Scalloped, Pointed or Offset? How to Choose the Best Bread Knife

Every torta starts with a cut. A bolillo or a telera has a thin, crackly crust and a soft crumb, and it has to be split lengthwise without squashing it flat or tearing the top away from the bottom. A chef’s knife pushes down and crushes the roll; a good serrated bread knife saws through the crust with its teeth and leaves the inside light. The same knife slices a sourdough boule, a sandwich loaf, a ripe tomato and the tres leches cake at the end of the meal.

Bread knives look alike, but they differ in the things that matter: how long the blade is, how many serrations it has and what shape they are, whether the handle is offset to keep your knuckles off the board, and how the handle feels. This guide compares eight serrated bread knives on those points, using makers’ specifications, the Amazon listings and America’s Test Kitchen’s published bread knife review.

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Quick verdict: which bread knife to buy

The table shows our five standout picks, one for each kind of cook. All eight knives are reviewed in full below it.

Five bread knives side by side

Blade and serrations for our five standout picks, as each maker, Amazon listing or America’s Test Kitchen states them.

Product images from Amazon. Specifications as stated by each maker or Amazon listing; usable blade length and serration counts are America’s Test Kitchen’s measurements. Check the listing before you buy.

Our picks for the best bread knife

These eight knives cover the main choices: long straight blades for big loaves, a curved blade, a compact knife for rolls, two offset knives, a double-serrated German classic, and premium forged and Japanese options. We judged each one first on bread, from crusty bolillos to soft sandwich loaves, and then on the other jobs a serrated knife does in a Mexican kitchen: ripe tomatoes, layered cakes and pressed tortas.

How to choose a bread knife for loaves and rolls

A serrated knife cuts by sawing: each tooth starts a small cut in the crust, and the knife moves back and forth rather than pressing down. These are the details that decide how well it does that.

1. Blade length

America’s Test Kitchen recommends at least 8.5 inches of usable blade, measured from heel to tip, so the knife can reach across a large loaf and still have room to saw. Listed blade lengths can be misleading: ATK measured 9.2 inches of usable edge on the 10-inch Mercer and only 7.25 inches on the 9-inch Mercer offset. If you mostly cut bolillos, teleras and sandwich bread, 8 inches is enough; for sourdough boules and long country loaves, go to 9 or 10.

2. Serration shape and count: pointed or scalloped

Serrations come in two broad shapes. Pointed teeth, like small saw teeth, dig into a hard crust quickly. Scalloped serrations are rounded arches with sharp valleys between them, as on the Messermeister, which the maker says keep the knife from skating while the valleys slice through bread, sandwiches, fruit and vegetables. ATK favored “tall, pointy” serrations and found rounded ones, such as the MAC’s, could skid on crusty bread. It also found fewer, taller teeth worked best: its top knives had 29 to 34 serrations, while blades with more than about four per inch, including Wüsthof’s double-serrated knife, were harder to use.

3. Straight or offset handle

On a straight bread knife, the handle sits in line with the blade, so your knuckles reach the board before the heel of the blade finishes the cut. A tall blade helps; ATK flagged knives with too little knuckle clearance. An offset handle solves the problem completely and is the easiest way to cut a stacked torta or sandwich straight through. The trade-off, in ATK’s review, is that offset blades tend to be shorter and narrower.

4. Handle length and grip

ATK recommends a handle at least 5 inches long, and found shorter ones, like the Wüsthof’s, hard to hold for larger hands. A textured or rubbery handle stays put when your hands are floury or wet with tomato juice.

5. Care and sharpening

Every maker here either says to hand wash or does not say the knife is dishwasher safe, and Mercer’s warranty excludes dishwasher damage. Serrated knives stay useful a long time between sharpenings, but they need a tapered rod or a professional service to sharpen. A bolsterless heel, like the Victorinox’s, makes that easier, according to Victorinox.

How we chose these eight bread knives

We started from what a kitchen asks of a bread knife: splitting crusty rolls for tortas without crushing them, slicing large loaves evenly, cutting ripe tomatoes and layered cakes, and staying comfortable through a stack of sandwiches. We looked for serrated bread knives from established makers sold on Amazon in the United States, kept only knives showing as in stock when we checked, and confirmed each specification against the maker’s Amazon listing. Steel and hardness figures are given only where the maker states them, and where a listing is silent we write “Not stated”. We read America’s Test Kitchen’s serrated bread knife review and cite its measurements and findings by name, and we say when ATK reviewed a different size or did not review a knife. We could not access Wirecutter’s bread knife coverage and did not read Serious Eats’ or Good Housekeeping’s for this page, and we have not used these knives ourselves for this guide.

We left out the Tojiro 240 mm bread knife, which was not available to ship when we checked and which ATK rated Recommended with Reservations for too many short serrations; the 10¼-inch Victorinox Fibrox, which was also not in stock; and several Zwilling and Messermeister models listed with low stock.

Slicing bolillos, teleras and sourdough

• Bolillos and teleras for tortas: lay the roll flat, hold it with your palm on top, and saw through horizontally with long, light strokes, letting the teeth do the work. Leave a hinge on one side if you like. Many torta makers pull out a little of the soft crumb to make room for the fillings.
• Pressed tortas: after pressing, cut the sandwich in half on the board with an offset knife or a long straight blade. Our best panini grill guide covers the presses, and a cast iron grill press does the same job on a skillet.
• Sourdough and country loaves: start the cut at the far edge with the tip, then saw toward you. Turn a very crusty loaf on its side to cut through the bottom crust first.
• Homemade sandwich bread: let a loaf cool before slicing, or the crumb will compress. Our best baking loaf pan guide covers the pans.
• Tomatoes: a bread knife cuts ripe tomatoes for torta fillings and salsa without crushing them, with the same light sawing motion.

Bread knife questions, answered

What is the best bread knife for sourdough?

A long blade with tall teeth. The Mercer Millennia 10-inch, ATK’s winner, has 9.2 inches of usable blade and 29 tall serrations; the MAC Superior adds a curved blade but its rounded teeth can skid on hard crust, according to ATK.

Which bread knife does America’s Test Kitchen recommend?

ATK’s serrated bread knife review names the Mercer Culinary Millennia 10-inch Wide Wavy Edge Bread Knife as its winner, with the MAC Superior bread knife close behind. It also recommends the Miyabi Kaizen and two 10¼-inch Victorinox models, and rates the Wüsthof Classic double-serrated, Tojiro and Mercer offset knives Recommended with Reservations.

What does Wirecutter recommend?

We could not access Wirecutter’s bread knife review, and we did not read Serious Eats’, Consumer Reports’ or Good Housekeeping’s coverage for this guide, so we cannot report their picks. The independent review we did read is America’s Test Kitchen’s.

What is the best bread knife for the money?

The Mercer Millennia 10-inch. It won ATK’s review and costs a fraction of most premium knives. For rolls only, the Victorinox Fibrox 8-inch is also inexpensive.

Is a scalloped or pointed serrated bread knife better?

For hard-crusted bread, ATK found tall, pointed serrations worked best and rounded ones could skid. Messermeister designs its scalloped edge to grip without skating and then slice, for bread, sandwiches, fruit and vegetables. If you cut mostly crusty bread, choose tall, pointed teeth.

Do I need an offset bread knife?

Not for loaves. An offset handle helps most when you cut all the way through something on the board, like a torta, a sandwich or a sheet cake. ATK found the offset knives it reviewed had blades too short for large loaves, so many cooks keep a straight bread knife and add an offset one.

Our final pick for slicing bread

Buy the Mercer Culinary Millennia 10-inch if you want one bread knife that handles everything, at a low price. Choose the MAC Superior for a lighter, curved upgrade, the Victorinox Fibrox 8-inch if you mostly slice rolls for tortas, the Messermeister Custom offset for sandwiches on the board, and the Shun Classic for Japanese steel and finish.

Want a bread knife made in Japan? See our guide to the best Japanese bread knives.

On a budget? See our guide to the best cheap bread knives.

Prefer a powered blade? See our guide to the best electric bread knives, corded and cordless.

Related guide: Bread knife alternative.

A bread knife is one part of a working kitchen; our Mexican cooking tools guide covers the rest of the kit. And when you would rather someone else built the torta, see the menu or call to order.