How to Pick The Best Knife for Cutting Sourdough Bread

Picking the best knife for cutting sourdough bread should be easy! With the right kind of knife, cutting up a loaf of sourdough bread can be a simple and painless, and even fun, procedure. However, many bakers aren't aware of how to choose the right kind of knife for cutting sourdough bread.

In this article, we'll take a look at how to choose the best knife for cutting sourdough bread, and then we'll go over some of the best options currently available!

What Type of Knife is Best for Cutting Sourdough Bread?

With sourdough bread, you want a knife that can pierce the hard crust, yet won't destroy the softer inside of the loaf. This means that you'll need a knife that is specialized for cutting hard-crusted loaves of bread.

There are a few different things to look out for when choosing the best bread knife for cutting sourdough, and we'll go over them now!

What Type of Serration Is Best?

All types of bread knives are serrated, which means they have little sharp teeth at the edge of the blade like those of a saw blade. This makes it so that bread knives can cut through hard-crusted loaves without causing too much friction, which will in turn tear up the insides of the loaf.

However, not all serrated blades are perfect for all occasions. The type of serrated knife you'll want for cutting the hard crust and soft insides of sourdough is different than the type you'd use for cutting a bread that has a softer crust.

Furi Pro Scalloped & Serrated Bread Knife 23cm

Furi Pro Scalloped & Serrated Bread Knife 23cm

Pointed Serrations Are Ideal for Hard-Crusted Breads

When choosing a bread knife that is ideal for sourdough, you should look for a serrated knife with pointed serrations as compared to one that features rounded serrations. This will help cut through the hard crust, as well as minimize tearing inside.

You'll want the serrations to be slightly farther apart than normal, as this will also greatly help minimize the friction when piercing into the soft insides of the loaf. The longer the blade, the better your sawing action will be.

How Thick Should the Blade Be?

The thickness of the bread knife you're going to be using is also important.

Hard-crusted breads like sourdough are easier to cut when you are using a thinner blade, as thinner blades better penetrate the crust without any risk of concaving it. A slight curve at the end will also help you deal with the crust when your blade is coming out the other side.

What Type of Material Makes the Best Blade?

As far as materials, most bread knives that you'll find in stores are going to be made out of stainless steel, but high-carbon stainless steel is preferable. This type of stainless steel lasts much longer than others and stays sharper for longer periods of time than traditional stainless steel.

When it comes to keeping a good sourdough knife, making sure it's always sharp and ready is incredibly important!

F Dick Premier WORLDCHEFS Bread Knife Serrated Edge 21cm

F Dick Premier WORLDCHEFS Bread Knife Serrated Edge 21cm

The Best Knives for Cutting Sourdough Bread

Now that we have a better understanding of what type of bread knives are best for cutting sourdough, let's take a look at some of the best bread knives currently available on the market it and see how they'll fare against a hard-crusted yet tender loaf of freshly-baked sourdough bread!

F Dick ActiveCut Bread Knife Serrated Edge 21cm

This bread knife has a straight bevel, but it's still perfectly capable of holding its own against a hard-crusted loaf of sourdough bread. It's 21 cm long, which means plenty of sawing power.

Its blade is made of a high-quality alloy that can hold its own against corrosion and wear while providing the perfect strength for cutting- this is an exceptionally shard bread knife.

F DICK ActiveCut Bread Knife Serrated Edge 21cm

Shun Kai Classic White Bread Knife 22.9cm

This bread knife is perfect for loaves of sourdough bread because it features serrations with a wider gap between them than normal. This helps prevent friction, meaning the soft insides of your sourdough won't get mushed and torn.

Featuring a high-quality blade with 34 layers of stainless Damascus cladding on each side, you can rest assured that this blade will hold up over time and stay sharp.

It has a slight angle to its bevel, which is preferable for cutting sourdough. It also has an exceedingly comfy handle made from a proprietary PakkaWood material. Its length is at 22.9 cm, giving you a wide berth for maximum sawing power.

Shun Kai Classic White Bread Knife 22.9cm

ZWILLING J.A. Henckels Pro Bread Knife 20cm

With exceptionally sharp serrated edges, this bread knife is perfect for cutting all types of hard and smooth surfaces and features the perfect build for holding its own against sourdough bread in particular.

It's made from high-carbon stainless steel for maximum sharpness and durability, and is uniquely ice-hardened.

Its blade features a slightly angled bevel, making it perfect for cutting into hard-crusted loaves such as sourdough. It's hand-sharpened and polished, with laser-controlled and exceptionally sharp points.

It's 20 cm long, meaning it isn't the longest blade on this list, but it still gives you more than enough length for sawing into an average loaf of hard-crusted and soft sourdough bread.

ZWILLING J.A. Henckels Pro Bread Knife 20cm

Tojiro Bread Knife 23cm

Hand-crafted in Japan, this may be the most inexpensive bread knife on this list, but that doesn't mean it can't hold its own against the competition!

This knife features an exceptionally thin blade that is perfect for penetrating the harder outer crust of sourdough bread, and is the longest blade on this list at 23 cm! That will give you an exceptional amount of length for maximum sawing power with even larger loaves.

This bread knife features a wooden handle and stainless steel blade, though the quality of the steel might not meet the exceptionally high standards of some of the knives mentioned previously. Still, this is a great knife for cutting sourdough, and will especially appeal to those who don't want to pay too much.

You aren't sacrificing much quality and efficiency for the greatly reduced price, but it might not stay sharp quite as long! 

Tojiro Bread Knife 23cm

There Are Many Great Knives for Cutting Sourdough Bread!

As you can see, there are many different bread knives that feature unique benefits for cutting sourdough bread! They come in slightly different lengths, and feature some varying materials for both the blades and the handles.

Depending on how much you want to spend, you may end up getting more use out of your bread knife in the long-run due to better quality stainless steel that will more easily retain its sharpness.

However, all of the products recommended above will offer plenty of easy and efficient cutting for hard-crusted and tender sourdough bread. Check out our wide range of bread knives here!