It’s fair to say that a bread knife, even the best bread knife, is a fairly specialized tool. Bread knives aren’t nearly as versatile as chef’s knives—you won’t use them to chop, dice, or mince—but there are a few tasks you’d never want to use anything else for (which is why we consider them one of three pieces of kitchen cutlery you absolutely need in your knife block). There’s no better tool than a razor-sharp serrated knife for slicing bread, sandwiches, or tomatoes. If you don’t agree, just try cutting a fresh baguette without one.
The best bread knives
But not every bread knife is up to the task of slicing crusty bread or delicate produce without ripping apart the soft interior. The best serrated knives tend to have slightly flexible stainless steel blades and are full tang, meaning the metal from the blade runs all the way through the handle. This gives them more balance and stability. Scroll down for our top picks and more on how we chose them.
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When we put over a dozen popular serrated knives to the test, the Mac Professional bread knife impressed us the most. The Japanese brand also makes a chef’s knife and paring knife our staff loves, and this bread knife has a number of well-designed features that set it apart. First, the length of the blade is 10.5 inches (that’s about half an inch longer than most), and that means we were able to slice more in a single stroke with much less effort—a big plus with wider loaves of bread like focaccia. The blade is also significantly thinner than others, and it has a scalloped edge that makes clean slices through even the crustiest boules. While the thin blade makes the knife lighter, testers noted that the light weight doesn’t compromise the knife’s sturdiness. Bon Appétit food director Chris Morocco says the Mac Professional feels unbreakable and incredible to use: “Some bread knives feel about as refined as a buzz saw, but this one is like a bread scalpel. Does that sound weird? Well, it won’t when you slice through your what-are-they-trying-to-prove-to-the-world-with-this-crust sourdough.”
The gentle curve in the blade is perhaps the knife’s most notable detail. In testing, this curve gave a bit of extra leverage when dealing with tough patches of crust on the bottom of a loaf of bread. The biggest drawback of this knife is its hefty price tag—and as with any expensive serrated knife, you’ll want to get it professionally sharpened (more on that below). It’s an investment, but if it fits within your budget, we think it’s a good one.
Knife length: 15.4” | Blade length: 10.5” | Weight: 6.6 ounces
This German-made knife is another pricey blade, but it makes the list here because of its interesting and super effective design. While this one has a 9-inch blade (an inch and a half shorter than the Mac Pro), it’s double serrated, which means it has mini teeth within the larger, scalloped serrations. All those extra sharp points give it better grip on waxy surfaces like the exterior of a tomato and makes for fast, easy slicing. It’s also a knife that asks very little of you—during testing, the double set of serrations cut through hard crust with very little exertion from the tester and produced such thin slices of tomato that we could see right through them. Chris says this knife is nearly indestructible, and senior commerce editor Noah Kaufman calls it a dream to use. One final advantage of a double serrated blade: because there are more of them, each individual serration will wear less, so the knife stays sharper for longer. Do note: though the double serrated knife is part of the Wusthof Classic series (defined by the shape of the handle and the bolster, as well as the hardness of the steel), this is not the bread knife that you’ll get if you buy the Classic knife set. That one has a more typical, single serrated design.
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