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The chef's knife is the indispensable multi-tool of the kitchen. It slices, it dices. It minces, juliennes and de-bones. But it also goes well beyond its intended uses. Need to open a bag of spinach? Break the seal on your sous vide salmon? Pop the cap off a beer? You're covered.
We tested eight knives over three weeks, selecting the most popular models and pinging chef friends for their personal recommendations. 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. Like all great designs, the chef's knife is simple, and its wide-ranging utility might account for its basic shape remaining relatively unchanged over the years. There have been small innovations: new metals, better handle design, some blades roll a bit more, some are thicker, others thinner. But the standard prevails: a slim, 8-inch triangular blade with a curved cutting edge and a heel tall enough to pinch tightly.
There's no best knife for everyone. The size of your hands, how you hold the knife, and what you tend to do most in the kitchen determine things like which handle type is preferable, and what weight you'll need. The less-obvious traits, like upkeep requirements and how well the knife holds an edge over time, set the great knives apart from the mediocre, and should be considered by every buyer.
Photos by Ariel Zambelich/Wired
