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Most people often think steak knives are the same, but they come with unique differences that give them an edge in the competition. These differences are not really noticed on paper until you start using the knives on a daily basis, and the drawbacks become evident.
The inferior models tend to start appearing dull prematurely; the blade keeps rusting and finally falls apart. Finding the right knife can be challenging, considering the plethora of options on the market today.
In this post, we’ve expertly handpicked the best steak knives America’s Test Kitchen to offer a better perspective of what’s currently available. Also, there’s a buying guide section to help you make the right decision.
See also:
Reviews of Best Steak Knife America’s Test Kitchen
Here are top rated steak knife set consumer reports on the market today
#1 – Home Hero Chef Knife Set Knives Kitchen Set – Best Sell Choice Consumer Reports
Our top choice for the best steak knives is Home Hero Chef Knife Set Knives Kitchen Set with impressive stainless steel construction and a smooth blade laser finish. This set includes five different stainless steel knives – a paring knife, utility knife, bread knife, carving knife and chef knife.
The Chef knife offers a wide range of functions with its curve blade design, allowing you to slice and chop any kind of food item without hassle. Slicing and carving knives is designed to let you cut thinner and smaller slices of fish and meat. It’s also suitable for cutting BBQ, roast, or ham meat.
Next is the bread knife with serrated and scalloped blades for cutting pizza, burgers, and bread clean and effortless. Further, the utility knife is meant for cutting vegetables and fruits and removing sinew or fat from your cut of meat. Last is the paring knife for trimming, peeling and segmenting vegetables and fruits.
That’s not all: it also includes acrylic cutlery stand, safety finger guard, and sharpener. The adjustable and comprehensive set is ideal for both professionals and amateurs alike. The knife sharpener comes in two modes: V-Grip bottom and precision angle guides that work best on a counter or an edge. This high-quality kitchen sharpener features a soft grip handle to allow easy control and convenient use even for left-handed users.
Pros:
- A set of 5 stainless steel knives
- Ideal for both amateur and professionals alike
- Two sharpening modes
- Sold stainless steel construction
Cons:
- Might fall part
#2 – Bellemain Premium Steak Knife Set of 4 Stainless Steel: Best Cheap Steak Knives
If you are in the market for a surgical-grade set of knives, then the Bellemain Premium Steak Knife Set of 4 Stainless Steel can be just what you’re looking for. It comes with stainless steel construction, allowing you to slide through steak without any hassle.
Another benefit of the stainless steel is it makes the knives rust free. The model features ice-tempered steel to ensure the edges hold better than heat-tempered steel. To make sure it cuts steak better, Bellemain Premium Steak Knife Set features expertly-crafted 5-inch precision-cut edges and minimizes sticking – thanks to its hollow ground design.
This steak knife looks and feels good with an ergonomic design and built explicitly with steak-eaters in mind. Plus, these knives include a touch of elegance to your meal. One of the best things about this set is the full tang design.
While many models come with more than one piece of construction, Bellemain Premium Steak Knife Set is a full-tang knife that means it’s a single piece to offer the most durability and strength. Besides, this unit comes with the best buy-back guarantee to protect your investment.
Pros:
- Full tang construction
- Strong and durable
- Ergonomic design
- Set of four
Cons:
- Likely to rust with time
#3 – Chicago Cutlery Fusion Steak Knife Set
Another steak knife set with cushion grip handles to offer a non-slip, sturdy grip, which makes chopping and cutting steaks a lot easier. Coming with black poly-handled knives to make your table beautiful.
This set includes six 4.5-inch steak knives, and each one is made from high-carbon stainless steel to create a harder, stronger blade to resist pitting, rust, and stains. Chicago Cutlery Fusion Steak Knife Set features Signature 26-degree Tapper Grind edge to offer optimal sharpness, easy sharpening, and precise cutting. Also, it comes with the right weight and balance – thanks to its forged design. For extra control, increase balance and strength, the manufacturer opted for full metal tang.
Pros:
- Full metal tang design
- Right weight and balance
- Cushion grip
- Rust and stain resistant
Cons:
- The handle snaps off
#4 – J.A. Henckels International Stainless Steel 8-Piece Steak Knife Set
The J.A. Henckels International Stainless Steel 8-Piece Steak Knife Set offers excellent value and convenience. It comes with serrated edges that never requires sharpening and dishwasher safe.
This model sports the full tang construction without a wooden handle to chip or flake. This knife set is accompanied by a lifetime warranty against defects in materials or workmanship.
However, some users claim it tends to rust despite the stainless steel construction. While it’s not recommended to use harsh dishwasher chemicals for stainless steel, J.A. Henckels International Stainless Steel 8-Piece Steak Knife Sett can still go in the dishwasher. More importantly, you should use a milder detergent to reduce spotting.
Pros:
- No need to sharpened
- Affordable price
- Dishwasher safe
- One-piece full tang construction
- Lifetime warranty
Cons:
- Complains about rusting and spotting
#5 – DALSTRONG Steak Knives – Gladiator Series – Forged German ThyssenKrupp HC Steel
The Dalstrong Gladiator Series Steak Knives are wear-resistant, ultra-sharp, and precision forged. Each unit is made from a high carbon ThyssenKrupp German steel. This model features engineered serrations, which are hand sharpened to 16 – 18 degrees per side to offer the ideal balance between maximum resilience and blade sharpness.
For the sake of easy chopping and food preparation, these knives provide knuckle clearance with its tall blade height. It’s equipped with an elegant hand-polished satin finish blade. Also, it offers impressive flexibility and hardness due to the tapered design.
Even better, DALSTRONG Steak Knives sport chromium finishes to make it stain-resistant and offers a better grip with premium-quality laminated pakkawood handles.
Pros:
- Quality feel
- Full tang construction
- Stunning design element
- Set of four
Cons:
- Less resistant to staining and corrosion
#6 – Miracle Blade Steak Knife Set – III Perfection Series 8 Piece
This model comes with eight flash forged steak knives to allow you to slice through anything and remain super sharp. It offers precision control allowing you to chop, dice, and cut quickly. Miracle Blade III Perfection Series sports comfortable composite handles, which provides an easy grip to stop sliding and slipping. Further, this product comes with a lifetime warranty only for consumers using knives for non-commercial purposes.
Pros:
- Attractive design
- Easy to chop, cut, and dice
- Lifetime warranty
- Set of 8 pieces
Cons:
- Issues with rusting
#7 – Messermeister Steak Knife Set – Avanta Fine Edge, Pakkawood Handle
Designed to be both economical and practical, these premium-quality knives come with pretty exciting features. They are made from top quality german high-carbon stainless steel and fine edges to cut through meat smoothly.
The blades’ end comes with upswept tips to allow you to remove bones of your meat. That’s not all: this unit is well-balanced and very easy to use. Besides, when in use, they lay in hand comfortably. Together, these features work together to make these knives convenient and friendly to use.
Pros:
- Made from the one-piece design
- Modern, sleek design
- Lifetime warranty
- Impressive edge retention
Cons:
- Poor quality control
Top 8 – Victorinox Straight Steak Knives – Swiss Army Cutlery Rosewood Straight
The Victorinox Swiss Army Cutlery Rosewood Straight Steak Knives comes with a classic design using a hand-polished rosewood handles. Each knife is ice tempered and conical ground to make sure it remains sharp.
This steak knife has a bolsterless, straight edge allowing users to cut with the blade without shredding and tearing the steak. Each knife sports the rosewood handle to offer easy handling and comfortable grip. This model is exceptionally balanced and weighted with triple handle rivets for impressive durability. Besides, it’s backed by a lifetime guarantee against workmanship and material.
Pros:
- Elegant design
- Cuts smooth
- Lifetime warranty
- Easy handling
- Easy to use and clean
Cons:
- Handle may splinter
#9 – Wüsthoff Classic Steak Knives
The Wüsthof Classic Steak Knife Set is a top choice for luxury set. They feature high-level materials and workmanship, which place them in the luxury category. The 4.5 precision-forged 4.5-inch blades are made from high-carbon German stainless steel.
Further, the double bolsters offer balance and heft for hasslefree, and effortless cutting, and the full tang goes all the way through the handle. The triple-riveted handle coming in black color features a special contoured design for a secure and comfortable grip.
More so, this Germany-based knife and backed by a lifetime warranty. Sadly, this storage case is not made of the same quality as the knife set.
Pros:
- Well-balanced
- High-quality materials
- Lifetime warranty
- Comfortable to hold
Cons:
- On the pricey side
- Low-quality storage case
#10 – Foxel Best Non Serrated German Stainless Steel Straight Steak Knives Dishwasher Safe
For those looking to host amazing dinners and BBQs, this is one of the knives with superior-quality, elegant and sharp. These knives are non-serrated restaurant-style will help make juicy steaks. It’s made of top quality Thyssen-Krupp german stainless steel for an aesthetic appearance and impressive durability.
Foxel Steak Knives Knife Set are built with optimal convenience in mind. The sturdy Straight Edge blade and full tang triple-riveted handles allow effortless cutting and last for a lifetime. On top of that, it’s backed by one-year satisfaction to protect your investment.
Pros:
- Unique steak-cutting performance
- Superior construction
- 1-year manufacturer’s warranty
- Effortless cutting
Cons:
- Requires sharpening
How to Choose the Best Steak Knives on the market
Steak knives are one of the must-have tools that can break or make a meal. If you own a good steak knife, then cutting through steak should be easy and effortless.
However, using an inferior knife makes you struggle through meals, the best possible ways you can.
A great knife will last for an extended period, unlike low quality that tends to have rusting blades and eventually fall parts. For this reason, we’ve decided to shed some light on how to choose the best steak knives.
Blade Composition
When it comes to steak knives, the two-blade composition options for consumers are stainless steel and high carbon steel. Most professionals often prefer knives made from High carbon steel, but in our opinion, the stainless steel models are preferable.
However, it all depends on your expectations from the knife. Nevertheless, let’s discuss each option to help you make a better decision.
Knives made from high carbon steel hold its edge and hassle-free to sharpen; therefore, a superior blade material. On the other hand, stainless steel also allows the knives to hold up quite well.
High carbon steel blades hold up the edges longer than stainless steel knives and are easy to sharpen. Sadly, they come with salty price tags. So it boils down to whether you prefer a knife that is easy to sharpen and come with a sharper blade or a less expensive knife with some challenges sharpening the blade.
Pros of high carbon steel blade
- Easy to sharpen
- sharper blade
- holds the edge better
Cons:
- On the pricey side
Pros of stainless steel blade
- Affordable
Cons:
- A bit difficult to sharpen
- The edge doesn’t hold well
Edge Style
When it comes to the edge of the steak knife, there are three different options available, which are the straight-edge, micro-serrated blade and serrated edge.
Any great steak knife comes with one of the three edge styles. However, there are other factors to consider when a steak knife with any of the edge style.
For instance, the fine-edge blades do a better job at cutting boards, but you might have to sharpen them often since they get dull quickly, especially when used on hard ceramic plates. On the flip, serrated blades are not great at cutting finely like the straight-edge blade and are more challenging to sharpen.
Most experts believe that a straight-edge blade is superior, while others prefer serrated knives. So, it’s up to you to decide which edge style you want to lean towards.
Fully-Forged or Full-Tang
Another thing with the blade of a steak knife is the tang. When choosing a blade, you should go for a blade with a Full Tang design, meaning the blade is one piece going all the way through the handle. The wood handle-riveted-blade design is often preferred since the full tang blade has fewer chances of falling off.
Also, there’s the fully forged option, which means the blade is forged out of a single piece of metal. Similarly, the fully forged can’t fall apart, since it’s a single piece construction. However, most people don’t like the metallic handle feel. So, if you belong to this group, then you should opt for a full tang steak knife instead.
Aesthetics
While the aesthetics of a knife does not hold a lot of importance, it’s one of the priorities for some people. Therefore, it’s important to pin down a set of knives with good looks and match your kitchen settings.
Even more, you should consider how the steak knife should feel in the hand while using it — this allows you to pin down the right model that works best for you.
Size
The last but not the least factor is the knife set size. When trying to pin down a knife set, you should picture the knife to guide you to opt for the right size. There is a wide range of steak knives sizes, they might appear regular on pictures but enormous after purchasing and vice versa since there isn’t a point of reference.
As such, it’s vital that you determine the size of the knife by considering its measurement and ensuring that it’s not too small or too big for your personal needs or preferences.
How to Sharpen Steak Knives
While serrated knives have better edge retention than straight-edged knives, they are tricky to restore without altering their shape. Therefore, it’s essential that you only sharpen your serrated knives when they are less effective.
- Use a sharpening rod
- Locate the beveled edge side of the knife
- Place the sharpening rod in the serrated gullets/scallops
- Move the sharpening rod to match the diameter of serrated scallop
- Sharpen the first gullet
- Look for burr
- Keep on sharpening each groove
- File all the burr away
Where to Buy Steak Knives
Nowadays, most products are purchased from online retail stores as Amazon.com, Walmart.com, Wayfair.com… However, it’s important that you check out other customer’s reviewers before purchasing. Nevertheless, going to your local stores isn’t a bad idea, as it offers you a first-hand feel of the knives before buying.
Conclusion
Finally, you have got a list of the best steak knives America’s Test Kitchen and a detailed buying guide on how to pick the right one to cater to your needs. Nonetheless, we are confident that we ever model you decide to go for, you can’t really go wrong.