‘Buy this, and you’ll be set for life’: the best (and worst) chef’s knives – tested
They say you’re either in your bed or in your shoes, so they’re both worth splashing out on. In the kitchen, the same applies to your knife. But, says Ben Lippett, it’s not as if one size fits all
A great chef’s knife is less a tool and more an extension of the person holding it. In the kitchen, your knife effectively becomes your right (or left) hand. Balance equals control; good steel spells confidence and longevity; a sharp edge means ease.
I’ve put a handful of knives through the only trials that matter: shallots diced to translucence, tomatoes sliced gossamer thin, herbs chiffonaded to perfume. I’m looking past marketing into geometry, materials, grind and ultimately how each knife feels – at minute one and hour 10. Does it bite eagerly, or wedge and bruise? How does it feel in your hand – is it perfectly balanced or too blade-heavy? Does it sing on the board, or thud? Will this knife need lots of TLC, or will it look after itself?
Here are my sharp, unsentimental findings on performance, longevity, comfort and value, so you know exactly where to spend your cash.
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At a glance
Best chef’s knife overall:
Wüsthof classic chef knife, 20cm
Best budget knife:
Victorinox Fibrox chef’s knife, 20cm
Best workhorse western-style knife:
Sabatier cook’s knife, 25cm
Best small chef’s knife:
Robert Welch signature cook’s knife, 14cm
Best Japanese-style knife:
Allday Goods Maldon santoku knife, 16cm
Best investment knife:
Blenheim Forge santoku knife, 17.5cm
Best knife for beginners:
Opinel N°118 chief multipurpose parallèle
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Why you should trust me
I’ve put in my 10,000 hours at the chopping board and have a long-lasting relationship with my beloved knives. I’ve spent a decade cooking professionally and analysing ingredients, technique and equipment across the UK, Australia and the US with a critical eye. I’ve written a bestselling cookbook that maps out essential kitchen techniques and tools. But most importantly, I’m opinionated. I know what I like, and I’m not a sucker for style over substance.
The goal of this exercise was to sniff out the best chef’s knife for the home cook: a piece of equipment that will elevate your kitchen experience, not just look good in an Instagram picture. What’s crucial to remember is that a good knife isn’t just for Christmas: if you spend your money wisely, it can be a lifelong, fulfilling partnership (romantic!).
How I tested
I tested 14 knives over a fortnight, making sure I gave them all a fair shot at cooking a couple of meals – midweek pastas, easy braises, some light butchery for Sunday lunch, as well as more menial tasks such as chopping fruit for snacks. I incorporated fish filleting into my dinner plans alongside controlled tests such as chopping chives and taking on waxy-skinned tomatoes. As I work and cook a lot from home, constantly testing recipes, I could really put these knives through their paces.
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The best chef’s knives in 2026
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<em>Best chef’s knife overall:</em>Wüsthof classic chef knife, 20cm
- What we love:A razor-sharp, long-lasting knife for cooks at any level
- What we don’t love:Nothing
★★★★★
This one ticks every single box. It feels fantastic in your hand, with a convincing, balanced heft that feels top quality. It’s a reasonable price, and comes with a mean edge that makes short work of shallots, chives, chicken and stubborn root veggies.
Why we love it
The western-style blade is perfect for beginners learning to rock chop, as well as deft hands wanting to get stuck into more precise butchery tasks. It has a reassuring heft to it that convinces you it’s here to stay. Buy this knife, keep it sharp, and you’ll be set for life.
It’s a shame that … you didn’t find out sooner.
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<em>Best budget knife:</em>Victorinox Fibrox chef’s knife, 20cm
- What we love:A very solid all-rounder at an undeniably good price
- What we don’t love:The plastic handle could use a bit of a glow-up
★★★★☆
I used this knife at the start of my cooking career and swear by it. The blade is razor sharp and well balanced.
Why we love it
The edge doesn’t last as long as more expensive models, but it’s easy to sharpen, and the blade is nice and tall, giving plenty of space between your hand and the board. The slim blade makes short work of ingredients such as shallots, chicken thighs and courgettes, but after a while, you start to feel where the brand cuts corners. While it feels good in the hand, the handle is a lower-quality plastic, which leaves a little to be desired in terms of comfort. Overall, it’s the perfect knife for a limited budget and a great first chef’s knife.
It’s a shame that … the handle could be more comfortable.
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<em>Best workhorse western-style knife:</em>Sabatier cook’s knife, 25cm
- What we love:A bulletproof blade that’ll chew through anything
- What we don’t love:It’s heavy and a little cumbersome
★★★★☆
This is about as classic a western-style knife as you can find, with a long, gently curved blade designed for rocking back and forth on a chopping board. It has a thick spine and a heavy profile that will slice through anything you throw at it. It’s a true workhorse, perfect for the budding chef ready to take on some serious chopping.
Why we love it
The construction is easily the most solid of the lot, making short work of thick-skinned pumpkin. It’s heavy and feels fantastic in-hand, with a generous, thick blade and guard. Nothing the home cook could throw at this knife would seriously dent, chip or damage the edge. If you’re looking for a knife that requires minimal maintenance, this is the one for you.
It’s a shame that … the model I tested was enormous at a generous 25cm and a little unwieldy, making it less suitable for more delicate tasks or precise cuts.
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<em>Best small chef’s knife:</em>Robert Welch signature cook’s knife, 14cm
- What we love:Ergonomically designed for effortless rocking action
- What we don’t love:The edge is very coarse and bites into a wooden board
★★★☆☆
This knife carries an ergonomic design from the handle through to the blade, gently curved on both sides for ultimate comfort. Sure, it’s comfy, but at what cost? Sacrifices are made to facilitate the ergonomics of this knife, rendering it a comfy but limiting purchase.
Why we love it
With a more petite, curved geometry, it’s a great beginner’s buy for those learning to chop without the knife leaving the board – that classic rocking motion you see chefs pulling off at lightning speed. The smaller blade is nimble and performs well on more delicate vegetables and cutting citrus.
It’s a shame that … this knife will struggle with larger produce and the edge, while sharp, is coarse and biting out of the box.
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<em>Best Japanese-style knife:</em>Allday Goods Maldon santoku knife, 16cm
- What we love:Made from recycled plastics with a high-quality blade
- What we don’t love:The balance isn’t quite right for an all-rounder
★★★★☆
I really like this knife and it’s the standout from the Japanese-style knives I tested. From a relatively small maker, this santoku knife is made from a high-quality steel with an easy-on-the-eye recycled plastic handle.
Why we love it
It’s light, nimble and has a fantastic edge. I used this to fillet a fish, and it was sublime. As its handle is on the lighter side, however, it’ll be a chore to chew through larger, more stubborn produce.
It’s a shame that … it doesn’t carry the heft of a solid all-rounder. As with other Japanese-style chef’s knives, it’s geared towards more delicate work.
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<em>Best investment knife:</em>Blenheim Forge santoku knife, 17.5cm
- What we love:A piece of true craftsmanship
- What we don’t love:The fairly eye-watering price
★★★★★
This is for the knife nerds. It’s an absolutely beautiful piece of craftsmanship and a stunning knife to use – perfectly balanced, with a blade made of Japanese steel and a handle of walnut and copper.
Why we love it
Hand-forged in south-east London, each knife feels extra special. This is for serious cooks looking for a serious knife. The price is punchy, but if it’s an investment knife you’re after, this is for you. Perfect for delicate tasks such as chiffonading mint, as well as clicking through the rib bones of a sea bass, it’s a joy to use.
It’s a shame that … it’ll require plenty of TLC to keep it in tip-top condition and regular sharpening and honing.
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<em>Best knife for beginners:</em>Opinel N°118 chief multipurpose parallèle
- What we love:A great knife for the beginner
- What we don’t love:It lacks the heft required for confident cutting
★★★☆☆
I bought this for my sister as an entry-level chef’s knife. It’s cheap and cheerful, made from steel that’s high quality for the price, and its handle is simple and comfortable.
Why we love it
The geometry encourages careful, considered chopping, with a gentle curve, allowing the user to gently rock back and forth without lifting up into the finger-slicing danger zone. Making a tomato salad was a breeze with this knife.
It’s a shame that … it hasn’t got the best balance: the handle lacks heft, and heft means confidence.
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The rest of the test (from best to worst)
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Messermeister Blacksmith chef’s knife, 20cm
★★★★☆
A fantastic knife, and one that can challenge the Wüsthof for best all-rounder. A solid, well-balanced construction with an excellent out-of-the-box edge. It was just pipped to the post of overall winner by the Wüsthof.
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Katto chef’s knife, 20cm
★★★☆☆
A great knife straight out of the box. The blade feels solid and holds an edge really well. The handle leaves a little to be desired, though: I fear it wouldn’t age well.
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John Lewis Professional chef’s knife, 20cm
★★★☆☆
A surprisingly good knife for the price and a pretty solid buy. It would make for a good first knife, but the Victorinox is a similar price and the quality far superior.
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Kai Shun classic chef’s knife, 15cm
★★☆☆☆
This knife feels a little delicate, so I’d be nervous to use it on sturdy root veg or on chicken butchery for fear of chipping the blade. At such a high price, I want a better all-rounder.
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Season S1 chef’s knife, 16cm
★★☆☆☆
Style over substance. The blade looks the business, but doesn’t feel good in the hand. The balance is a little off, with the blade tipping forward in the hand. After just a few hours of use, the edge is beginning to dull.
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Tefal Jamie Oliver chef knife, 20cm
★★☆☆☆
The price doesn’t lie – a knife this cheap feels just that. My instinct is that it’ll be dull within a month of proper use.
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Nisbets Essentials chef knife black, 20cm
★☆☆☆☆
Just don’t bother: it’s landfill for sale.
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What I learned
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The perfect knife is down to the eye of the beholder; it must be right for you. All I can do is nudge you towards what I think makes a good knife. The best knife for you is that perfect Goldilocks blend of a robust, sharp blade and a handle that fits into your palm beautifully.
The only way to figure this out is to get yourself down to a knife shop and ask to test-drive different models. Sure, in the age of “add to basket”, that’s more work, but I promise you it’ll be worth it. They say you’re either in your bed or in your shoes, so spend money on both. In the kitchen, you’re in your shoes and using your knife, so spend money on that, too.
Decide if you want western vs Japanese-style
This is a sensible place to start, and you’ll strike off more than half of the players on the board. It’s an aesthetic choice, as well as one that will determine handle style and blade geometry.
Work out how you like to chop. If the tip of your knife never leaves the board, the blade rocking backwards and forwards against your ingredients, then it’s the western knife for you. If you’re more accustomed to a more freeform chopping technique, or simply want to learn some more advanced techniques, perhaps look towards the Japanese-style blades.
Consider your cooking tasks and a wider collection
If you’re planning a spartan collection of just two or three core knives, you should lean towards a knife that can do it all. For most home cooks, a do-it-all chef’s knife like the Wüsthof, a small, nifty paring knife and a high-quality serrated bread knife will complete almost any task. If you’re planning a more generous collection, including boning knives, filleting blades, and petty or utility knives, then you can afford to lean into a more specialist chef knife, such as the Allday Goods one or the Sabatier.
The handle is everything
It’s all about comfort. There’s no use having a wickedly sharp, fancy knife that you don’t like to hold. If you’re spending a lazy Sunday cooking, you might spend a few hours holding your knife. The last thing you want is cramp, calluses or any other little niggles that come with an ill-fitting handle. Get to the shop and hold some knives! A well-fitting handle will encourage better balance between you and the knife, and between the handle and the blade.
Size matters
Some blades are just too big for day-to-day use, and if a blade is too small, it will be equally frustrating when it meets a Goliath-like squash. I find that blade length correlates well with the user’s hand size. If you’ve got great big mitts, look for something north of the 20cm mark; if you’ve got smaller paws, look for something more petite. It’s widely accepted that the optimal all-rounder chef’s knife’s blade length sits at 20cm, so do with that what you will.
Be wary of style over substance
Don’t magpie your way to a knife that isn’t right for you. If you want a knife to leave out on your counter for clout, then I’d recommend a Damascus forged knife. But for my money, they’re style over substance. The blades, unless made exceptionally well, don’t hold an edge for long, are very brittle and prone to chipping and can rust and stain easily. If you’re very serious about knife care, then this is completely fine and to be expected and embraced. If, like me, you’re not that into wiping your knife down with mineral oil after every slice, maybe go for something stainless. When you hit the knife shop, remember your mission and don’t get distracted by shiny things.
My top three buying tips
• Figure out your budget – how much do you really want to spend on a knife?
• Consider your tasks and collection – does this knife need to do it all?
• Go to a shop to try some knives out – it’s the only way.
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What to look for in a knife
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Sharpness: the knife’s sharpness when it’s box-fresh is a great tell for how it will perform over time. But it’s not really a case of whether they’re sharp or not – they’re all sharp – it’s the kind of sharp they are. A harsh, low-quality edge might feel sharp to begin with, but it won’t stand the test of time. Is the edge smooth and supple, or coarse and jagged? Does it glide through ingredients, or cleave?
You can test this by carefully running your thumb against the flat edge of the knife, feeling for burrs or imperfections. A top-quality knife will have a consistent, smooth edge from tip to heel and will easily glide through produce without biting stubbornly into a board.
General feel and handling: this is perhaps the most important, and most subjective, element in choosing the best knife for you. It’s of paramount importance that, when you pick up a knife, it feels comfortable and well balanced in your hand. You’ll spend hours with it, so ideally it should feel like an extension of yourself, rather than that you’re holding on to a knife. I looked for knives that were perfectly balanced between blade and handle.
Blade geometry: again, this is subjective. However, I wanted to rate these knives and how they perform by taking into account the curve of the blade in western-style blades and the straighter edge of the Japanese counterparts. There are a couple here that blur the lines and present a more hybrid geometry, too.
How it handles produce: in professional kitchens, this is the ultimate test. How well a knife can handle a delicate task, such as finely slicing chives or biting into the taut skin of a tomato, is a big “flex”. If it can also split a pumpkin or squash in half without chipping or losing its edge, then you’re really on to a winner. Sure, you could have a knife for each task, but if you can find one that does both, that’s a smart way to spend your money.
Longevity and care: I could only test this to an extent, but I got a good sense of which knives would fare well over longer periods based on a combination of the above and the materials used to make the blade and handle.
Price: it’s all about landing yourself a brilliant knife without breaking the bank.
Ben Lippett is a London-based chef, recipe developer and bestselling food writer known for his accessible “no-nonsense” home cooking style. With an audience of millions across social media (@dinnerbyben), he is recognised for his role as an authority on breaking down complex, professional kitchen techniques into fun, achievable recipes for, as he describes it, “really good home cooking”
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Knife care: classic dos and don’ts
Knife specialist Helen Symonds gets to the point
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Use with care
If you wouldn’t bite it with your teeth, don’t try to cut it with your best kitchen knife. No stones, no bones and no frozen food; nothing woody, gritty or gristly. Using a knife beyond its capabilities risks, at best, blunting the blade and, at worst, chipping it. If you want to cut through chicken bones, invest in a butchery cleaver designed for the job, with more weight and an obtuse grind. Think of your knife as a precision tool rather than a cut-all machete for opening your Vinted parcels.
I’d also suggest having a “beater knife”: an older, tougher and cheaper blade that you can use for any gnarly pumpkin carving, lobster prep or rosemary bush-trimming. Using this for any tougher tasks will help preserve your best knife. This beater knife is also the one to lend to flatmates or the uninitiated.
Chopping boards
Be sensible not only with what you cut, but also what you cut on. Always cut on a board, and make sure that it’s decent-quality wood, plastic or compressed rubber. Our absolute favourites are the Asahi boards for their structural longevity and kindness to knife edges. Anything stainless steel or glass is a big no-no: not only will it blunt your knife, but it will also sound horrific. Bamboo is also too hard and aggressive.
Cleaning
The most important rule of all: no dishwasher. Ever. Not even quickly. The water will blunt the blade, and the heat will weaken any glue used in the handle and generally trash it. Instead, clean lightly. Under a tap, tip the knife down to prevent water running back into the handle, give it a quick scrub, dry it and put it away. Don’t submerge it in your washing-up bowl or leave it on the drying rack.
Storage
Best practice is to store your knife on a magnetic rack – preferably one with a cork or wood finish to protect the edge. I’m not a massive fan of knife blocks where the blade is inserted, as the knife can rest on the edge or catch it when put in and taken out. The block itself is a potential receptacle for all sorts of kitchen grot, too. If space is at a premium, it works to rest the knife in its box in a drawer when you’re not using it (note: not rattling around, clashing with your potato masher and ready to jam that drawer shut for all eternity). Show any wooden handles love from time to time by oiling with food-safe oil.
Sharpening
Sharpening on a whetstone allows you to sharpen the length of the blade evenly. It requires a certain amount of manual dexterity, but it’s an excellent life skill. I’m not a big fan of most gadgets or pull-through sharpeners as they tend to be imprecise, severe and expensive. Metal steels are also generally too harsh for Japanese steel and, unless used with real precision, won’t sharpen the length of the knife evenly.
Sharpen your knives little and often. Think of it as a meditative reset similar to shining your shoes or emptying your inbox. It’s quicker to keep on top of your knife’s sharpness month by month, stropping (polishing) on leather or newspaper in between, than to revive a truly dull blade.
Repair
If you’ve accidentally chipped or bent the blade or the handle has come loose, this can be successfully repaired for most good-quality blades, and Japanese handles can be reset. Most things are repairable if you get to it quickly: you will lose some metal from the blade, but it will be back to new.
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Helen Symonds is co-founder of knife emporium Kitchen Provisions, London
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