10 Best Knife Brands In The World [Types of Kitchen Knives]

July 21, 2022

455

When thoughts turn to the most important tool in the kitchen toolbox, what comes to mind? While garlic press, measuring cups, spoons, graters, scrapers, blenders, spiralizers, and other tools, equipment, and paraphernalia serve their purpose well, you simply cannot do without a set of kitchen knives. That’s where the best knife brands in the world kick in.

What is a Kitchen Knife?

Well, a kitchen knife is a self-explanatory term – a hand-held tool used in the kitchen to dice, slice, peel, mince, and chop fruits, veggies, meat, and more. They come in all shapes and sizes to suit different needs and settings. Besides being versatile, they are ergonomic enough to cater to your comfort and safety while speeding up the food preparation process and enhancing the presentation of meals.

Has that piqued your curiosity? If yes, then read on to know more about the anatomy of the kitchen tool you often take for granted.

Handle:

You grasp the knife by its handle. Quality knives feature comfortable and stable handles that allow for better grip. Interestingly, the tang can replace the handle in designer knives.

Point:

The blade culminates into a pointed part, known as the Point. It allows you to penetrate or score the food surface effortlessly.

Blade:

It’s the portion of the knife that aids in cutting. While steel is widely used to craft a blade, knives with ceramic and plastic blades are also readily available.

Edge:

The sharpened end of the blade cuts into the food surface. The edge can be saw-toothed or straight, depending on the model and type.

Tip:

Think of it as an extension of the edge that lies immediately below the point. The tip makes easy work of delicate chopping and cutting.

Spine:

It’s the knife’s central support structure, imparting it strength and balance. You directly or indirectly apply force on the spine, which is basically the blade’s blunt potion, to execute cutting, chopping, and other functions.

Tang:

It’s a conduit between the blade and the handle that determines the knife’s balance, stability, and resilience. The best knife brands prefer keeping the tang fullish for better performance.

Handle Fasteners:

Manufacturers use fasteners to bond the handle components with the tang. Run-off-the-mill brands, however, skip fasteners to restrict the costs. Instead, they use resin.

Butt:

The handle ends in the butt, which is the farthest part from the point.

Types of Kitchen Knives:

A kitchen knife will be a kitchen knife, regardless of the shape or size, it comes in. However, knowing the type of knife helps you understand how, where, and when to use it to reduce your workload and speed up the preparation process. Here’s your rundown of the variety you can expect.

1. Chef’s Knife

If looking for something versatile, don’t go any further than the Chef’s knife. It distinguishes itself with an expansive and long blade (up to 10 inches) that narrows down towards the tip. The shape helps it to plunge forward and retrieve back on the chopping board, allowing you to cut, chop, and dice, quickly and effortlessly. Thanks to the broader heel, you can take to task meat, chicken, fish, and other foods with thick and hard surfaces. On the downside, chef’s knives aren’t suitable for peeling smaller foods and carving mutton. Despite that, it’s the best bet for both pro and home chefs. Chef Knife, Chefs knife, Chef knife, and Cook’s knife, all mean the same.

2. Carving Knife

Once the cooking is over, carving knives come into the picture. Their slender and long body makes slicing meat, poultry, pork, fish, and other foods easier and quicker. Expect slimmer, tidier, and uniformly cut slices, thanks to the deep recesses on the blades. Also, rely on them for slicing larger fruits and veggies, which are otherwise difficult to handle with a broader knife.

3. Cleaver (Butcher’s Knife)

With a bulky and rectangular body, the cleaver comes in handy for chopping raw meat and preparing it for cooking. Feel free to use the blunt side to mash garlic and other spices. The sheer size, on the downside, makes it unsafe to use, especially for starters. With cleavers coming in different weight and size options, you can choose the one suiting your unique requirements.

4. Boning Knife

The name says it all! You use these knives to chop meat bones, tidy up the cartilage, and get rid of the fish skin prior to cooking. Compact, light, and maneuverable, these knives feature narrow blades that culminate into a pointed tip. Specifications might vary, but these knives measure 6 inches only, making them the shortest options around. Different boning knives are available for different meats.

5. Santoku Bocho Knife

These knives rival chef’s knives when it comes to versatility. They are designed for clean and quick dicing, cutting, and mincing. In fact, Santoku is a Japanese word, translating into “three uses.” A drop point on the lengthy and sharp blade, which thins out a bit towards the tip ensures pinpoint accuracy. Plus, the dimpled blade discourages food from clinging to the knife. If you love cooking fish, the Santoku is a must-have tool.

6. Bread Knife

A bread knife is exactly what it means, a knife used for carving through the bread without spoiling its form. This unique ability comes from the saw-toothed edge, which saws through the surface of any bread. Beagle, baguettes, banana bread, crumpets, cottage loaves, barm cakes, and carrot bread – you name it. Unlike smooth-edged knives, the sizable and serrated blade of a bread knife can pierce through large fruits like melons. You can even substitute these knives for a cake leveler.

7. Utility Knife

Say hello to utility knives – designed for multitasking. These knives resemble the chef’s knife but are leaner and petite. Their design and dimensions make them ideal for slicing and chopping smaller fruits, veggies, other produce, and mutton. A saw-toothed utility knife can also be used for slicing cakes and bread. Even intricate cutting work is a possibility with these knives. So, if you find a chef’s knife too big for certain applications, count on the utility knife to get the job done, efficiently.

8. Paring Knife

Size doesn’t matter, at least for the paring knives. Despite being petite and lean, these knives come equipped with a razor-sharp blade for delicate peeling, mincing, slicing, and chopping. Plus, the sharp tip allows you to dislodge seeds from fruits. The Paring knives are available in both options, smooth and serrated for different applications. The only drawback is their inability to cope with big meat chunks and hard-surfaced vegetables. The rest use cases are well covered.

9. Salmon Knife

Another tool for fish lovers, Salmon knives feature a double edge and an elegant, sharp blade. Some brands even come with indentations on the blade to discourage fish meat from clinging to the knife. The shape translates into effortless fileting and getting rid of the skin, regardless of the fish size. You can rely on the knife to bring precision into slicing works and minimize waste.

10. Tomato Knife

As the name suggests, these are specialized knives for precise tomato slicing and segmenting. Compact and easy to handle, the tomato knives have a saw-toothed edge on a beautifully curved blade. The construction allows you to cut through the soft skin without deforming the tomato.

Cutlery Knives

Knives aren’t just integral to cooking. Rather, they have a purpose to solve on the dining table as well. There’s a suitable term for them, Cutlery Knives. Let’s run you through a few common options.

Dinner knife: Typically made of food-grade stainless steel, these knives sit pretty on virtually every dining table, alongside the spoon and fork. You use them for basic cutting when having your daily meals.
Steak Knife: With a saw-toothed edge and pointed tip, these cool knives come in handy in slicing the meat on your plate to make it ready for consumption. You can use them for burgers as well.
Fish Knife: These knives are designed for fish dishes. Their rounded edge with a sharp blade helps weed out the fish’s skin and bones.
Butter Knife: What could a blunt-edged knife possibly achieve on a dining table? Well, you can vouch for it for buttering bread.

Materials the Best Knife Brands Use

What’s your idea of the best kitchen knives? Perhaps, they have to last long, perform well and be easy and safe to use. Guess what? All these qualities are largely subject to the blade material. When so much depends on the material, it is important to know your options.

Stainless Steel: An overwhelming percentage of kitchen knives endorse food-grade stainless steel. Being durable, strong, easy to maintain and rust and corrosion resistant, they make sense for all settings and applications.
Carbon Steel: The best knife brands often use carbon steel for meat choppers and peeling knives. Carbon steel is more sturdy and resilient to staining than stainless steel. Guess what? The sharpest knife in the world has to be one made of carbon steel. However, these knives can discolor upon regular use.
Ceramic: Made of toughened zirconium dioxide, these knives are ideal for intricate cutting. That’s thanks to their compactness, easy handling, better hygiene standards, and non-magnetic nature. They come in trendy designs and styles to suit all tastes. However, handling is an issue, as they are too brittle.
Titanium: Titanium knives are exceptionally sturdy to endure a lifetime of use and abuse. They can ward off chipping, staining, and decoloring, giving you the best bang for your buck. On the downside, they lack the sharpness of carbon steel knives and the ergonomics of ceramic knives.

Forged vs Stamped: What the Best Knife Brands Prefer

Knife brands craft knives through either forging or stamping. Both manufacturing processes have their share of pros and cons. So, it’s crucial to know what each entails for informed decisions.

Forged Knives: Carved out of a single stainless steel piece, these knives deliver outstanding toughness, longevity, and balance. The forging process involves repeated hammering of the metal plate, followed by the honing and sharpening processes. Eventually, the manufacturer polishes it to render the characteristic shine. The process is manual, accounting for significant time and effort. That reflects in the prices, which are on the higher side. as these knives perform well and last long, they prove to be cost-effective in the long term. Wondering how to identify a forged knife? Well, just examine the portion between the handle and the blade.
Stamped Knives: To start with, the knife brands render the metal sheet the blade shape through stamping equipment. Next, they toughen, sharpen and polish the blade and eventually join it to the handle. Mass-produced, these knives are economical, lighter, and ergonomic than their forged counterparts. However, made out of a thin metal sheet, they lack the resilience, toughness, strength, and durability of the forged knives. Also, they cannot retain their sharpness, requiring frequent sharpening. Worst still, they are prone to breakage.

As evident as it is, any knife brand worth its salt will rely on forging to craft quality knives. That said, Geisser, Victorinox, and other reliable brands are lately coming up with some stunning stamped knives that rival the forged ones on parameters that matter.

Types of Edges: A Key to Finding the Best Knife Brands

How well a kitchen knife performs depends on its edge. While other parts ensure comfort, stability, and support, the edge is responsible for executing virtually all functions of a knife. Cutting, dicing, mincing, slicing, and peeling – you name it. That’s why knowing the types of edges is vital when you are on the market for the world’s best kitchen knife. So, here’s your chance to be in the know.

Straight: From chef’s knives to utility knives, most knives feature consecutive edges. As the name indicates, the edge is smooth and sharp, ideal for a majority of applications. They even call it flat ground edge.
Saw-tooth: Also referred to the as serrated edge, it’s a godsend for slicing mellowed foods like bread and tomato without deforming them. The teeth impart the blade more drag, helping the knife cut through the surface while retaining the cuttable form. You usually find these edges in butter knives.
Scalloped: A scalloped edge comes with indentations, preventing the food from sticking to the knife. A renowned knife brand, Granton came up with this edge, and hence, the nickname – Granton edge. Their use case extends to slimy foods, such as salmon and several veggies. The scalloped edge is evident in popular options like Santoku and salmon.
Hollow Ground: These edges are found on lean blades that thin down at the center. Being too sharp, you need to maintain precautions when using them. When it comes to trade-offs, the hollow ground edge can easily break under slight pressure and/or lose its sharpness. These edges are a defining feature of Japanese knives.

Why do the Best Knife Brands matter, if at all?

The last thing on your mind would be to put up with an inferior kitchen knife. It’s neither comfortable nor safe. That’s where the best knife brands kick in. A top brand is more likely to deliver highly functional, strong, sharp, well-balanced, and durable products. Some brands might even offer warranties to address your quality concerns. Even if the branded knives come with a hefty price tag, their quality makes up for the extra spending. You cannot expect any of this with run-of-the-mill brands. Driven by profits, they cut corners on quality to restrict overheads.

How we arrived at the world’s best knife brands?

The market is replete with knife brands, each claiming to be the best. Handpicking the 10 best knife brands from such a diverse range is a massive undertaking. At Dunia Ka Gyan, we were up to the challenge. Our team of experts scurried through online reviews to shortlist about fifty established and credentialed brands. Next, we ordered their signature offerings across different sizes, styles, edges, materials, weights, and price points for hands-on testing.

Our team spent the next few weeks testing the knives on all parameters that decide purchases. From sharpness, durability, and structural integrity to performance, size, ergonomics, and more, nothing skipped our radar. We went a step ahead to test the special claims made by the brands alongside the upkeep and storage requirements. Upon going through the ordeal, we were able to populate a comprehensive, unbiased list of recommendations, ranked from 1 to 10.

So let us look at the best knife brands in the world that can take your cooking experience to a different level.

10 Best Knife Brands In The World

1. Oishya Sakai Kyuba Knife

These Japanese knives will elevate the joy of cooking to new heights. Skilled Japanese blacksmiths handcraft the blades from quality Japanese VG10, which blends the toughness of carbon steel with the corrosion resistance of stainless steel. They also deliver the razor sharpness that all cooks desire, with a Rockwell Hardness rating of 62.

The handles are crafted from premium-cut European Maple Burl that has been colored blue, brown, or olive green. They’re completely waterproof to prevent germ development and feature an octagonal shape for a secure grip. They are neither too hefty nor too light, allowing for optimal accuracy and control.

Oishya’s stunning design extends to the packaging, which is a handmade, minimalist wooden box with a traditional Japanese picture showing ancient Onna Bugeisha female warriors.