Offset serrated bread knives aren’t as flashy as fancy chef’s knives, but you definitely want a nice one in your kitchen. They present a simple twist on the traditional bread knife design in the form of an unusually shaped blade.
By placing the serration at an “offset” from your hand, these knives ensure that you can press the knife flush with your cutting board without hitting your knuckles on the board as well. This makes them more comfortable to use in any setting, professional or personal.
In many cases, you don’t have to spend a lot of money to get a wonderful offset serrated knife that will suit your needs. Want proof? Here’s a carefully chosen selection of some of the very best offset serrated knives on the market. These knives are sharp, durable, and incredibly affordable, giving you the power of comfort while slicing bread, vegetables, and more for just a few dollars.
Best Serrated Knife – Offset Serrated Knives For The Home and Professional Kitchen
* F-Dick Offset Serrated Knife
If you’re not looking to spend a fortune, the F DICK Pro-Dynamic Offset Bread Knife is a solid option for anyone looking for a serrated steel knife. It’s made of simple stainless steel with a plastic handle to make cleaning and disinfecting this knife easy. Recommended by both pro chef Anthony Bourdain and hundreds of satisfied customers, the F-Dick offset knife will almost certainly last for many years in your kitchen.
The primary feature that separates this bread knife from other large serrated knives is the curve at the end. The blade and the handle are parallel still, but the curve puts the serrated edge of this knife much closer to the cutting board than the blade on a conventional serrated knife or bread knife. This is a simple convenience feature that brilliantly gives you more cutting options.
Your knuckles won’t touch the cutting board when you use the full length of this knife to effortlessly saw through bread, vegetables, other baked goods, or even meat. This is a pretty big difference if you find yourself using your serrated knives a lot. It might not seem like a big deal now, but after a few weeks with this knife, you’ll wonder how you ever got by.
What makes the F-Dick so special?
Of course, every offset serrated knife on the market shares this feature. In my mind, the F-Dick offers a blend of two features: quality and affordability. It’s made from a solid alloy and carefully crafted to have a reliable serrated edge that will last for years without sharpening. The handle is comfortable, solid, and non-slip, making it ideal for prolonged cutting or use with wet hands.
Admittedly, all of these features would still be somewhat mediocre were it not for the incredibly low price of the F-Dick. It’s not the cheapest option around (especially at 7”), but it’s nowhere near as expensive as most options that offer this level of quality. The high level of customer satisfaction that this knife achieves is a great reflection of how its excellent performance and great durability work together to make the F-Dick a great choice.
I’m not going to spend a lot of time talking about how well this knife cuts for the simple fact that it’s serrated. Most serrated knives perform pretty comparably. It’s not going to make paper thin cuts in an overripe tomato, of course, but it won’t need to be sharpened very often (most home users can probably get away with never sharpening this knife) and it does cut effortlessly through crusty bread and other hard objects.
It’ll even make fairly thin tomato slices if you’re careful and patient. Again, these features are all pretty standard for serrated knives.
As I’ve said before, I think the combination of high quality and low cost make the F-Dick a great starting point in your search for the perfect offset serrated knife. It’s not my absolute favorite, however.
I think the comparably-priced Victorinox below is a slightly better buy for most people looking for a budget knife, and I think that the DALSTRONG and Wusthof options on this page are definitely worth considering if you’re willing to spend more. It’s a great buy overall, but I think it’s slightly outclassed a lot of the time, especially when other options are on an online sale.
* Victorinox Offset Serrated Knife
Anthony Bourdain might recommend that you use the F-Dick above, but chances are that the employees in his restaurants actually use Victorinox knives. The legendary Swiss manufacturer, also famous for their multi-tools, produces some of the most popular knives among line cooks and other culinary professionals. They specialize in the manufacture of affordable, high-quality knives, giving people who work in the food industry access to great NSF-certified knives.
This 9-inch offset serrated bread knife is no exception. It’s got a non-slip ergonomic handle made from fibrox, a dishwasher safe NSF-certified material that holds up to the abuse of professional kitchens.
The blade is made from a particularly high carbon blend of stainless steel that’s easy to sharpen and maintains an edge for a long time. It’s still priced quite affordably, making it an excellent budget option for home and professional chefs alike.
Like the other options on this page, this serrated knife can go for many years without sharpening in a home setting and cut pretty darn well. It also features a prominent offset handle that enables you to touch a cutting board with the full length of the blade while keeping your knuckles clear of the board.
Overall, I think that this knife slightly edges out the F-Dick in most cases. It’s roughly the same price, it’s a bit longer, and Victorinox is an incredibly trusted brand with a long history of quality products. I don’t think it beats the F-Dick by a huge margin, but this would be my choice if I had to pick an offset serrated knife on a tight budget.
* Wusthof Offset Serrated Knife
For those of you willing to spend a bit more, this Wusthof Classic serrated knife delivers killer performance and carries the weight of the Wusthof brand. It’s a great option for someone who wants a knife with a generous lifetime warranty or someone who wants a knife that matches the rest of their fancy Wusthof knife block.
Wusthof is a well-known German manufacturer of high-quality kitchen knives.
This knife is no exception. It’s carefully forged from high-quality steel that holds an edge incredibly well. Wusthof is an industry titan in the higher-end knife market, and their steel is one of the key factors that’s helped them hold onto that position for literal centuries.
One of the big things that separate this knife from the other knives on this page is the appearance. While it’s an offset knife to some extent, the blade is less obviously wiggly than the other options. Instead, a slight curve and a taller blade give you the knuckle clearance you need to touch the knife to the cutting board while keeping your knuckles clear.
The other big difference has to do with the construction of the blade itself. This knife is forged, not stamped, which means that it’s got quite a lot more metal in the tail end of the blade. This contributes to better balance and arguably makes the blade a bit more durable, although this seems to be a pretty small factor in practice.
Once you get the Wusthof in your hand, you’ll feel the quality and care that have gone into its construction. It’s a clear cut above the cheaper knives on this page as far as feel and aesthetics go. It’s not hugely different as far as cutting goes, however, especially if you don’t pay a professional to sharpen it.
Whether the appearance and balance are worth the cost upgrade is up to you. Personally, I’m very much on the fence about this Wusthof. It’s a great knife for sure, and it’s an excellent option to round out any fancy knife block. On the other hand, it costs considerably more than other options that are fairly comparable in terms of raw cutting performance. It’s a great choice for households where money isn’t as much of an issue, but it’s definitely safe to skip if you’re on a tighter budget.
* DALSTRONG Offset Serrated Knife
The DALSTRONG Gladiator series features aesthetically brilliant forged knives that are made from high-quality German steel. Although they’re a newer brand, their customer care, attention to detail, and incredible packaging have made them a favorite brand among knife enthusiasts and reviewers over the last several years.
This DALSTRONG offset serrated knife is a great option for people who are willing to spend a little bit more to get a knife that’s nicer looking, better balanced, and arguably slightly better at cutting things than the cheaper options below. Unlike the Wusthof, however, this DALSTRONG is still priced quite competitively, making it a much easier choice to justify.
DALSTRONG claims that this offset knife can be used to cut tomatoes, pineapple, watermelon, and more. It’s excellent at precisely slicing pretty much any baked item, including bread and bagels, making it an excellent choice for anyone who enjoys thick-crusted artisanal bread.
Like the other knives on this list, the serrated blade won’t need regular sharpening, while the offset handle ensures your knuckles won’t hit the cutting board at any point while you cut.
For me, DALSTRONG’s superior presentation, packaging, fit, and finish all help this knife to stand out. The black Pakkawood handle looks excellent, even if it is basically just a mix of cheap wood and resin. The polished blade proudly sports the DALSTRONG logo, giving the knife a bit of class, while the forged steel helps to accent the handle, give the knife some weight, and protect your fingers with a beefy bolster.
It’s a great combination of features, especially for a knife that’s this cheap.
When you combine these benefits with DALSTRONG’s generous warranty and customer care, I think that this knife edges out the competition for most budgets that will fit it. It’s not quite as cheap as some options, sure, but I’m willing to pay a few dollars for a more attractive, better balanced knife that will last pretty much forever. This makes the DALSTRONG Gladiator 8” Serrated Knife my personal top choice of offset serrated knife.
Serrated Knife Uses – Getting The Most Out Of Your Offset Serrated Knife
Serrated knives can cut pretty much anything. While they’re brilliant for bread and hard fruits (like watermelons), you’ll often see top chefs use a big 12” serrated knife to cut their brisket. Many cooks use serrated knives to cut tomatoes and other soft foods, too.
The big factor that separates serrated knives from traditional slicers is precision. When you choose a serrated knife, you give up a bit of fine control to have a blade that effortlessly cuts through hard things (like watermelon rind or bread crust).
A serrated knife doesn’t necessarily cut as much as it saws through food, meaning that a tomato slice that’s too thin will disintegrate into a mushy mess. Make the slice a little bit thicker, however, and things will come out beautiful again.
There are a few things that you can’t use a serrated knife for.
Those things mostly involve fine cuts of soft foods. If you want to julienne herbs or make paper-thin tomato slices, you’ll want a very sharp traditional blade. A big ol’ 8” offset serrated knife probably shouldn’t be used for paring small fruits, either, but that’s just common sense. Other than those big concerns, you can pretty much use a serrated knife for anything.
The Best Offset Serrated Knife – Making Sliced Bread A Piece Of Cake
If you’re a big fan of thick-crusted bread, you frequently carve large pieces of meat, or you simply want a nice serrated knife to round out your collection, the offset serrated knives above are great options that will keep your knuckles clear of the cutting board.
The F-Dick and Victorinox are solid budget options that deliver impressive quality for an incredibly small price, while the DALSTRONG and Wusthof offer better feel, balance, and aesthetics for a few dollars more. These blades will help make slicing your favorite foods easier, making it even more fun to enjoy eating delicious meals.
