Bread knife advice

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Dec 27, 2005
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Can you advice me unexpensive bread knife? Preferably 9-10" and under $50.
Also I saw couple bread knives with AUS6 steel (KAI and Kanetsune). Are they any good?
Thanks in advance.
 
have you tried slicing without a bread knife? My wife finally started baking bread and I was surprised to discover I didnt really need a bread knife. My regular santoku does real good. good luck
 
Yes. I have old 8" Henkel bread knife and it slices bread much better than my good chef's knives. I just researching upgrade options.
 
I have a 12" Forschner made by Victorinox model 455W-12, great knife and can be used to carve roast as well.
 
I've been a fan of the Victorinox bread knife for years. Unfortunately, in my experience, they do not stand up to hard crusted bread: the points were rounding. I am very happy with the harder steel of the Suisin bread knife. I am sure someone will chime in with recommendation for the Mac. The Vic is well within your budget, while the Suisin and Mac will push its upper limit.

Joe
 
This vitorinox I have had 10 years or more and it still works fine. I do believe I sharpened it once. There are a bunch of different qualities so I would try to locate that particular model if you are interested.
 
I know it's heresy, but I find an electric knife works better than any fixed blade knife, especially on fresh, hot bread. Can find them cheap at most discount stores; even cheaper at yard sales or flea markets.

Rich S
 
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Many thanks to everybody for reply.
Does anybody have experience with AUS6 steel.


I have a 12" Forschner made by Victorinox model 455W-12, great knife and can be used to carve roast as well.

I checked Vic bread knives. I couldn't find this model, but few Forschners are available. I am not sure but it looks like they made from steel with about .5% carbon and Rc around 55-56. How often do you sharpen yours?
 
I did a google search for Victorinox model 455W-12 and found quite a few, I think Victroinox bought out Forchner and now dropped the name. Mine is clearly stainless and I believe I have sharpened it once. I dont recall sharpening but the back edge is polished so I must have. I use this knife alot and it is a good cutter and seems to stay sharp.
 
Many thanks to everybody for reply.
Does anybody have experience with AUS6 steel.

Yes, I have a few older pocket knives with that steel. They can get very sharp but the edge retention is average. It's fairly soft compared to what you find on the market these days. And so I don't use these knives any more.

It's still probably better than the mystery steels used in most of the cheaper kitchen knives. After all, Spyderco, SOG, Cold Steel and other major knife makers used that steel in the past. But for the most part, they've moved on to Aus-8 or similar alternatives even in their low end models.
 
My favorite bread knives – and I use one just about every morning! – are made by my friends at Güde in Solingen.

http://www.guede-solingen.de/english/guede-eng.html

Look for the Bread Knife on their site.

Kevin,
Thank you. I like couple of bread knives on this site. Unfortunately I cannot find them at US dealers.


Yes, I have a few older pocket knives with that steel. They can get very sharp but the edge retention is average. It's fairly soft compared to what you find on the market these days. And so I don't use these knives any more.

dsmegst,
Thank you for info.
 
My main advice is to get the longest blade you can find. My secondary advice is to buy a Japanese knife with a hard, thin blade. Serrated knives are a serious problem in resharpening so you want the blade to hold an edge as long as possible.

The best bread knife I've used and the one I continue to use is the Kasum1 10". Almost as good is the Mac SB105. These are $100 plus knives. If you want something inexpensive go with the Victorinox mentioned above. They have a 10" model that works just fine.
 
Serrated blade are easy as pie to sharpen if you use a round diamond or ceramic rod – diameter depends on the serrations – and clamp the knife onto a board so that the cutting edge is a little over the edge of the board. Then use the rod quickly touch up each serration. Doesn't take long once you get the hang of it.
 
My main advice is to get the longest blade you can find. My secondary advice is to buy a Japanese knife with a hard, thin blade. Serrated knives are a serious problem in resharpening so you want the blade to hold an edge as long as possible.

The best bread knife I've used and the one I continue to use is the Kasum1 10". Almost as good is the Mac SB105. These are $100 plus knives. If you want something inexpensive go with the Victorinox mentioned above. They have a 10" model that works just fine.

Serrated blade are easy as pie to sharpen if you use a round diamond or ceramic rod – diameter depends on the serrations – and clamp the knife onto a board so that the cutting edge is a little over the edge of the board. Then use the rod quickly touch up each serration. Doesn't take long once you get the hang of it.

Gentlemen,
Thank you. I am using sharpmaker to sharpen my serrated knives, it's work fine. The only concern I have for Vic is steel. Is it better than AUS6?
I would love to spend $100+ for bread knife, but it is little bit out of range now.
 
Better is term I tend not to use when comparing steels. The victorinox blades are thin but soft when compared to other knives. Forged European knives are thick and soft. Japanese knives are thin and hard. The Victorinox meet half way - thin linke Japanese and soft like other european knives. If you can't cozy up to a Japanese knife, then I think the the Victorinox is the way to go. Another great option is the Wusthof Gourmet super slicer. It is the knife I use for cutting cakes into layers. Makes a perfectly good bread knife. It is scalloped rather than serrated.
 
The victorinox blades are thin but soft when compared to other knives. Forged European knives are thick and soft. Japanese knives are thin and hard. The Victorinox meet half way - thin linke Japanese and soft like other european knives.

Thank you for information. It is good to know.
 
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