Slicing knife

Slicing knives for meat

Looking for a good knife to carve a roast beautifully? A slicing knife has a long, relatively narrow blade. Its length allows you to cut thin, even slices with long, smooth strokes. This reduces the risk of a slice tearing or of pulling the meat apart while cutting.

A good slicing knife is therefore very useful for a roast, turkey or ham. The thinner you can slice, the more slices you will get from the same piece of meat. A stiffer blade helps you make neat, straight slices, while a flexible blade can be useful when you want to follow the contours of the meat or a bone.

Combine your slicing knife with a meat fork to hold the meat firmly in place while you cut. Want both straight away? Then take a look at our slicing sets. There are also special ham knives for carving large hams, with a long, narrow blade that makes it easy to cut thin slices.

Slicing knives for fish

You do not use a slicing knife only for meat. You can also use a long, narrow slicing knife to cut smoked fish into thin slices. Depending on the model, the blade may be flexible, allowing you to follow the shape of the fish more easily.

A good example is a slicing knife for salmon. Such a knife is extra-long, thin and often flexible, enabling you to cut beautiful, thin slices of smoked salmon with long slicing motions. Do you slice salmon regularly? Then also take a look at all salmon knives or all sashimi knives.

How do you choose the best slicing knife?

What should you look for when buying a slicing knife? First, look at the length of the blade. Choose a blade of at least 17 cm, so you can cut through a roast or ham with long strokes without having to saw back and forth constantly. For large pieces of meat, such as a turkey or roulade, a longer blade of 25 to 30 cm is often more convenient.

Then consider the flexibility. Do you mainly want to cut neat, straight slices from a roast or roulade? Then a stiffer blade gives you more control. A flexible blade is useful when the knife needs to follow the shape of the meat or a bone, for example with certain hams or smoked fish.

The steel type also plays a role, but how long your slicing knife stays sharp is mainly determined by how you use and maintain it. For example, always cut on a suitable cutting board and not on hard surfaces such as glass, stone or ceramic. Stainless steel is easy to maintain, while damascus steel stands out mainly because of its characteristic pattern and may have different features depending on the types of steel used.

Finally, pay attention to the handle. It should fit comfortably and securely in your hand, especially if you regularly carve large pieces of meat. If desired, combine the slicing knife with a meat fork to keep the meat stable and in place while cutting.

Slicing on a cutting board

Always use a good cutting board when cutting meat, because cutting on a ceramic plate or dish quickly dulls your knife's edge.