Serrated vs. Straight Blade Knives

When it comes to comparing serrated vs straight blade knives, it’s important to know the difference between the two. It doesn’t help that manufacturers don’t always give accurate information in regards to quality and sharpness. Choosing a bad knife set could be a costly mistake, so it’s important you know exactly what you’re getting. Even the cheaper sets will set you back a pretty penny, so picking a set that doesn’t meet your needs or isn’t going to last could end up costing you a lot of money in the long run.

There are two basic blade types with a lot of minor variations between manufacturers within these two types. Serrated knives have edges with teeth and are rough to the touch. A serrated blade can be either a scallop edge or it can have multiple pointy teeth running along the edge. Straight blade knives have a blade with one continuous edge that runs the entire length of the blade.

Serrated knives are common in the cheaper knife sets, because they don’t require a forged blade for them to hold their edge. Many manufacturers of these knives claim that they never need to be sharpened. It would be more accurate for them to indicate they can’t be sharpened…at least not at home. If your serrated knives go dull–and they will eventually–they will either have to be returned to the manufacturer to be sharpened or replaced. This isn’t the case with straight edge knives, as you can sharpen them as needed.

Serrated knives tend to stay sharper for longer, but they don’t give as clean of a cut as straight blades do. Serrated knives, especially the cheaper ones, tend to tear through food inasmuch as cutting it. They work well to cut bread, which is the reason why you’ll often see high-end straight blade sets with a serrated bread knife. It’s also common to see straight-edge sets with serrated steak knives. One thing’s for certain, when it comes to cutting foods where you need clean, precise cuts, it is best to go with a straight blade.

While serrated knives are typically found in the cheaper sets of knives, there are a couple of high-end serrated sets that are every bit as good as the straight-edge sets in the same price range. One of these brands is CUTCO, which is a name most consumers are familiar with. A CUTCO knife set will cost you a pretty penny, but when it comes to quality, they’re top-notch. They are also backed by one of the better warranties in the industry, and CUTCO will sharpen any CUTCO brand knife you send back to them. If any of your knives break because of a defect in workmanship, it will be replaced at no charge, and if you break one using it in a manner it wasn’t made for, CUTCO will replace it for half price.

Because of this warranty and the free sharpening for life, CUTCO is the only brand of serrated knives I can recommend. The cheaper brands are usually made of cheap stamped steel and just aren’t built to last. If you want serrated knives, it’s best to spend the cash and go CUTCO. If you can’t afford CUTCO, buy a straight blade kitchen knife set instead. When you look at serrated vs straight blade knives, it’s clear that straight blade knives are the way to go unless you can afford a CUTCO set. At the prices CUTCO charges, there aren’t too many of us that can.

If you want to do more research, go to the kitchen knife set section