Though it is easy to spend $100 or more on a chef’s knife, often a budget knife is in order. Students, budding cooks, and newlyweds will many times have different priorities than finding the perfect expensive knife. But even under these circumstances, one should try to find the best budget knife out there.
A couple of years back, I had to buy a new chef’s knife and instead of going for something really expensive brand, I purchased the 10-inch Forschner Chef’s knife for under $30. It was highly recommended by Cook’s Illustrated and the knife didn’t disappoint. Sure it wasn’t as sharp as others I had used in the past, and the blade metal wasn’t as good, but the knife felt good in the hand and it was reliable.
After reading through the cooking forums at eGullet and Chowhound, here are some of the inexpensive knife brands that were mentioned.
Victorinox/Forschner 10-Inch Chef’s Knife
Sanelli 10-Inch Cook’s Knife
Mundial 8-Inch Professional Chef’s Knife ($10.95)
F. Dich Eurocut Commercial 10-Inch Chef Knife ($19.99)
Dexter Russel V-lo 10-Inch Cook’s Knife ($30.35)
So why are these knives cheaper? Well, for several reasons, but the main reason is that they are stamped en masse from ribbons of steel versus being forged (e.g. pounded) into shape one by one. It’s the difference between cutting a cookie from a flat piece of dough and kneading an artisan loaf of bread. And the components are different too: the forged knife will have better steel, and the handles will be higher quality too.
Many of the knives above can be purchased in restaurant supply stores, and they are commonly used in commercial kitchens around the world. These brands are cheap, relatively durable, and light weight, and that makes them good for the restaurant industry, but they also come with some drawbacks.
First of all, the steel on these types of knives is softer and will lose its edge quicker. Also because the steel is thinner, these knives are lighter and may seem ‘flimsy’. The handles too can be rather cheap looking, so don’t look to impress anyone.
With that said there are some positives. First of all the price is very reasonable and at $10.95 for the Mudial, it is a steal. Just upgrade later on and use the Mundial as your camping knife. Also, though the handles and steel are of lower quality, they are better for the dishwasher. I still hand wash all of my knives (and recommend it), but these knives can generally handle the extreme conditions of a dishwasher better.
The most recommended of the five brands is the Forschner, which is made in Switzerland by Victorinox. Cook’s Illustrated recommended it highly, and I own this knife. Also in September 2009, the Brazilian-made Mundial was featured in Bon Appetit causing a run on the budget knives.
I have never used the Italian-made Sanelli chef’s knife, but apparently Mario Batali has used this brand on Iron Chef, and I have owned a Sanelli bread knife before, which I really liked. The handles are exceptionally comfortable.
As for the German-made F. Dich and the American-made Dexter-Russell, I have never used them, but the new V-lo line on the Dexter Russel has an improved handle over earlier models.
If you want to shop for these knives, I recommend going to Mad Cow Cutlery as they have astoundingly low prices for a few of the brands mentioned. If you want to shop for the Dexter-Russell or Sanelli, you can go to Amazon or look into restaurant supply stores.
