2024 test12 productsHome Appliances
Which Kitchen Knife Sets Brand Wins?
We compared 12 kitchen knife sets options head to head. Wizeka came out on top. See the measured results, the runner-up, the budget pick, and a link to the full test video.
Winner
Wizeka
Price shown in test: $96
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Runner-up
Global
Price shown in test: $200
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Budget pick
Martha Stewart
Price shown in test: $49
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The measured results
Every number below is read straight from the test. Scroll sideways to see all measurements. Products are listed in the order they finished.
| Product | Paring knife intro | Osage orange edge retention (100 passes, 10 lb) | Sharpened baseline | Cutting board retention (100 passes, 10 lb, sharpened knives) | Chef's knife | Santoku knife | Blade tip durability (50 in drop test) | Corrosion resistance | Handle comfort |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1Wizeka$96 | 95 g, initial sharpness score 140, the sharpest of all 12 sets when new (lower score is sharper on the tester's scale) | 140 to 150, a loss of 10 points, described as 7 percent loss, finishing third in that test; also cited as the sharpest knife in absolute terms afterward at 150 | 115 (all knives were manually resharpened to within 5 points of each other before the next test) | 115 to 135, a loss of 20 points, finished second behind the Global | 254 g, sharpness score 130, the sharpest chef's knife of all brands tested | sharpness score 150, finished second behind the Global | held up really well with just a small amount of damage | showed either a couple of rust spots or slightly less rust than the Henckels, exact assignment ambiguous, see notes | not tested |
| 2Global Osaka 6-piece bamboo knife block set$200 | 65 g, initial sharpness score 180, made in Japan, claims hand crafted, ice tempered, Rockwell hardness 56 to 58, 10 to 15 degree double bevel edges, hand wash recommended | 180 to 180, zero sharpness loss, winner of this test | 115 | 115 to 125, a loss of only 10 points, winner of this test | 177 g, sharpness score 135, second sharpest chef's knife behind the Wizeka | sharpness score 125, described as by far the sharpest Santoku knife, winner of this test | took a very direct and hard hit and still held up really well | rusted pretty badly; host attributes this to the high-carbon steel construction, which is supposed to be hand washed rather than run through a dishwasher | host found the handle very uncomfortable despite the knife being very sharp and durable |
| 3Martha Stewart$49 | 63 g, initial sharpness score 175, second place behind the Astercook at time of testing; forged stainless steel, full tang construction, hand wash recommended to avoid corrosion | 175 to 195, a loss of 20 points | 110 | 110 to 155, moved into the lead at time of testing (loss of 45 points) | 203 g, sharpness score 165, described as the sharpest chef's knife up to that point in the video | sharpness score 165, same as its chef's knife, moved into the lead at time of testing; finished third overall in the final Santoku ranking | blade described as thinner than the Astercook and Hunter.Dual knives; experienced a very bad bend | no visible rust other than some water spots; tied for the best possible subjective corrosion rating of 1, along with the Zwilling | not tested |
| 4Farberware$20 | 38 g, initial sharpness score 400, described as pretty dull despite marketing claims of superior high-carbon stainless steel and that the set would never need sharpening; 14-piece set with scissors and utensils, made in China | 400 to 440, a loss of 40 points | not sharpened; host states he did not sharpen the Farberware since it is not designed to be sharpened, so it is excluded from the sharpened-baseline and cutting board retention tests | not tested | 136 g, sharpness score 605, described as very lightweight, calling the knife's quality into question | sharpness score 340, described as definitely not the sharpest knife in the kitchen | performed exceptionally well with a very small amount of damage despite struggling on sharpness tests; received the best possible subjective durability rating of 1 | knife edge already beginning to rust after about an hour of the mild rusting agent test | not tested |
| 5Astercook$40 ($2.67 per knife across the 15-piece set) | 42 g, initial sharpness score 170, described as pretty sharp under the microscope; claims dishwasher safe, made in China | 170 to 240, a loss of 70 points, described as dulled quite a bit | 115, described as way sharper than any of the knives were when new | 115 to 200, described as lost a lot of sharpness | 124 g, sharpness score 195, described as actually decent | sharpness score 175, described as performing very well, about the same as its paring knife score | blade tip appears made of relatively soft metal; part of the tip broke off and the tip is badly bent | sharpened blade edge is also rusting in the mild rusting agent test | not tested |
| 6Hunter.Dual$40, described in the transcript as the same price as the Astercook (the transcript's spoken reference to a 'Hunter Cook' brand at this same price is a caption misfire immediately self corrected to 'Hunter Dual' in the same sentence) | 46 g, initial sharpness score 235, described as pretty sharp but not quite as sharp as the Astercook; claims German high-carbon stainless steel, nonstick and rust resistant, dishwasher safe, self-sharpening block, made in China | 235 to 305, described as started off duller than average and lost a lot of sharpness | 110, described as the sharpest baseline at that point in the narration | 110 to 315, described as pretty dull afterward | 145 g, sharpness score 260 | sharpness score 290, described as struggled with sharpness | blade tip relatively soft, similar to the Astercook, but experienced a little less damage than the Astercook | small amount of rust on the knife edge | not tested |
| 7McCook$56 | 55 g, initial sharpness score 235, described as trailing the Astercook by 65 sharpness points, with a less aggressive sharpening angle than the Martha Stewart; German forged stainless steel, hand wash only, made in China | 235 to 315, described as lost a lot of sharpness | 115, described as the blade material not seeming as good as the Martha Stewart but still very sharp | 115 to 175, described as dulled quite a bit | 177 g, sharpness score 245, about the same sharpness as its paring knife | sharpness score above 200 (exact figure not spoken, described only as 'above 200,' consistent with its other results) | blade tip a little thicker than the Martha Stewart's but experienced just as much damage | small amount of rust beginning to form | described by the host as comfortable, with a rating of 2 |
| 8Cuisinart$65 | 78 g, initial sharpness score 200, described as looking pretty sharp and performing well; claims classic forged triple rivet, superior high-carbon stainless steel, limited lifetime warranty, made in China | 200 to 225, a loss of 25 points | 110, described as super sharp | 110 to 160, a loss of 50 points, described as performed well | 242 g, sharpness score 215, the heaviest paring/chef knife line up to that point in the video | sharpness score 215, same as its chef's knife | heavier than all previous paring knives tested; some damage to the blade tip but held up a lot better than most of the previous brands | small amount of rust beginning to form | not tested |
| 9Henckels$110 | 97 g, initial sharpness score 150, second sharpest when new behind the Wizeka; claims German engineering, ultra sharp, dishwasher safe though hand washing recommended, made in China | 150 to 155, a loss of only 5 points, described as 3 percent loss, winner of the percentage-loss ranking for this test | 115 | 115 to 150, a loss of 35 points, finished third in this test | 203 g, sharpness score 180, described as sharper than most of the other brands | sharpness score 170, described as a consistently good performer, better than average | a very heavy knife, similar to the Wizeka; held up really well | showed either a couple of rust spots or slightly less rust than the position-7 brand (Wizeka); exact assignment ambiguous, see the Wizeka entry's notes | not tested |
| 10Imarku$130 | 74 g, initial sharpness score 240, described as 100 sharpness points duller than the sharpest knife (Wizeka at 140); 16-piece set, claims Japanese design but made in China, claims 13 to 15 degree angle, razor sharp, high-carbon stainless steel | 240 to 260, a loss of 20 points | 115, described as relatively dull when new but very sharp after resharpening | 115 to 165, a loss of 50 points | 199 g, sharpness score 210, described as not nearly as sharp as the Wizeka | sharpness score 260, its two prior knives scored in the 200s | about 20 percent lighter than the Henckels at 74 g; experienced quite a bit more damage than the heavier Wizeka and Henckels knives | only a couple of areas of shallow rust | not tested |
| 11Zwilling$156 for just 6 pieces | 48 g, initial sharpness score 165, third sharpest so far when new; sharpened to a 15 degree angle, made in Germany, claims dishwasher safe and longer edge retention than other brands | 165 to 180, described as held up really well | 115 | 115 to 170, described as performed about the same as the Imarku | 199 g, sharpness score 140, described as even sharper than its paring knife | not tested; the set does not include a Santoku knife, so it was skipped in this test | extremely lightweight at only 48 g; held up really well with only a small amount of damage | performed very well with no visible rust; tied for the best possible subjective corrosion rating of 1, along with the Martha Stewart | not tested |
| 12Yatoshi$250, described as the most expensive set tested | 83 g, initial sharpness score 210, described as not nearly as sharp as some of the other brands despite razor sharp marketing claims; claims Rockwell hardness 57 to 58, soft comfortable handle, made in Japan | 210 to 255, described as lost quite a bit of sharpness | 115, described as just as sharp as a utility blade after resharpening despite not being razor sharp when new | 115 to 155, described as did a pretty good job of holding a sharp edge | 175 g, sharpness score 200, described as not nearly as sharp as the Global despite seeming well constructed | sharpness score 265, described as not coming with a super sharp factory edge | claims Rockwell hardness around 57 to 58; the high-strength steel held up really well with only minor damage | experienced quite a bit of rusting, which the host attributes to the high-carbon steel construction, similar to the Global | host found this the most comfortable handle of all the knives tested |
How it was tested
- initial paring knife factory sharpness, measured with a Best Certified Knife Sharpness Tester (lower score = sharper)
- paring knife blade edge retention: 100 passes across a piece of Osage orange wood (Janka hardness approximately 2,500) with 10 lb of downward weight on the knife
- manual resharpening of all knives except the Farberware to within 5 sharpness points of each other, using progressively finer diamond stones and a leather strop
- paring knife blade edge retention after resharpening: 100 passes across a cutting board with 10 lb of downward weight
- chef's knife weight and factory sharpness
- Santoku knife factory sharpness (Zwilling excluded, no Santoku knife in that set)
- blade tip durability: dropped through a vertical pipe from 50 in height onto a hard surface, rated on a subjective scale
- handle comfort, rated subjectively by the host
- corrosion resistance: knives sprayed with a mild rusting agent of hydrogen peroxide, vinegar, and salt and inspected after about an hour, rated subjectively
“So which knife set is the best? Three of the graded areas were subjective, so I converted the scores into an A through F grading scale and did not count these areas for calculating the average finish. And the Wusthof came out on top with the best average finish of 1.8. It's a great overall set of knives.”