The Best Carving Knives
Verified by
Ryan V. Editor-in-Chief
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Three of our six sources named the Wüsthof Classic 2-Piece Hollow Edge Carving Set their best overall: Food & Wine, The Spruce Eats and Good Housekeeping. Serious Eats named it the best carving set after testing 17 knives, and Allrecipes picked it as its best gift. No other knife or set appeared on that many lists.
Most of the credit goes to the 8-inch blade. Serious Eats' Taylor Murray found the shorter length handy for bony roasts like turkey and chicken, where most of the work is small cuts around joints. Good Housekeeping's lab carved turkeys and chickens with nine brands and said the knife's length and weight (5.8 ounces) made it stand out. In Food & Wine's tomato test it went through the skin without sawing, and Jason Horn wrote that it "slid through everything we threw at it."
Its short fork matters too. Serious Eats preferred its 6-inch tines to the longer forks in the other sets it tested, because they kept the hand closer to the meat. Cold rotisserie chicken shredded a little when Food & Wine used the knife alone, then sliced cleanly once the fork held it still. Both pieces are forged in Germany. Wüsthof's own price for the set is $240.
What It Won't Do
Food & Wine says the polypropylene handles feel cheap for $240, and Jason Horn found their squared corners less comfortable than a rounded grip. Soft meat can trip it up. Allrecipes tester Pat Bernitt saw some tearing on warm roast chicken and had to saw a little through cold brisket. Good Housekeeping found the fork's faceted tines thick enough to leave puncture marks. If boneless brisket or prime rib is your main job, Serious Eats recommends an 11- to 12-inch slicer over any 8-inch carving blade.
Food & Wine named the Mercer Culinary Genesis 10-Inch Carving Knife its best value, and Serious Eats and Allrecipes both made it their budget carving knife. Three of our six sources settled on the same inexpensive blade.
Serious Eats points out that its blade is the same X50CrMoV15 steel Wüsthof uses. Food & Wine says the 10-inch length suits turkeys and large roasts, while the narrow, slightly flexible blade finds its way around joints. It even cut culinary twine cleanly in that test.
Testers liked the handle most. Mercer molds it from textured Santoprene, and Serious Eats found it "very grippy, even when coated in slippery substances like rendered fat." Allrecipes tester Angie Fuller was surprised how light and well balanced it felt for its size, and she plans to use it on smoked meats and slabs of side pork.
What It Won't Do
Two of the three publications that tested it found the factory edge dull. Serious Eats says it isn't super sharp on first use and suggests sharpening it yourself, and Food & Wine calls it not quite as sharp as competitors. The smooth, flat blade has no hollows, so meat tends to stick to it. Serious Eats also found the large bolster got in the way of its grip, and the short handle may not suit big hands. There is no fork, and Food & Wine notes that Mercer's matching Genesis fork costs more than the knife.
Who Should Buy Which
Wüsthof Classic 2-Piece Hollow Edge Carving Set
Best Overall at three publications: an 8-inch hollow-edge carving knife and a short 6-inch fork that keeps your hand near the meat
- Thanksgiving hosts who carve a whole turkey every year
- Cooks who roast bone-in chicken, ham or leg of lamb
- Hosts who carve at the table and want a fork that matches the knife
- Gift givers after a German-made set with a limited lifetime warranty
- Cooks who find 12-inch slicers unwieldy and prefer an 8-inch blade
Mercer Culinary Genesis 10-Inch Carving Knife
Food & Wine's best value carving knife: a forged 10-inch blade with a Santoprene handle that stays grippy in rendered fat
- Cooks who carve only at holidays and the odd Sunday roast
- Barbecue cooks who handle greasy smoked meat
- Anyone who already owns a carving fork or sturdy tongs
- Buyers happy to hone or sharpen a new knife
- Families who need a long blade for a big turkey