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The best steak knives bring some luxury to the dinner table; there’s something special about pulling a set from their jewel box–like container and placing them on the table. They signify special occasions, romantic evenings, and family dinners.
If you are in the market for a good set of steak knives, you might be overwhelmed by the number of options out there—and the wide range of their price points. This is where we come in. Adding to our list of knife tests, we set out to find the best steak knives, whether you plan to use them regularly or for special occasions. We researched, reading online reviews from competitor sites and home cooks before putting 19 steak knives to the test. Read below to find the best steak knives; for details about our testing process, scroll to the bottom of the page.
The best budget steak knives: Chicago Cutlery Insignia Steel Steak Knife
This knife was one of the sharpest we tested out of the box—it was the best of the knives in its price bracket and performed nearly as well as the most expensive knives in our test. We found the knife an absolute delight to use thanks to its relatively lightweight and ergonomic handle and its ultrasharp blade. The handle has a thoughtful curved design that fits the contours of your hand; it was the most comfortable knife of the bunch to hold. Chicago Cutlery’s wood-handled version gets high marks on other review sites, but we liked the sleek, modern design of the all-stainless-steel version. At around $35 for a set of four at the time of writing, this is a pretty spectacular set of knives that won’t break the bank.
The best luxury steak knives: Shun Shima Natural Steak Knives
These were by far the sharpest knives we tested; they cut through pork chops like butter, leaving a clean, smooth slice with no jagged edges. They slice with lethal precision, but they are also quite gorgeous, with beautifully carved wenge wood handles and reflective blades that retain their luster even after slicing through a pork chop. These knives are perhaps sharper than they need to be for their given job, which is also what makes them a little exciting to use.
How we tested the steak knives
First, we gauged how sharp each knife was out of the box by striking and slicing through the edge of a piece of printer paper. Sharp knives were able to make clean slices through paper without snagging or tearing. Striking versus slicing the edge separates the great knives from the good; only the sharpest knives can make a clean cut with a quick strike without crumpling the edge of the paper. After that, we tested the knives’ cutting abilities on a pile of baked pork chops. We also made notes on the feel, shape, and look.
Factors we evaluated
A steak knife’s job is to cut meat, so the primary thing we looked for was a knife that could comfortably, cleanly slice through our pork chops. We paid attention to the amount of effort required on our part: Did we need to exert a lot of force or saw back and forth endlessly? We tested both straightedge and serrated steak knives and ultimately found that we preferred the straightedge varieties better than the serrated options. A knife that’s sharp enough doesn’t need a serrated edge to cut well, and only the most expensive serrated knife was able to slice without shredding the meat in the process.
While testing, we paid attention to how the knife felt in our hands: the weight distribution between the handle and blade, and if it was comfortable to grip. Since weight in a knife is largely a subjective preference, we didn’t want to place too much emphasis on that in our judgment; instead, we focused on the knife’s balance. However, in general, we found that we preferred medium to lightweight knives over heavier ones and think that’s the best weight range for most home cooks.
Since steak knives are often a special occasion knife, brought out for celebrations and dinner parties (in non-COVID-19 times, of course), we considered their appearance in addition to their performance. This is, again, an entirely subjective metric, so we ultimately placed more emphasis on performance.
Other knives we tested
We tested three knives by Opinel. Both the Bon Appetit straight and micro-serrated knives cut well enough, but their biggest draw is probably the variety of colors they come in. The brand’s Premium steak knives didn’t impress us—they were much more expensive but didn’t perform any better than the standard models.
We tested the affordable Classic Gourmet knife from Swiss company Victorinox as well as its luxury Grand Maître straight and wavy edge knives. The Classic Gourmet was cheap and flimsy and, frankly, overpriced for the quality. Both Grand Maître knives, however, were superbly sharp—though not quite as sharp as the winning Shun.
The Dalstrong Gladiator Series knives were some of the showiest and heaviest of the bunch, with middle-of-the-road sharpness no less. We weren’t huge fans of the serrated knife because it tore the edges of our pork chop, but the straightedge knife might appeal to those looking for a weighty, ostentatious set.
The Cuisinart Triple Rivet steak knives are some of the most inexpensive we tested. They don’t look terrible, but they required a lot of sawing and left us with meat that looked the worse for wear.
The Calphalon Select steak knives performed a bit better than the other serrated options but weren’t anything special. We did like the shape of the handle, though, and at $36 for a set of eight, these are reasonably priced knives for the quality.
The straightedge Avanta knives by Messermeister are excellent. We would recommend them highly as a mid-tier option, but they didn’t win our test because we felt the Chicago Cutlery set achieved the same results at a lower price. Pass on the serrated variety from this brand, though.
The Wüsthof Gourmet steak knives performed superbly as well; again, we only chose Chicago Cutlery’s over them because of their lower price. On a visual note, we found the red logo on the handle to be a bit of an eyesore.
We tested a few knives from Zwilling. On the low end of the price range, the Ballarini Brenta performed deceptively well on the paper test but didn’t deliver at all when it came time to cut meat. The Henckels Forged Accent knives were a middle-of-the-road performer for a middle-of-the-road price. On the high end, both the Zwilling Porterhouse and the Zwilling Pro steak knife were in our top five, but they weren’t the sharpest of the luxury options. Looks-wise, the Porterhouse was our personal favorite.
Takeaway
If you’re searching for a steak knife but aren’t looking to spend a lot, the Chicago Cutlery knives are without a doubt the best bang for your buck. For a more luxurious, high-style option (that’s also razor-sharp), the Shun knives are a worthy upgrade. If you’re shopping primarily with aesthetics in mind and you like the look of the Porterhouse from Zwilling or Victorinox’s Grand Maître pair, their performance is also top-notch.
