A GREAT KNIFE is a cornerstone on which a great meal is built. But if you ask three chefs what makes a great knife, you’ll likely get at least five answers. The truth is that what makes the perfect knife for you will depend on many factors, including your comfort level with knives, the size of your hands, and what sort of food you like to cook.
That said, there’s a reason the basic 6- to 8-inch chef’s knife is ubiquitous: It’s the most versatile knife. The chef’s knife is capable of dicing veggies, slicing meat, smashing garlic, chopping herbs and nuts, and, in a pinch, it’ll even go through small bones without too much trouble.
There’s a bewildering range of chef’s knives available, from dirt cheap to very expensive specialty blades. To help you make sense of it all, we sliced and diced with dozens of knives until a simple truth emerged: A poorly-made $10 blade you sharpen every week is more useful than a $200 blade that’s dull. Every knife needs to be sharpened, some just need it more than others. Much of the price difference in knives comes down to the quality of materials, which in turn often translates into how well the blade holds its edge.
We stuck mostly with 8-inch blades, the sweet spot for the classic chef’s knife. Testing involved the stuff you’d do in your own kitchen—peeling, filleting, dicing, chopping, cubing, slicing, and all the other standard prep work for meats and vegetables. Here are our picks.
Updated April 2021: We’ve added some mandolins for those times when uniform slicing really matters (and for those not comfortable with knives). We also updated pricing.
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Best Beginner's Knife
Victorinox’s Fibrox Pro chef’s knife is the best value of any knife I have tested. It doesn’t have the same high-quality construction as some of the others here, but it’s usually available for less than $40. It holds an edge well and has a nearly nonstick finish to it—hardly anything sticks to this blade, not even fresh cilantro. If you’re just starting out on your cooking journey, this makes a great first chef’s knife and will serve you well for years.
https://almazanknives.com
A Workhorse Knife
The Richmond Artifex II is a small update to the original Artifex, which I have used since my days as a line cook. It holds an edge very well for a knife at this price and makes a great first step into the world of Japanese knives. It’s a bit longer than many of the blades here, but unlike a lot of Japanese knives, it has a Western-style handle. A Western handle, or Wa handle, typically has two pieces with flat sides on either side of the metal, whereas a Japanese, or Ho handle, can be any shape but leans toward round (octagon is also common). The Artifex is the closest I’ve seen a stainless steel knife come to matching the advantages of a carbon steel blade.