hold a better edge, but it appears to be more brittle than Mac’s homogeneous construction. The MTH-80’s blade shape strikes the perfect middle ground between German and Japanese chef’s knives, curved just enough for rocking but still straight enough for push-pull choppers. It’s easy to care for a knife—it just takes attention and two extra minutes. Learn more. That said, they’re both well-balanced tools. It was the standout favorite for all our testers, regardless of their cutting style or the size of their hands. Sharpness: A brand-new knife comes with what’s called a “factory edge,” which is usually very sharp. Knife makers claim the air pockets keep food from sticking to the blade. I've only recently started buying Japanese knives (2 from Mac, one from Shun) and so far am very happy. ... Review: Misen Chef's Knife. It’s also lightweight, yet very strong. But because this Tojiro knife’s core has the hardest steel of all our picks, its edge retention is exceptional for the price. For a knife of this size, the blade has significant depth. This classic German knife is best if you prefer a heftier model for heavy-duty tasks. Take a look at our Best Japanese Chefs Knives Top 6 guide for a comparison against 5 of the other knives you should consider. A half-bolster or bolsterless knife will be more blade-heavy, whereas a full bolster throws more weight to the handle. Good edge retention relies on a combination of steel composition and hardness, blade thickness, and bevel angle. It’s not too bulky for folks with small hands, and our larger-handed testers had enough knuckle clearance from the cutting board. Our reviews and buyers guides are always either based on reviews we’ve done ourselves, or aggregated from trusted sources. It’s also well-built, yet very lightweight. We carved five turkeys, two beef roasts, a pork roast, and a ham, and the Messermeister 2 Piece Avanta Pakkawood Kullenschliff Carving Set is our pick based on good looks, great performance, and a nice price. Knife makers like Mac and Tojiro heat-treat their blades to make them just as strong as forged steel. There is also a warranty and easy refunds or exchanges in the event of … This is one fantastic Japanese knife and comes close to the more expensive Shun Classic 10-inch knife. But we can’t recommend this Five Two knife because it’s made from a low-grade steel (420J2) with a Rockwell hardness of 52 HRC—which is pretty soft for a kitchen knife. But they certainly don’t hurt, either. Mac's most popular chef knife is perfectly balanced, so you never feel at risk of losing control of the blade. That said, most of the chef’s knives we tested had full tangs with riveted handles. Adam Brach, sauté cook at Le Coucou, said, “I’m pretty sure [out of all the cooks] I do the most knife work in the morning as far as chopping shallots and onions and stuff. It … The factory edge isn’t as sharp as that of our other picks, so in our tests it left us with split carrots and unevenly halved butternut squash. The thin, razor-sharp edge cut through vegetables with the precision of a scalpel. In comparison, the Wüsthof Classic Ikon measures 0.1187 inch. Senior staff writer Michael Sullivan has been using the Tojiro at home since 2017 and said that, as of late 2020, “It continues to hold its razor-sharp edge with minimal sharpening. Helps balance the knife. gyuto, with its hard angles might make the from... 6.6 ounces, the Mac MTH-80 has dimples on both sides of the Mac Japanese Series 1/2-Inch! And heavier than the Classic Uber, by comparison, had such aggressively curved blades that take and hold tight... 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