I use the Mercer Culinary Millennia Bread Knife. It was on an America's Test Kitchen video where they tested a bunch of bread knives—this one won and it was the cheapest! I love it.
This is the one I use. I love it. All my other knives are Victorinox Fibrox, but the bread knife was stupid expensive. This one does a great job. Super sharp and great for thick crusted heritage breads like this.
Mercer Culinary M23210 Millennia... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000PS1HS6?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share
I have this bread Knife.
Mercer Culinary Millennia Wide Wavy Edge Bread Knife, 10-Inch, Black https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000PS1HS6/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_apip_A8qYnF3pdE6Of
My brother worked for an Outback Steakhouse and it’s what they used. I also have a Henkel one that tried to cut my finger off. It’s prettier to look at but I don’t like it nearly as much.
The Mercer Culinary Millennia 10” bread knife.
As tested by America’s test kitchen, and I can confirm this is an amazingly awesome bread knife for the price! I love it so much, it has replaced a much more expensive henckels knife that I previously used.
Check this out: Mercer Culinary M23210 Millennia 10-Inch Wide Wavy Edge Bread Knife
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000PS1HS6/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_awdb_t1_86QLCb4VQ31M0
Yes. This Knife is the one I have and was identified as the best bread knife by America's Test Kitchen, and is under $20!
Definitely invest in a quality bread knife. Doesn’t have to be expensive, like this one I recently purchased totally changed my bread game, as like yourself was having a hard time making nice slices. I also started baking an extra 3 minutes to get a firmer product.
Pro pastry chef here.
Serrated blades are a pain to sharpen. So - practically - they are a “use ‘em up, toss ‘em out” knife.
Buy a good quality knife with a comfortable ergonomic handle. 10” is a good size to start.
Something like this Mercer is a good buy. For home use with bread, it will last many years.
I got my sister the America’s Test Kitchen winner—the Mercer Culinary M23210 Millennia 10-Inch Wide Wavy Edge Bread Knife—for $24, and she really likes it.
Bread looks great, but you need a better knife. It shouldn't be that difficult and time-consuming to get an even slice
Ears are pretty, then annoying. Get a long sharp bread knife, it will change your life. This was the best $23 bucks I've spent. Absolutely love this knife.
Definitely use a serrated knife , the reason you don’t want to use just a blade is because you’ll have to apply more pressure to the meat than you would need to with a serrated knife . Blades knife squish the meat and let’s out a lot of moisture that you want to keep inside .
Here is a link to the knife I use myself . Works like a charm meant for bread but works better on brisket :) Not that expensive either !
Keep doing what you are doing. If there is a way to rate your experience, be sure to leave a note about the bread. In the meantime, here is an awesome bread knifr.
Keep doing what you are doing. If there is a way to rate your experience, be sure to leave a note about not getting sliced bread. Also, here is a link to an awesome bread knife
My girlfriend bought me this knife as a gift. It does not look much, but might as well be a glowing red knife cutting through butter. My biggest complaint, and everyone I gave a loaf too, was how tough to cut my loaves were. But i did not want to sacrifice the awesome crust. Seriously a game changer and makes me question why everyone has such bullshit bread knives.
Why in Bourdain's name would anyone spend that kind of money on a bread knife? I have beaten the shit out of a £13 Mercer in professional kitchens for a decade and it still works a charm.
From that picture, it just looks like your basic mercer/sysco bread knife. https://www.amazon.com/Mercer-Culinary-Millennia-10-Inch-Bread/dp/B000PS1HS6?th=1&psc=1 Correct me if I'm wrong but most serrated knives are single bevel. I think there's only a few double bevel serrated knives.. I think by wusthof or zwilling or henckels. Can't remember
Just get a serrated deli knife, aka bread or sandwich knife.
Purists will insist on a chef knife made of the finest steel, but the reality is that you'll find these workhorses in just about any deli or sandwich shop you walk into, because they'll cut anything, are stupid-easy to use, and last forever.
Victorinox Fibrox handle knives are great for the money. However, I love this bread knife. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000PS1HS6/ref=oh_aui_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I agree. I also have a Wusthoff bread knife which is fine, but this one actually does a better job at cleanly getting through crusty sourdough than my Wusthoff ever did.
Those are two separate knives.
You want a serrated bread knife for both bread and cakes. I recommend the Mercer.
For slicing meat, you want a long, straight-edge with a granton blade, something like this.
Check out America's as test kitchen review. They do excellent and very thorough product reviews.
https://www.americastestkitchen.com/articles/420-how-to-build-the-best-knife-set
TL;DR: Mercer Culinary Millennia 10-Inch Wide Bread Knife, available at Amazon
Reminds me of our bread knife.
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https://www.amazon.com/Mercer-Culinary-M23210-Millennia-10-Inch/dp/B000PS1HS6
I recently purchased a Mercer bread knife on Amazon, and I love it! It works really well with crusty bread and large boules. Here's a link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000PS1HS6/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_4pW2BbNPACA2E
TLDR: I made a shopping list at the end.
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I think most people who are serious about having a good set of knives would advise you to not actually buy knives in a set. It is useful to keep in mind that most knife sets, especially at your budget range or lower priced, are sets for marketing reasons and not a value buy. Certain traits like the number of items included in the set make them seem like you are getting a lot of items for your money, and then shortcuts are taken to increase the number of items versus the quality items. This is a marketing trick. It sounds like you are getting more value the higher the number of stated pieces there are.
For example of typical cost saving shortcuts used in sets: you typically want a bread knife to be 9 or 10 inches, or a 8 inch chef's knife, but shorter lengths will be typical when in a set. You probably don't need to be concerned about having the 6 or 8 steak knives of low quality (again, to increase the number of pieces in the set to make it seem like a good value). In fact, just 3 or 4 high quality knives will perform everything you need of them. For the most part, you can get by on 90% or 95% of what you might do with just a workhorse chef's knife if you need to.
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My recommended path therefore is to build your own set. This also has the benefit of letting you pick and choose for each specific piece rather than being locked into one brand or one style, and can allow you to budget things out to pick up a quality piece when you can afford it rather than thinking you should have everything all at once.
In order of how you should acquire your pieces:
First, knives are tools that are subject to degradation in performance as they are used. It is important that you mitigate this by investing in protecting the edge of the knife when not in use and that you are able to regularly maintain the edge. You will want either a good wood block or knife edge guards or a good drawer holder to keep your knives safe from non-use related damage. I would lean towards definitely having a wood block or wood drawer holder. It is probably worth planning for the future here, so get what you need. This item should last for a long time so the money will not be wasted.
Look for something that will hold everything you eventually need. Make sure there is a slot that will hold a honing rod. You might want a kitchen shears in the future, so a slot for that is good, too. Ideally, there will be more than one slot that will handle a larger knife (2 inch wide or larger, for more than one chef's knife, santoku, etc.) and if it is an angle block the high positions will be long enough for 10 inch or longer knives. I really like the 17 slot options from cutlery and more. These are normally $50 or so, but can go on sale multiple times per year. Again - this will last you for your lifetime so find what you want for your ultimate plan and go for it.
Again, since it is not worth having a knife that doesn't work, you will need to maintain the edge. You do not need to be an expert sharpener, as you can find this as a service, but regular honing is a good way to only need this service maybe once or twice per year. Keep in mind that a sharp knife is safer than a dull knife, because you can stay in control and not need to use excess force with a sharp knife. An ER visit because of a dull knife will cost a lot more than what you spend on a good knife that can be kept sharp. You can shop around for this, but I would still look for something of quality. The Shun honing steel has a nice feature where it has a built in angle guide (this is at 16 degrees, but that is very close to common for a lot of knives).
So now that you are finally ready to look at knives, you want to start out worried only about 3 good knives: A chef's knife, a bread knife, and a paring knife. You do not need to spend a lot on the bread or paring knives to get you going, in fact some of the options at low price ranges for these are really good performers.
For a bread knife, the Mercer Millennia 10 inch wavy can be found for about $15. (as mentioned before, you'd likely get a shorter length in a normal set in a big box store). For a paring knife, a Victorinox 3.25 inch will be just a few dollars. It's nothing fancy and perhaps the handle seems small and thin, but for getting going this works great.
The chef's knife will be your main workhorse, easily taking care of 90% or more of what you are doing in the kitchen. It is very worthwhile to invest in this piece.
It is also worthwhile, in my opinion, to have more than one chef's knife (or mix with other workhorse knives, i.e. a nakiri or santoku, etc.). I would recommend making a long term plan to save for a quality piece in this category eventually (and with my approach of your knife block being able to handle more than one of a main type of knife you will not need to worry about storing it safely). Eventually you might want to look at the $130+ options in this category, but that is for the future.
In the meantime, with the budget range, I would go for the Victorinox Fibrox Pro 8 inch chef's knife. Usually around $35-$45. I have knives 3 times as expensive but still grab this if I need to swap to a clean knife or think I will need to be a bit more rough with the chopping.
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Current Shopping List (prices subject to change with sales/economics):
This would fit in on the low range of your current stated budget and set you on a good path towards adding pieces (because of the knife block choice) once you can determine what you want and save towards them.
Keep in mind that if you can set yourself up to cook at home more and enjoy cooking and all of that, you will automatically shift your budget towards being able to keep improving your home cooking experience as you save from not eating out and wasteful food practices, etc.
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Good luck!
The Mercer is pretty good.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000PS1HS6/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_w.urFbYYZGTYF
Highly rated by ATK
Let the bread cool completely before cutting. It will stay together better. This is a fantastic bread knife that I recommend. It will help you cut more evenly.
This is my favorite knife. I’ve had it for about 5 years. America’s Test Kitchen and Wirecutter recommend it, too.
This is the one America’s Test Kitchen recommends. I’ve had it for a few years and really like it.
Mercer Culinary M23210 Millennia 10-Inch Wide Wavy Edge Bread Knife... https://www.amazon.com/Mercer-Culinary-M23210-Millennia-10-Inch/dp/B000PS1HS6/ref=sr\_1\_6?keywords=mercer+knife&qid=1648307314&sr=8-6
Try this Mercer. You won't regret it. Mercer Culinary Millennia Black Handle, 10-Inch Wide Wavy Edge, Bread Knife https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000PS1HS6/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_glt_i_8DZ5JJPHDVSDCRGJPHAB?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
Had this for a few years now and has been fantastic
Mercer Culinary Millennia Black Handle, 10-Inch Wide Wavy Edge, Bread Knife https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000PS1HS6/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_2NQDQWB1D92RWKQ2MTSW
You can get a very good performing bread knife for $16 so I would argue that frees up more cash for a fourth knife 🙂 https://www.amazon.com/Mercer-Culinary-M23210-Millennia-10-Inch/dp/B000PS1HS6
a large, sharp bread knife, no heat, sawing motion
I purchased the Mercer Culinary Millennia Bread Knife, 10-Inch Wavy Edge Wide, Black, after doing some research, and have been really pleased with it.
https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B000PS1HS6/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1
Get a proper bread knife.
Not to worry everyone - I was able to order her a proper knife and it was delivered before she finished this video.
Regularly under $15 but worth it an any of these prices.
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Something similar to this. Mercer Culinary Millennia Bread Knife, 10-Inch Wavy Edge Wide, Black https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000PS1HS6/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_MC4DP1A2M18Q8AA56B4C
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Is your reddit feed getting flooded with deals for products you are not interested in? Below are our category-wise subreddits where I crosspost from the main sub.
Category | Subreddit |
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Electronics | /r/Deals_Electronics |
Computers and Accessories | /r/Deals_Computers |
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I’ll have to look at those. I have the the Milennia straight blade (not offset) 10” https://www.amazon.com/Mercer-Culinary-M23210-Millennia-10-Inch/dp/B000PS1HS6
Here’s my set up from decades cooking:
This one is an amazing, cheap knife that Anthony Bourdain turned me onto: Mercer Culinary Millennia 10-Inch... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000PS1HS6?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share
It’s a sturdy, serrated blade, suitable for bread or meat or cardboard.
First knife i’d purchase.
This one: Mercer Culinary Ultimate White... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B005P0OJNO?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share
Is a great, utilitarian Chef’s knife that stays sharp, is easy to sharpen & cheap to replace.
This an inexpensive set of three paring knives: Mercer Culinary Paring Knife, 3.5... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B005P0OJQQ?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share
Those knives right there are a good start. Now, I love knives — and I have a $350 Chef’s knife, some cool knives from Japan & many others.
If you decide to expand, I found I used a cleaver WAY more than I thought I would. They are good for hacking up a chicken to mincing onions. One of my favorite kitchen tools & it looks cool AF, lol: iMarku 7-Inch Stainless-Steel... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01GHNMGIC?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share
I picked up this one as well — another nice serrated model that’s bullet-proof in the kitchen: F Dick 8505518 Pro-Dynamic Offset... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0001EK2US?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share
Last item, a straight razor is surprisingly useful in the kitchen, and not just to pretend your in Goodfellas slicing garlic for your Don. It’s a precision tool & has it’s uses: Custom Handmade Damascus Steel... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B088NX8F3F?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share
I’ve got a lot of expensive knives, but these are my workhorses. But, there’s nothing wrong w expensive knives.
Before you go there, get your basic knives, then get the proper tools & training to properly sharpen them. A strop is essential.
Nothing better than slicing through a crisp cucumber or a marbled ribeye roast w a tool honed so perfectly it’s just an extension of your hand.
Ah, a new knife is a game changer, I got this onefor my birthday and it is amazing!
I can only get the regular one, still worth it?
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mercer-Culinary-Millennia-Stainless-10-Inch/dp/B000PS1HS6?th=1
I can get this Mercer from UK Amazon... and it's even cheaper then the Victorinox.
The Mercer is the top-rated bread knife by America's Test Kitchen
I have the 12in Victorinox, but this one is just as good. Serrated, though. Works great if there's a bark to slice through.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000PS1HS6/ref=cm_sw_r_other_apa_i_.9dVFbHF0ESTP?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
This bread knife is hands down the best bread knife I have ever used and owned.
Yes please...lord that got me nervous watching it.
My personal favorite is the Mercer bread knife..
Gesshin stainless 240mm wa gyuto
The petty is over your range but everything is still in your budget. Can get the Gesshin stainless 150mm petty for half the price.
>https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000PS1HS6/ref=cm\_sw\_r\_cp\_apa\_i\_w.urFbYYZGTYF
Thank you! I just read a sourdough blog that recommended this one - it's nice to hear a second recommendation!
This one has worked great for me. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000PS1HS6/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_IosqFbGBXG2PY
Can even get paper thin sourdough with this bad boy Mercer Culinary Millennia Wide Bread Knife, Stainless Steel, Black, 10-Inch https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B000PS1HS6/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_2bxgFbN6DACK0
Deal link: Amazon
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Americas Test Kitchen recommends this and I love it. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000PS1HS6/