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The Chef Knife is the most important kitchen knife in your house and is used for slicing, chopping, dicing, mincing, and many other functions. The blade is curved to allow you to rock the knife on a cutting board. Most cook's prefer the 8" chef knife but many professionals use 10" knives since they can chop higher quantities. This article will give a brief description of the top chef knives we have tested for those looking to purchase one. Any of these would make an excellent choice.

#1 Misono UX 10 Chef Knife 8.25"

The Misono chef knife has it all. The knife has great balance, high quality steel, a very steep angled edge for super sharpness and a light, bolsterless design that is very attractive. Our only complaint when testing the knife was the tip was so sharp that the knife would grab the cutting board when laying it down. This is our number 1 recommendation. The knife sells for about $160 which is not cheap but we think it is worth it.

#2 Shun Elite 8" Chef Knife

This is Shun's flagship product and it is a good one. The knife is made from powdered steel and performed much better than their more popular classic line. The blade is clad with 2 layers of stainless steel to protect the look of the knives and you can see the demarcation of the two steels along the blade edge with a nicely patterned hamon. The edge retention was better than all the other knives we tested and we really liked the look of the blade. The handle was a bit large for one of our testers but many will like that feature since it ads some control. The 8" Chef knife costs about $200 retail.

#3 Hiromoto 210mm Chef Knife

We tested the Aogami Super line which is forged from carbon steel with an additional mix of Chromium and Tungsten which is added for edge retention and durability. Knife makers have to adjust the mixture of metal because hardness and edge retention do not always correlate with durability and ease of sharpening. Overall, we found the knife was the sharpest out of the box and was easy to re-sharpen. The knife has excellent balance, fit and finish. The knife is priced at $129 which is a bagain compared to the other knives we reviewed.

#4 Hattori KF Chef Knife 8.25"

This was a close call since we like several parts of this knife better than the Misono above. The handle was the best we tested. Hattori uses a Micarta black lined material which is impervious to moisture. The blade is razor sharp and is made from high quality VG-10 Cobalt steel which performed great in our slicing tests and held its edge for a very long time. Balance was perfect and the knife comes in a very attractive gift box. Price is an issue with this knife. The 8.25" Chef costs about $250.

#5 Masamoto VG 8.25" Chef Knife

Masamoto is well known in Japan but not so in the United States. That is because they primarily make traditional Japanese knives. Their VG series was developed to appeal to the western market with typical western 3 rivet handles and blade designs. We found these knives to be a slight step down from the first 3 listed but they are still better than any German knife we have tested over the years and better than many Japanese Knives as well. The steel quality is excellent which is evident after using the knife for about a month. The edge retained its sharpness throughout our testing period. The balance was excellent and the handle design was good. At about $135 this is the least expensive of the knives listed here and we think it is an excellent value.