ZWILLING Professional S 8-inch Razor-Sharp German Chef's Knife, Made in Company-Owned German Factory with Special Formula Steel perfected for almost 300 Years, Dishwasher Safe

Why it's worth it

The Professional S is the classic forged German chef's knife, with a full tang, a full bolster and a blade ground sharper than older German blades. It's heavier than a Japanese knife, and that heft does a lot of the work for you on winter squash and dense root vegetables.

This is the knife we'd hand a friend who cooks most nights. It's forged from a single piece of Zwilling's high-carbon no-stain steel, so the blade, bolster and tang are one continuous piece. You feel that in the balance. The weight sits right at your pinch grip instead of pulling toward the tip, which matters when you're twenty minutes into prepping a big pot of soup and your wrist starts to notice.

Zwilling grinds this blade to 15 degrees per side, sharper than the 20-degree edge that traditional German knives have carried for decades. The practical result is that it bites into tomato skin and onion paper without you leaning on it. The listing puts the steel at 57 on the Rockwell scale after the FRIODUR ice-hardening process, which is the sweet spot most cutlery makers aim for: hard enough to hold an edge, soft enough that the tip won't chip if you knock it.

From our review of 8 zwilling knives and kitchen tools

What we like

• +This is the knife we'd hand a friend who cooks most nights
• +Zwilling grinds this blade to 15 degrees per side, sharper than the 20-degree edge that traditional German knives have carried…
• +Published knife testing keeps landing in the same place
• +The full bolster is the part you'll either love or grumble about

What to know

• –That full bolster runs all the way to the heel, which means the last stretch of edge never touches a pull-through sharpener or a…
• –It's also on the heavy side for a modern chef's knife, and the polymer handle is functional rather than beautiful