Best bread knife to buy 2025 for sourdough and more, tried and tested

Read on for our favourite bread knives, tried and tested by our reviews experts.

Looking for more knives? Read our guides to the best chef's knives and best knife sets.

Jump to:

• Best bread knives at a glance
• Best bread knife to buy 2025
• What to look for when buying a bread knife
• What is the difference between a bread knife and a serrated knife?

Best bread knives at a glance

• Best professional-style bread knife: Zwilling Professional S 20cm Bread knife, £53.15
• Best Damascus steel bread knife: Zwilling Myabi Tanrei 23cm Bread Knife, £349
• Best bread knife for safe grip: ProCook Professional X50 Chef Bread Knife, £19
• Best overall bread knife: HexClad Damascus Steel 20cm Serrated Bread Knife, £99
• Best European-style bread knife: Opinel N°116 Bread Knife Parallèle, £36.50
• Best double-edge bread knife: Wüsthof Classic Precision Double-Serrated Bread Knife, £124
• Best affordable bread knife: Sabatier by Stellar Bread Knife, £17.40
• Best blowout bread knife: ProCook Damascus Elite Bread Knife, £139
• Best bread knife for beginners: Victorinox Swiss Modern Bread and Pastry Knife, £47
• Best value bread knife: Stellar Poise 21cm Bread Knife, £21
• Best bread knife for comfortable grip: Circulon 8-inch Bread Knife, £30
• Best Japanese-style bread knife: ProCook Damascus 67 Bread Knife, £109

Best bread knife to buy 2025

Zwilling Professional S 20cm Bread knife

• Available from Amazon (£53.15)

Best professional-style bread knife

Star rating: 5/5

The Professional S 20cm from Zwilling certainly lives up to its professional promise. The knife has the classic, unfussy good looks of a knife that's made to perform in the kitchen and, according to Zwilling, is loved by professional chefs worldwide. The handle is ergonomic and synthetic, and promises to be fatigue-free when used, which we certainly felt in the test with the crusty bread. Plus, a sturdy bolster protects the fingers from straying onto the blade. The teeth on this knife are also scarily sharp from the FRIODUR® ice-hardened edge, making it easier to use when cutting. Though we only sliced one loaf and a couple of tomatoes, it's easy to see why this knife would work well in a professional or home kitchen.

Available from:
Amazon (£53.15)

Zwilling Myabi Tanrei 23cm Bread Knife

• Available from Zwilling (£349)

Best Damascus steel bread knife

Star rating: 5/5

If it's possible to fall in love with a bread knife, then this Myabi Tanrei from Zwilling is the one. This is a damascus steel knife, made by forge-welding 101 layers of steel to create the stunning and unique damask patterning and the blade's hardness. The triple rivet handle is made of micarta, another process of layering (here, with wood), which is comfortable to hold and use. The combination of the blade and handle makes this a standout knife. The waved edge is polished to sharpness by master craftsmen. We cut effortlessly through crusty bread, and were able to quickly cut thin slices of tomato. This knife is exceptional in handling and performance, and although it may be expensive, it delivers.

Available from:
Zwilling (£349)

ProCook Professional X50 Chef Bread Knife

• Available from ProCook (£19)

Best bread knife for safe grip

Star rating: 5/5

Though the 25cm ProCook bread knife is affordable, this does not mean it's not a quality knife. A standout feature for us was its triple-riveted, contoured handle, and it can be used comfortably by left or right-handed users. We found the knife sturdy but not heavy, and were particularly impressed with the sizeable bolster, which acts as a finger guard – this helped us feel more confident when using it. The knife has a high carbon content, giving it a significant edge that will last longer. It cut through the bread with ease without squashing or ripping. Likewise, with a tomato, even the thinnest slices fell from the blade with ease. For the price, this is an incredible knife, and it comes with a 25-year guarantee.

Available from:
ProCook (£19)

HexClad Damascus Steel 20cm Serrated Bread Knife

• Available from HexClad (£99), Amazon (£99)

Best overall bread knife

Star rating: 5/5

HexClad might be best known for its pans but we've been seriously impressed by its knives. This bread knife has an attractive green handle made from Pakkawood which gives it a very unique look compared to others we've tested. It's forged from 67 layers of Japanese steel and comes with a lifetime warranty, plus when unboxing the knife there's a polishing cloth included and information on how to care for the knife.

It felt very comfortable in the hand with a nicely balanced weight and sliced through our sourdough with ease. This knife can also be bought as part of a 6-piece set.

Available from:
HexClad (£99)
Amazon (£99)

Opinel N°116 Bread Knife Parallèle

• Available from Amazon (£36.50)

Best European-style bread knife

Star rating: 5/5

Made in France, this beautiful knife with a beechwood handle is elegant enough to want to display. The blade is made from 100% stainless steel and has a curve to it which sets it apart from others in this test. When cutting our sourdough we found that we needed to put a little more effort in when we reached the base, but otherwise it cut with ease. There was a little tearing when we cut into a thinner slice but overall we think this is a brilliant knife, especially given the price, and can be bought as part of a 5-piece set with a knife block included.

Available from:
Amazon (£36.50)

Wüsthof Classic Precision Double-Serrated Bread Knife

• Available from Wüsthof (£124)

Best double-edged knife

Star rating: 4.5/5

This bread knife from leading German brand Wüsthof is impressive. The 23cm blade is double-serrated, so it's extremely sharp, with the edge staying sharper for longer. It's great for both left- and right-handed users. This level of sharpness means the knife can be used to cut bread (which, on the test, slid through the loaf without any drag or crushing), pies and rolls, but we were able to cut thin, almost translucent, slices of tomato, too. The Wüsthof knife is made from chrome, vanadium, molybdenum and stainless steel, and is sturdy but not heavy. We loved the ergonomically designed handle, which was comfortable and secure to hold and made slicing even easier. We were surprised that a knife of this quality did not have a higher price tag.

Available from:
Wüsthof (£124)

Sabatier by Stellar Bread Knife

• Available from Harts of Stur (£10), Stellar (£17.40)

Best affordable bread knife

Star rating: 4.5/5

Some knives that we've tested are style over substance but not this bread knife from Stellar. With an affordable price and traditional design this knife gets on with the job in hand without any bells and whistles.

The bread knife is shorter than some others we've tested but this makes it easy to control. We used it to slice a baguette and, although the length meant we couldn't slice it in a single stroke, it cut through the bread effectively.

Available from:
Harts of Stur (£10)
Stellar (£17.40)

ProCook Damascus Elite Bread Knife

• Available from ProCook (£139)

Best blowout bread knife

Star rating: 4.5/5

Part of the ProCook Damascus Elite range, this knife is the priciest on this list and is certainly an investment. It is 23cm long with a core of VG10 steel encased in 66 layers of Japanese Damascus stainless steel and a handle made from resin wood in an octagonal shape. We found this pretty comfortable to hold although one of our testers found the edge of the handle a little bulky where it tapers into the blade. The shape of the blade is sleeker than the majority of others and really tapers towards to nose, which allows you a nice level of precision. It sliced through our crusty bread as if it were butter with practically no effort or sawing.

Victorinox Swiss Modern Bread and Pastry Knife

• Available from Victorinox (£47)

Best bread knife for beginners

Star rating: 4.5/5

Whether you're a student moving to university for the first time or a new cook looking to invest in better knives, this bread knife from Victorinox could be a really good option. It has a sleek, minimalist, modern look with an angular handle which has a nice texture and feels good in the hand.

This knife is really lightweight and, although the slim blade had a slight flexibility to it, it sliced through our crusty loaf of bread without any resistance.

Stellar Poise 21cm Bread Knife

• Available from Stellar (£30)

Best value bread knife

Star rating: 4/5

At its affordable price, we didn't expect the Stellar Poise knife to be so light and sturdy. Though it isn't heavy, it's made from molybdenum vanadium steel, which makes a strong blade that stays sharper for longer, and also resists stains, rust and pitting. According to Stellar, it's dishwasher-safe, which is rare for a knife. We were less enamoured with the handle, though. Stellar doesn't say what the handle is made of; it feels like hardened plastic and is slippery as there are no curves or grip. With performance in the test, it made short work of the tomato, and we were impressed with how easily they sliced. The bread did well until the bottom crust, which took a little more effort to cut through. Despite those minor points, this is a good-value knife with a lifetime guarantee.

Available from:
Stellar (£30)

Circulon 8-inch Bread Knife

• Available from Circulon (£30)

Best knife for comfortable grip

Star rating: 4/5

The Circulon 8-inch knife is made from Japanese steel, which feels much lighter than many of the knives we tested. This would suit anyone who prefers a lighter knife with the same performance. The stand-out element was the handle. At first glance, it seemed a little plasticky, but the generous curve made it comfortable to hold, and the underside has grooves that make it feel safe and secure. The knife cut through the bread well until the bottom crust, where it struggled a little; the tomatoes were easy. Sadly, it arrived in a box with clear plastic wrapped around it, so it didn't get full marks, but that aside, this is an impressive knife for the price.

Available from:
Circulon (£30)

ProCook Damascus 67 bread knife

• Available from ProCook (£109)

Best Japanese-style bread knife

Star rating: 4/5

This bread knife from ProCook is attractive and nimble looking with a sleek blade made from layered Japanese Damascus steel and a rounded handle that is comfortable to hold. It comes with a 25-year guarantee, which gives your knife great longevity.

The blade of this knife has a really sturdy feel and on test it sliced through our bread with ease, although we did have to put in a little effort as we got to the toughest part of the loaf. Overall this knife is certainly pricier than others we've seen but is worthy of the investment, and can also be bought as part of a 5-piece set with a paring knife, chef's knife, utility knife and carving knife.

What to look for when buying a bread knife

Bread knives can differ a lot when it comes to style, size and, of course, price. You might want to choose a bread knife that matches the style (Japanese or European) and design of the rest of your knives, or you may want something that contrasts with the rest. A bread knife is more likely to be used on your dining table than other knives so look could be an important consideration if you like to host.

Full tang knives are ones where one piece of metal runs throughout the blade and the handle, and are generally considered stronger and tend to be more expensive then their half tang counterparts, where the handle is attached to the end of the blade.

What is the difference between a bread knife and a serrated knife?

In short, bread knife are a type of serrated knife – all bread knives are serrated but not all serrated knives are bread knives. Serrated knives have teeth in a similar way to a saw and are useful for cutting tough ingredients like bread without causing too much damage to its soft interior.

Smaller serrated knives are often more specialist but can be useful for cutting things like tomatoes, cured meats like sausage or for peeling. It's worth bearing in mind that serrated knives cannot be sharpened as easily as other knives due to the teeth.

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