A good butcher knife can last you a long time. So, make sure that you know what you’re looking for when you decide to make your purchase. There are different pros and cons to different models and types of butcher knives. This article goes over what to look for in a butcher knife, then covers reviews of a number of different models and knife sets, and why you might choose one over another.
What to Look For in a Butcher Knives
There are a few things to look for when choosing a butcher knife or butcher knife set. What are you going to use it for? Are you going to need a wide variety of butcher knives for a variety of use cases, or are you mostly doing the same few meat-processing tasks? Do you prefer a lighter or a heavier blade? These considerations are discussed below.
Context for Use
If you’re using butcher knives in a kitchen, your needs may be different from if you’re taking them out on a hunting trip or are intending them to be used in an environment that is more prone to being affected by the elements. There are a few considerations that you might keep in mind here:
- How often will your blades need to be sharpened? if you’re away on a trip, then something with a steel that needs less frequent sharpening may be advantageous.
- Are you going to be using your knives in an environment where they may be wet, such as a fishing trip? If so, a non-slip handle may be ideal.
- Will you need to be carrying your knives around? If so, a smaller and/or lighter set may be a good idea.
Think about what context you’ll be using your butcher knives in and what will work best for you.
Number of Knives
When cutting meat, there are many different knives that can be used. There are different types of butcher knives which work better in different situations. When purchasing a set of butcher knives, it’s important to think about what quantity of knives you’re looking for. If you only want a few knives, then a few basic sizes may work well. If you want more knives, then a larger kit that has, for example, duplicates of the same knives, may be ideal.
This may also depend on whether you’re looking to use these knives in the context of a professional kitchen, or to be used by a single individual or family.
Knife Weight
Some knives use a harder steel, which allows for less steel to be used overall, producing a lighter knife. Other knives use more of a lighter steel, providing a heavier blade.
Best Butcher Knives Reviews
I’ve used plenty of butcher knives in my time. This section contains reviews of a number of different butchers knives and butcher knife sets, their pros and cons, and some recommendations. Whether you’re looking for the best of the best, or a good, affordable set that will do the job, there’s something for you in this list.
Victorinox Swiss Army Field Dressing Kit
This is an excellent knife for any kind of meat cutting and processing, since it provides a wide variety of knives that can be used. One challenge that I run into when processing meat is that it can be difficult to do detail work, such as cutting around bone or skin. But, at the same time, you often want to use a larger knife to be able to cut bigger pieces of meat. This set provides a wide variety of knives, which solve this problem.
Additionally, this set of knives comes with a sharpening rod. This is a great add-in, since it allows you to keep these knives sharp without needing to pick up a sharpener separately. The sharpener works well; if you already have your own sharpener, you can use that as well.
All-in-all, this is one of my favorite sets of butcher knives. I would recommend this to anyone out there. This set of knives should last you for years to come.
Mercer Culinary Millennia 8-Piece Knife Roll Set
I tested out all of the knives in this set, and they were comfortable to use, sharp out of the box, and well-built. The bag is well-built, which is always a nice touch. This is a great kit if you want something easy to have on hand with every knife you could possibly need.
One thing that the Mercer does better than this product is that it seems to keep its edge better. These knives seem to need to be sharpened a little more frequently than that set. But, this is pretty straightforward. They come with a honing steel, and if you have a sharpener already, you can certainly use that to get a nice sharpen of the blade.
Regardless, these are overall good knives. They come at an excellent rate, and will give you plenty of bang for your buck.
Jero Pro Series TR 3 Piece Butcher Set
This is a great combination of tools to use for any kind of meat processing. The butcher knife is great for processing large chunks of meat, the boning knife is great for detail work, and the skinning knife is great for precise cuts. I used these knives fairly heavily and they kept up great, staying sharp and comfortable to hold.
There are nicer sets out there, but these perform quite well, especially considering the price. If you want a set of knives at a great price that can handle basically any meat-processing task, these are an excellent option.
Trusted Butcher Kitchen Knife Set
One drawback to this set is that there are almost too many knives, and some of them are duplicates. Since you of course have to pay for those as well, you might end up with some extra knives left unused. However, if you do need a ton of knives, this is a great deal. As long as you know that the quantity is good for your use case, then this could be a good option. If you don’t need quite so many knives, then check out some of the other options above, like the Jero Pro Series.
F. Dick Ergogip Butcher's Knife Gift Set
For the price, I was surprised that these are still decent knives. They’re reasonably sharp, and for the price, the product is a reasonable deal. Personally, I lean more toward the Jero Pro Series for a budget set of butcher knives. But, these are decent. If you go with this set of butcher knives, you’ll have no problem cutting meat, and they’re a good, fairly basic set.
Outdoor Edge Game Processor Hunting Knives
These knives are more like the kind of knives that you would take hunting than the kind of knives you’d use in a butcher shop. Of course, they cut meat fine. If you want to process big game or similar, this is a great option. If you’re doing more traditional kitchen-context processing of meat, you might want to purchase a more traditional butchers knife set.
Final Thoughts
There are a ton of great butchers knives out there. Whether you’re trying to cut a steak, a chicken, or something else, there are plenty of knives that will do the task no questions asked. If you want to narrow it down to one final pick, there are a few options and approaches. Out of the products reviewed above, I would recommend that you choose one of the following three butcher knives:
- If you’re looking for one of the absolute best butcher’s knives on the market, then look no further than the Victorinox Swiss Army Field Dressing Kit. This is a very high quality knife, one of the best out there.
- If what you’re looking for is a knife set that gives you a ton of bang for your buck, the Mercer Culinary Millennia 8-Piece Knife Roll Set is an incredible deal. This knife could even be priced a little bit higher than it is and it would still be a fair price. You’re getting a ton of value with this set.
- If what you’re going after is a knife set that won’t break the bank. but that will cut any meat you throw at it, then try the Jero Pro Series TR 3 Piece Butcher Set. You can tell that there are higher-end knives out there, but this set works well. A basic, reliable knife set will do the trick for many home cooks and families, or even as an extra set in a restaurant or kitchen.
So, which butcher knife is the best one in your opinion? Feel free to leave your review of any of these knives, or comments on buying a butcher knife, in the comments section below. If you have any questions about these knives, let me know! I’ll get back to you as soon as possible with a reply.
