How to Choose a Bread Knife

A bread knife’s uses aren’t just limited to cutting loaves. It can also be used to cut cakes or any delicate baked good. The knife’s long serrated edge works good on food that is hard on the outside and soft on the inside like bread.

There are many aspects that should take into consideration when choosing a bread knife:

Serrated edge

Scalloped serration – This type of serrated knife has rounded serrations, without any actual points on the edge. It tends to be more effective for softer breads like challah, and fruits such as kiwis or tomatoes.

Pointed serration – This type of knife has sharp points spaced evenly out across the edge. The pointed serrations are well suited to slicing sourdough bread.

Bread knives use a sawing action, where the sharp points dig into and grip the bread, cutting into it in a horizontal fashion. Meanwhile, the bits between the points help reduce the blade’s friction as it moves through. Less friction makes it easier and more efficient to cut through the bread without shredding or tearing, giving you nice clean slices.

A blade with fewer, broader and deeper pointed serrations will cut better. The gullet’s size determines how smoothly the knife will glide while cutting. The bigger the gullet, the easier the blade moves.

Length of the Blade

The motion used to slice crusty bread is a ‘sawing’ action. Therefore, the longer the blade, the more efficient the slicing will be. In other words, you will get ‘more slice for less work’ because you can use the whole length of the blade before sawing in the opposite direction.The longer the blade, the less effort it will take to slice your bread, and the more versatile the knife will be. A longer length blade also allows you to slice into larger loaves without ‘running out’ of knife!

Thickness of the Blade and Bevel

A blade that is thin, with a narrow angled bevel performs better with crusty bread. The bevel is the angled edge of the blade that has been sharpened and angled towards the cutting surface. 

A knife that is suited to crusty sourdough bread, will have one completely smooth straight side, and the other side will have the sharpened bevel. A bevel with a 16 degree angle or less is a good rule of thumb. And a blade that is a maximum of 2.2 mm thick will be pretty efficient. This set up would give minimal friction when slicing. A thicker blade with a wider angled bevel will feel more blunt when slicing through.

Ergonomic design

The handle of a bread knife is a very important part of the design. An uncomfortable handle will make the most well designed blade of a knife completely useless. Your bread knife should have a comfortable, grippy handle that feels secure in your hand instead of a smooth handle.

The surface of the handle – Try to make sure the handle is ‘grippy’ and doesn’t have a slippery or smooth surface. A good grip will make for confident slicing.

The shape of the handle – is the handle comfortable for you to hold? This will vary from person to person. The best shape of a handle will have plenty of ‘affordance’, which means it will be comfortable even when held in different ways.

The components of the handle – Be weary of fancy looking handles that have screws or other extra parts attached to it. These can eventually become loose and fall apart. The most durable handles will be made from one piece only.