Best bread knife to buy 2024 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 2024
• 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 overall bread knife: HexClad Damascus Steel 20cm Serrated Bread Knife, £99
• Best European-style bread knife: Opinel N°116 Bread Knife Parallèle, £32
• Best everyday bread knife: ProCook Professional X50 Contour Bread Knife, £34
• Best affordable bread knife: Sebatier by Stellar Bread Knife, £14.50
• Best blowout bread knife: ProCook Damascus Elite Bread Knife, £139
• Best bread knife for beginners: Victorinox Swiss Modern Bread and Pastry Knife, £51
• Best Japanese-style bread knife: ProCook Damascus 67 Bread Knife, £109

Best bread knife to buy 2024

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 (£31.50), Selfridges (£32)

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 (£31.50)
Selfridges (£32)

ProCook Professional X50 Contour Bread Knife

• Available from ProCook (£34)

Best everyday bread knife

Star rating: 5/5

This knife has a French styling with a European blade shape and is one of the more affordable options from ProCook. The knife is 25cm long and the triple rivet handle makes it comfortable to hold, with a nicely balanced weight between the blade and the handle.

The tapered front means you have a good amount of control when slicing, although we did find that we had to saw a fair bit when cutting our crusty sourdough loaf, especially as we reached the thickest part of the base. It's available as part of an 8-piece set which includes a glass knife block to show off your knives.

Sebatier by Stellar Bread Knife

• Available from Harts of Stur (£11.52)

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 (£11.52)

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 Amazon (£43.94), 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.

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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