We Sliced, Diced, and Chopped with 33 Chef’s Knives to Find the Best Multitaskers

There is no kitchen knife more important than a chef's knife. This is what you’ll use to dice onions, chop carrots, cup up meat, and smash garlic. Sure, there's a whole array of specialized knives you can invest in, but, in a pinch, a sharp chef's knife can do most of their jobs, whether that's slicing delicate fish, carving a turkey, or mincing a shallot.

Due to its importance in the kitchen, a chef's knife warrants a splurge. We’ll tell anyone who can listen to save on their bread and paring knives and put that cash towards a good chef’s knife. Because while bread knives are nearly impossible to sharpen and our favorite paring knife clocks in at under $20, chef’s knives are in it for the long haul. They’re meant to be sharpened time and time again (preferably on a whetstone) and tucked into a knife roll for journies to kitchens with sub-par blades (just us?).

To find the best chef's knives, we tested 33 of them. Eliminating the duds was easy, but picking among the top performers was far more difficult. At a certain point, the question becomes less about quality and more about personal preference—how does this knife feel in your hand? Keep that in mind as you read this review, since, while all of our top picks aced our tests, so did several others. We also recently evaluated more chef’s knives, comparing them to our winners. While our favorites still stood out as top-notch picks (holding up to six years of evaluation), we found a few more blades we recommend.

The Winners, at a Glance

The Best Western-Style Chef’s Knife

Wüsthof 8-Inch Classic Chef's Knife

$170 at Amazon $135 at Williams Sonoma $12 at Walmart

If you want a traditional German knife profile—characterized by a more curved blade that's bigger and heavier than the Japanese options—the Wüsthof Classic is a stalwart. It weighs more than most of the other knives we tested, giving it a solid and sturdy feel, but it still handles well and has a sharp edge. “I’ll happily call this the ‘best knife’ I own,” says senior commerce editor Riddley Gemperlein-Schirm. “I have it in this lilac color and it has just the right heft to it, deftly chopping and mincing.” 

The Best Western Chef’s Knife Under $50

Mercer Culinary 8-Inch Genesis Chef's Knife

$39 at Amazon $39 at Walmart View on Webstaurant Store

One of the more affordable options among the German-style knives we tested, the Mercer Genesis chef's knife delivers good bang for its buck. The knife is lighter than the Wüsthof Classic and has a grippy rubber-and-plastic handle that's comfortable to hold.

The Best Budget Western Chef’s Knife

Mercer Culinary 8-Inch Millennia Chef's Knife

$19 at Amazon $19 at Walmart $18 at Webstaurant Store

For those who just don't want to spend much, or who want a "beater" knife—one that they can use heavily without feeling guilty—this option from Mercer is hard to, um, beat. It's not the best knife, but it has an impressively sharp edge and an incredible price. It’s also a good practice knife for burgeoning cooks.

The Best Japanese Chef’s Knife

Misono UX10 8.2-Inch Gyutou

$205 $180 at Amazon

With a deft and nimble blade, Misono's UX10 is one of the lightest-weight knives we tested. It's razor-sharp right out of the box and handles every task with ease, dicing an onion as if it were as soft as a blob of Jell-O and making paper-thin slices of smoked salmon. It's not a knife for beginners, though: Given its asymmetrical edge and difficult-to-sharpen steel, it takes skill and dedication (or a local knife-sharpening service) to maintain. “I’ve been putting it through the paces daily for months and it still can slice through hardy produce like butter,” commerce editor Grace Kelly says. “The nimble, thin handle is a joy to grip, too.”

The Best Mid-Priced Japanese Chef’s Knife

Mac Knife 8-Inch Hollow Edge Chef's Knife

$155 at Amazon View on Cutleryandmore.com View on Macknife.com

We were impressed by all the Mac knives in our testing, across their range of price points, but one came out on top thanks to its combination of price and performance. The blade's hollow-ground dimples help reduce friction when cutting (which confers a small advantage for some tasks, such as thinly slicing delicate fish).

The Best Budget Japanese Chef’s Knife

Misono 8.2-Inch Molybdenum Gyuto

$128 $103 at Amazon $111 at Walmart View on Korin.com

Even lighter in weight than its more expensive sibling, the UX10, the Misono 440 offers an incredibly agile experience, with an especially sharp out-of-the-box blade. It did well in every test, too. The price variance between this one and the more expensive UX10 mostly comes down to the steel used, a difference most home cooks won't likely notice, making this a good budget choice. While we acknowledge $100 isn't exactly cheap, this really is a great blade for the money.

Editor’s Pick

Material The 8-Inch Knife

$105 at Amazon $80 at Materialkitchen.com $75 at Huckberry

Comfortable in hand and with a blade that keeps its edge, commerce editor Rochelle Bilow has owned this knife for over a year. “Its lighter weight is manageable and not overwhelming; it's also what makes it good for everyday prep,” Rochelle says. “This is almost always the knife I reach for whenever I have to plow through a pile of vegetables.”

The Tests

• Edge Sharpness Test: We used a professional edge tester to evaluate each knife’s sharpness at the beginning (out of the box) and end of testing. 
• Paper Cutting Test: Also at the start and finish of testing, we attempted to slice through a sheet of paper with each knife, starting at the heel and ending at the tip. We wanted the blade to slice through it without snagging or tearing the paper.
• Onion Dicing Test: We used each knife to dice an onion—halving, trimming their ends, and dicing one half coarsely and the other finely. 
• Tomato Slicing Test: Because a tomato’s skin is taut and slippery, it’s an easy way to see how sharp a knife is. A good knife will slide through the skin without trouble, then shave down through the tomato flesh without crushing it. This is all to say, with each knife, we sliced a tomato as thinly as possible. 
• Carrot Cutting Test: We cut carrots crosswise into round and lengthwise into quarters. We also diced, julienned, and brunoise-d them. 
• Salmon Slicing Test: We used the chef’s knives to thinly slice smoked salmon (admittedly a better task for a slicing knife, but we were looking for truly all-purpose blades). 
• Pineapple Dicing Test: Finally, we saw how the knives did with big, tough fruit. We sliced, carved, trimmed, removed the eyes, and diced a pineapple.

What We Learned

Ask 10 experts what makes a great chef's knife, and you'll get 10 different answers. And there’s no right one in terms of the weight of a knife, the metal used, the handle design and material, or the length of the blade.

That said, there are some more universal criteria to consider, which we’ll go into individually below. Briefly, this includes:

• Japanese vs. Western chef's knives
• Sharpness
• Balance
• Build quality
• Length

Japanese vs. Western Chef's Knives

One of the first decisions to make is whether to buy a Japanese knife or a Western one. These terms can be confusing, so it helps to explain how we're using them in this review, as well as some of the main differences between the two.

Before we go any further, this is probably a good time to issue a disclaimer: The world of knives is a complicated one, with a huge range of metals, shapes, edge geometries, and build styles that can quickly overwhelm a shopper. Just remember that for nearly every rule of thumb, there's an exception, and for most strongly held opinions, there's an equally strongly held counter-opinion. To get through this review without it turning into a dissertation, we have to paint in broad strokes, which inevitably means oversimplifying things. 

The "chef's" knife, as a shape, is originally a Western one. The most famous are German-style chef's knives, which have thicker, heavier blades that curve significantly toward the tip. This makes for a knife that's better suited to a rocking-chop motion, such as what you would do to mince a pile of tender herbs. There are other European knife traditions, such as French knives, that have a similar knife design that's slightly less curved.

Western knives feature a double-bevel edge, meaning that it tapers evenly on both sides to a fine point, similar to the letter V. This geometry trades a bit of sharpness for more robustness. Western knives are also often made with softer steel, which can make sharpening easier and honing a more effective maintenance method (because the steel can be more easily bent back into alignment).

Traditionally, Japanese knives don’t have a shape comparable to Western ones. Instead, there's a staggering variety of shapes and sizes that vary based on region, each one specially designed for its task, from fish-filleting to vegetable-cutting to sashimi-slicing knives. Most of those knives are sharpened with a single edge (also called a chisel bevel), meaning that the knife tapers from the spine to the edge on only one side. (This also means that the knives are exclusively either right- or left-handed.) A chisel bevel can reach superior levels of sharpness but is more prone to chipping if used improperly.

Around the middle of the 20th century, Japanese knife makers began producing knives that were more Western in style, including a chef's knife known as a gyutou (see one of our favorites from Misono). This was what we included in this testing. Gyutou and other Japanese knives are generally made with harder steel, which can hold an edge longer but can also be more difficult to sharpen. They're also less suited to being used with honing steels since the more brittle metal doesn't bend.

Adding to the challenge, most Western-style Japanese knives have a double bevel that's asymmetrical. This means that they can be sharper, but are intended to be used in either the right or left hand. They're more forgiving in terms of handedness than traditional Japanese knives, but lefties should make sure theirs is sharpened with a left-handed edge geometry.

Japanese chef's knives are also less curved than the German style, trending more in line with a French knife profile. This makes them less adept at the rock-chop (though they can still be used that way), and more skilled at a pulling stroke. In terms of weight, Western-style Japanese knives also tend to be lighter and more fragile, making them an inappropriate choice for heavy-duty tasks, like hacking away at bones. In our tests, they excelled at thinly slicing smoked salmon (a delicate task if there ever was one). This is because the thin, sharp blades of Japanese chef's knives are closer in form to slicing knives than Western ones are. That doesn't make the Western knives worse in a larger sense (Japanese blades would do poorly at a bone-chopping test), but it does help illustrate their relative advantages and disadvantages.

If there's one takeaway here, it's that casual home cooks are arguably better off getting a Western chef's knife, since they're more robust and easier to maintain. For professionals and hobbyists interested in going deeper into edge geometry and whetstone sharpening, a Japanese knife can be a compelling purchase. 

Sharpness

For starters, a knife should be sharp right out of the box. Sure, if you're skilled with a whetstone, you can always fix an edge or change its profile to suit your preferences, but that's advanced stuff. 

During our initial sharpness tests, the Japanese knives moved through the parchment paper with the least resistance. Still, several of the Western knives were able to get through the paper without a hitch. Any blade that snagged or tore it was disqualified (like the Henckels and Messermeister). 

Our prep work tasks (dicing onions and slicing tomatoes) were further revealing. Blades that crunched through rather than cleanly cut onions and squished tomatoes instead of cutting them into practically paper-thin slices were disqualified. 

Now, while paper, onions, and tomatoes were all great for checking the sharpness of an edge, it took a hard, dense vegetable like a carrot to expose problems in a knife's geometry. A well-designed and sharp knife can slice a carrot all the way through, leaving perfectly flat-cut faces on the vegetable. Knives that are too wedge-shaped, or that have some other design or edge shortcoming, however, have a tendency to crack the carrot before finishing the stroke, much the way an axe can split wood all the way through even if the axe itself gets stuck halfway. The telltale sign of a crack: a rough and uneven face on the sliced carrot instead of a smooth and even one. Notably, a model from Zwilling was eliminated after it cracked carrots repeatedly.

Balance

A knife should feel "balanced" as well, though that term is hard to define. It's not so literal as to mean that the handle and blade should perfectly balance each other when set on a fulcrum right where they meet. Once again, it's something more personal than that—when you hold the knife, does the weight fall comfortably in your hand? Does it feel like it works with you, not against you? There are a lot of factors that can go into this, including the size of your hand, how you hold the knife, and how you use it. Some cooks might prefer a knife that feels heavier in the handle, some might want one that's slightly heavier in the blade, and others may want to get the sense that the knife floats naturally between the two.

Build Quality

Of course, any knife should be well made regardless of its price point. The steel should be of good quality, the blade should be straight, and the handles, whether made of wood, resin, or some kind of plastic, should be solidly constructed, without any gaps, damage, or other obvious shortcomings. When a chef's knife is high quality, it is one of the kitchen tools that will last for years.

In our tests, we found knives with overly long handles bumped into our forearms as we worked—this was true whether we diced an onion or sliced through a pineapple.

What Size Chef’s Knife Should You Buy? 

We stuck to knives with roughly 8-inch blades, which is the most common size and can get just about any job done, including big ones like slicing through a watermelon. Go any shorter, and you’re in utility knife territory. However, longer is certainly an option. For most cooks, an 8-inch blade should be right, but some may like a 10-inch one (like those who are tall or have particularly large hands). 

However, how long a chef's knife should be is largely a matter of personal preference, taking into consideration how and where you grip the knife, and what you’re planning on using it for. That said, for most home cooks, an 8-inch knife is the sweet spot: Large enough to tackle produce like pineapples and butternut squash, but not so big that it feels unwieldy.

The Criteria: What to Look for in a Chef’s Knife

Our top picks performed well in all of our tests and passed muster with multiple pros (including those who were right- and left-handed). The best chef’s knives were sharp out of the box and stayed that way, felt well-balanced in hand, were comfortable to use, and had well-constructed handles. All of our favorites are 8-inch models, though we note what other sizes they come in. 

Our Favorite Chef’s Knives

The Best Western-Style Chef’s Knife

Wüsthof 8-Inch Classic Chef's Knife

$170 at Amazon $135 at Williams Sonoma $12 at Walmart

What we liked: Wüsthof is one of the leading brands of German knives, and its Classic chef's knife proved that it's still worthy of consideration. The design is...well, as the name says, it's classic. The blade itself is forged high-carbon stainless steel with a full tang that extends the length of the riveted handle. It was decently sharp—certainly sharp enough for just about any task a home cook would need it for—though it didn't match the sharpness of the Japanese blades.

Once made of wood, the handle is now polyoxymethylene, a durable type of plastic that won't crack or degrade with extended use or when exposed to moisture. This knife weighed in at 264 grams, making it one of the heavier ones in our lineup, but it didn't feel overly leaden or clumsy.

What we didn't like: It has a full bolster, which means that a thicker portion of metal runs from the handle down to the heel of the blade. People are divided about whether that's a good thing. The full bolster can feel nice to hold on to when you're gripping up on the blade, but it can also make sharpening more difficult. For those who don't want a full bolster, Wüsthof makes several other lines of knives without it that might be worth considering.

Key Specs

• Materials: Polymer handle and high-carbon stainless steel
• Blade length: 8 inches
• Lengths available: 6, 8, 10 inches
• Weight: 8.5 ounces
• Good to know: Handle available in other colors
  

The Best Western Chef’s Knife Under $50

Mercer Culinary 8-Inch Genesis Chef's Knife

$39 at Amazon $39 at Walmart View on Webstaurant Store

What we liked: This chef's knife from Mercer, a North American producer that specializes in German-style kitchen knives, did well in all our tests. A common knife in culinary schools in the United States, the Genesis has a full tang that extends into the grippy handle, made from a material called Santoprene, which combines rubber with plastic.

The blade excelled in all the vegetable-slicing and -dicing tests. All in all, it’s a good starter blade.

What we didn't like: It snagged more than the other finalists on the smoked salmon (though, again, this is partly just the result of its wider, thicker German-style blade).

Key Specs

• Material: Santoprene handle and high-carbon stain-free German steel blade
• Blade length: 8.5 inches
• Lengths available: 6, 8, 9, 10 inches
• Weight: 8.8 ounces
  
• Good to know: Also available with a Granton edge

The Best Budget Western Chef’s Knife

Mercer Culinary 8-Inch Millennia Chef's Knife

$19 at Amazon $19 at Walmart $18 at Webstaurant Store

What we liked: This list wouldn't be complete without at least one truly inexpensive knife. For that honor, the Mercer Culinary Millennia chef's knife came out on top. Its stamped blade has an impressive edge for the price, holding its own against knives that cost several times as much. Obviously, though, the build quality isn't as good.

The molded plastic handle (also made from Santoprene, like the Mercer Culinary Genesis) is large and easy to grip. If you were being generous, you'd say it's an ergonomic handle design, but in truth, it felt a little too chunky when we were gripping up on the blade, which is how we often use a chef's knife.

Still, for the price, it's a hard knife to top, and one you should feel comfortable using however you please, whether that's dicing an onion or hacking away at lobster shells.

What we didn't like: It's not the most balanced knife and its handle is thick.

Key Specs

• Material: Santoprene and polypropylene handle and high-carbon stainless steel blade
• Blade length: 8 inches
• Weight: 6.7 ounces
  
• Good to know: Also available with a wide blade

The Best Japanese Chef’s Knife

Misono UX10 8.2-Inch Gyutou

$205 $180 at Amazon

What we liked: Misono is one of the better-known Japanese knife brands in the States, having built up a reputation among chefs for many years now. This knife, the UX10, is its top-of-the-line model.

Made from very hard Swedish (read: pure) stainless steel, it’ll hold its edge longer than many, requiring less frequent sharpening—though, when it does come time to sharpen, that hard steel is going to require more skill. It also has a nickel-silver bolster that claims to be more resistant to corrosion. The Misono was precise from the get-go, and its thinness and lightness made it feel incredibly nimble and agile. “This knife is a STUNNER,” Grace says. “Not only does it have an elegant blade (with a tapered tip shape akin to my favorite Tojiro petty knife), but it's super, super sharp.”

What we didn't like: Keep in mind that the edge is sharpened asymmetrically, which means lefties should make sure to get one that has a more extreme angle on the other side.

Key Specs

• Materials: Composite wood handle and stain-resistant Swedish steel blade
• Blade length: 8.2 inches
• Weight: 5.6 ounces
  

The Best Mid-Priced Japanese Chef’s Knife

Mac Knife 8-Inch Hollow Edge Chef's Knife

$155 at Amazon View on Cutleryandmore.com View on Macknife.com

What we liked: This knife struck a balance between cost and performance. The hollow ground edge gave it a slight boost, especially when slicing fish. (The idea is that the indentations reduce friction and adhesion of moist foods.)

Like most other Japanese knives, this one is relatively thin and lightweight, at 171 grams, roughly five to 10 grams heavier than the Misono options. Unlike most other Japanese knives, the Mac knives have a symmetrical edge, meaning the knives should work equally well for right- and left-handed users, which can be a big plus in terms of sharpening ease. “I love the slightly curved blade, the divots that help ingredients slide off after cutting, and the petite handle,” Grace says. “It's sharp, sturdy, and nimble—everything I want in a daily driver chef's knife.”

What we didn't like: This knife is an all-around solid pick, but it does dull faster.

Key Specs

• Materials: Pakkawood handle and alloy steel blade
• Blade length: 8.25 inches
• Weight: 9.1 ounces
  
• Good to know: Made in Japan

The Best Budget Japanese Chef’s Knife

Misono 8.2-Inch Molybdenum Gyuto

$128 $103 at Amazon $111 at Walmart View on Korin.com

What we liked: Another knife from Misono, the 440 is very similar to the UX10, at a slightly lower price point. This is, incidentally, the stainless steel version of editorial director Daniel Grizter’s favorite Misono carbon steel gyutou. 

Aside from some small design differences between this knife and the UX10 (including a less severely angled bolster here, which we prefer), the main change between these knives is the type of steel used—though it's hardly noticeable unless you spend a lot of time using and sharpening the knife on a whetstone. Overall, this blade is made from hard steel that, similar to the UX10, will hold an edge but is also more difficult to sharpen.

What we didn't like: Once again, this is an asymmetrical bevel, meaning lefties should make sure to get one that's been adjusted for their use.

Key Specs

• Materials: Composite wood handle and molybdenum steel blade
• Blade length: 8.2 inches
• Lengths available: 7, 8.2, 10.5, 11.8 inches
• Weight: 5.6 ounces
  
• Good to know: Made in Japan

Editor’s Pick

Material The 8-Inch Knife

$105 at Amazon $80 at Materialkitchen.com $75 at Huckberry

What we liked: “This is the knife when you want to feel confident at the cutting board. Its lighter weight is manageable and not overwhelming; it's also what makes it good for everyday prep,” Rochelle says. Its rounded handle and angled bolster are exceedingly nice to grip. Plus, it deftly sliced and chopped its way through all of our tests. 

What we didn’t like: A newer addition to this list, at $75, it's priced similarly (or higher) to some of our long-standing favorite knives.

Key Specs

• Materials: Composite handle and Japanese high-carbon and stainless steel blade
• Blade length: 8 inches
• Weight: 8.6 ounces
• Good to know: Handle comes in a few colors

The Competition

Chef’s Knives Still Worth Considering

• Mac Knife Professional Hollow Edge Chef's Knife: The Mac Knife Professional Hollow Edge Chef's Knife is a top-notch performer with a high-quality build.
• Tojiro DP Damascus Chef's Knife: This is an attractive Damascus-patterned blade with a great edge. It feels a little clunkier than the Misono and Mac knives but is still an excellent choice.
• Tojiro Dp Gyutou: In general, Tojiro's DP line is among the ones we use most often in the Serious Eats test kitchen: The knives are well made, sharp, and affordable, if just a tiny bit clunky. The Gyutou performed well in all the tests.
• Mercer Culinary MX3 Premium San Mai VG-10 Steel Core Blade: This is the company's stab at a more Japanese-style design. It performed well.
• Shun VB0706 Sora Chef's Knife: This model surprised us: The knife is sharp and easy to use, and moderately priced to boot.
• Mac Chef Series Slicing Chef's Knife: This doesn't feel as sharp or accurate as the other Mac options, but it's the most affordable. Given its reasonable price, it's a worthy option.

Knives We Don’t Recommend

• Made In Chef’s Knife: A handsome knife with a hefty, curved blade, the handle comes in three eye-catching bold colors. Unfortunately, the blade lost its edge after a few short tests, requiring sharpening soon after unboxing.
• Five Two Chef’s Knife: An attractively-priced knife with the aesthetics to match, this knife wins style points. However, we found it challenging to use a rocking motion while cutting vegetables, due to its relatively narrow edge.
• Victorinox Fibrox Pro Chef's Knife: For years, media outlets have recommended the Victorinox Fibrox Pro Chef's Knife as one of the best affordable chef's knives on the market. They're not wrong, but we ultimately couldn't make it one of my top affordable picks, because the price is quite a bit higher than that of several other knives of a comparable quality level.
• Miyabi Kaizen Chef's Knife: The Miyabi Kaizen Chef's Knife was knocked out of the running after consistently falling short due to a blade edge that wasn't nearly sharp enough.
• Messermeister Meridian Elite Chef's Knife: This was disqualified after failing the initial paper-cutting test.
• Sabatier French Forged Stainless Chef Knife: Sabatier is one of the most famed French kitchen knife makers, and decades ago its blades were worthy of the reputation. But its French Forged Stainless Chef Knife had a surprisingly dull edge right out of the box.
• J. A. Henckels International Classic Chef's Knife: This snagged repeatedly on the paper-cutting test.
• Messermeister Four Seasons Chef's Knife: This also wasn't able to successfully slice through a sheet of parchment paper, earning it an early disqualification.
• Wüsthof Pro Cook's Knife: The long handle on the Wüsthof Pro Cook's Knife kept getting in the way, bumping into my forearms as we tried to cut with it. It'd work fine if you held it by the handle only and not at all up on the blade, but that's not how we hold a knife, nor how we’d recommend holding one.
• Rada Cutlery French Chef Knife: This was a particularly poor specimen, with a dull edge and low-quality construction. 
• Shun's DM0706 Classic: This is a good and handsome knife with a very sharp blade but with a heavier handle.
• Wüsthof Classic Uber Cook's Knife: This has a dramatically curved blade belly that we found awkward to use.
• Wüsthof Classic Ikon Cook's Knife: The Wüsthof Classic Ikon Cook's Knife is another knife whose overall quality is good, but the handle design caused it to awkwardly bump our forearms during use.
• Global G-2-8 Chef's Knife: Global knives are a divisive brand: People either love them or hate them. The G-2-8 Chef's Knife felt sluggish when dicing an onion. If you tend to like these knives, though, you'll probably enjoy this one.
• Mac Professional French Chef's Knife: This was a great blade with excellent performance, but Mac has several other offerings that we felt offered more bang for their buck.
• Zwilling J. A. Henckels Twin Four Star II Chef's Knife: This knife performed well on almost all the tests until it was time to cut the carrots, at which point it cracked them repeatedly instead of slicing through them cleanly.
• OXO Good Grips 8-Inch Chef’s Knife: This knife felt cheaply made and lacked a full tang.
• MOSFiATA 8-Inch Professional Chef’s Knife: Another knife that was unbalanced, with the handle/bolster being awkwardly heavy.
• Henckels Solution 8-Inch Chef’s Knife: The plastic handle felt very cheap and the lack of a bolster wasn’t preferred.
• F.N. Sharp Damascus Steel Chef Knife, 8-Inch: This blade felt extremely unbalanced. 

FAQs

What should you use a chef's knife for?

Essentially anything. A well-made chef’s knife is designed to function as a kitchen workhorse. Although some tasks may be easier with specialty knives (slicing tomatoes with a serrated knife or segmenting citrus with a paring knife, for example), your chef’s knife should be nimble enough to handle it all. If you regularly use your knife for heavy-duty tasks (like breaking down whole poultry), it’s worthwhile considering a boning knife for that task. But an occasional Sunday roast chicken won’t drastically dull your chef’s knives.

What's the difference between a cook's knife and a chef's knife?

Technically, nothing. The two terms are used interchangeably to refer to a chef’s knife. Diving deeper, when most Americans use either term, they’re referring to a Western-style chef’s knife.

Do I need a chef's knife and a santoku knife?

We think both are nice to have. A santoku knife is typically shorter than a chef’s knife (about six or seven inches on average). Both are intended to tackle a variety of prep work and chopping tasks. We'll note here that the major difference is not the length. Rather, it’s the shape of the blade. A Western-style chef’s knife, with its upward slope, is ideal for the rock-chop motion favored by some cooks. Santoku knives are fantastic at straight up-and-down chopping. Santokus are also lighter-weight and easier to maneuver—so if your santoku search brings you to a heavy and large blade, keep looking.

How often do you need to sharpen a chef's knife?

At a minimum, your knives should be sharpened at least once a year. More, if you use them every day. Even more, if you regularly prep tough foods like winter squash and root vegetables. If you outsource to a professional (and many home cooks do), make a plan to have them sharpened annually. That said, the benefit of learning how to sharpen your own knives means you can do it whenever you want, in your own kitchen.

What's the best way to store a chef's knife?

Like all knives, the blade of a chef’s knife should be protected. Knife blocks can be bulky, which is why, for most home cooks, we recommend a magnetic knife strip to keep blades free from harm. As a bonus, it also makes for efficient cooking—you can see all of your knives and easily grab the one you need. If you’re set on tucking the knives out of sight, consider a cork-lined drawer insert that will keep the knives snug without jostling.

How should you hold a chef's knife?

There are two main ways to hold a chef's knife: the handle grip and the blade grip. The handle grip has the user wrap their hand around the full part of the handle. However, since most well-made chef's knives have a weight-balance point near the bolster, a lot of professional cooks use the blade grip. This grip has the user pinching the flat side of the blade just over the bolster, giving the user better control and balance.

Should I buy a ceramic chef's knife?

Ceramic knives are, generally, very lightweight, which could be appealing for those who find steel knives too heavy. According to Kyocera, a manufacturer of ceramic knives, ceramic is "chemically inert." This means it "won’t brown foods, won’t transfer a metallic taste or smell, and will never rust," Kyocera says. However, ceramic is more brittle than stainless. Thus, we wouldn't recommend a ceramic knife as a chef's knife/primary knife, but can see it being handy as a utility knife or paring knife.

Why We’re the Experts

• Daniel Gritzer is the senior culinary director of Serious Eats and has worked for the site since 2014. He's a previous restaurant cook, has worked on organic farms, and is responsible for many of your favorite recipes on this very site. He's written a lot of equipment-related content for Serious Eats, including reviews of coffee grinders and cast iron skillets.
• Riddley Gemperlein-Schirm is the associate commerce editorial director of Serious Eats. She’s been with the site since 2021 and previously worked for America’s Test Kitchen, Food52, and EatingWell. She’s written many reviews for the site, including dinnerware sets.
• We tested 33 chef's knives, using them to dice, mince, trim, slice, and more. We also recently tested more chef's knives (which either weren't available at the time of our initial testing or just weren't included), comparing them to our favorites. 
• Most of our top picks have stood up to about six years of consistent evaluation.