How to Choose a Bread Knife

Find the Best Bread Knife For You

Technically speaking, any knife can slice bread. However, there are certain qualities that your knife has to have to make cutting bread faster and more efficient. Shopping for the best bread knife for you can be a bit confusing, because there are lots of choices in the market. However, here are some points to remember when shopping for a new bread knife.

Sharpness

The best bread knife has to be sharp to make slicing through the crust easy. Sharp knives also prevent the bread from shedding too much. Try slicing bread with a dull knife and you will be frustrated easily. It also gets more annoying since your bread “sinks” as you saw through it.

Length

A good bread knife should be long enough to make the sawing motion easy. Try to choose something longer than 7 inches. The best length for a bread knife is around 9 inches.

Serrated or Straight?

This is personal preference, but serrated bread knives were made specifically for bread. The edge makes it easier for you to cut through the bread, so the slices are neater. Serrated knives also preserve the bread’s airiness. It won’t make the bread compress, so you get fluffy bread slices every time. Also, serrated edges don’t dull easily compared to straight edges.
There are many good bread knives out there. Check out affordable brands like Victorinox, Dexter Russel or Orblue. If you can spend more there are brands like Wusthof or Cuisinart.


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Avatar of Ben North

Ben started a twenty year commercial photography career after a blurry stint in the navy. He spent a lot of time losing and breaking knives and other EDC gear on location shoots before starting Nothing But Knives. He has reviewed and tested hundreds of both outdoor and kitchen knives over the course of the last six years, and he was mostly sober while testing and reviewing.

2 thoughts on “How to Choose a Bread Knife”

  1. No discussion on standard or offset handles for bread knives?

    You are missing a golden opportunity to flesh out this tiny article.

    Reply
    • I mean, you’re not wrong. We need to expand this article. I’m just curious about what sequence of events had to happen in your life to make you criticize the absence of off-set handle discussion in a tiny bread knife article.

      Reply

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