Bread Knives
I appreciate using good knives. A good knife should be safe to use, be sanitary, make work easier, and adapt well to your personal style of cutting. For meat and vegetable prep I favor French profile knives (Sabatier-style/gyuto) and Chinese cleavers (cai dao) as these are what I grew up using.
I never had a preference for bread knives as it seemed that all but an electric knife would have various problems.
Thin serrated knives can bend while cutting hearty loaves, making a wavy, uneven cut. Tiny serrations produce a lot of crumbs. Some knives crush the crumb and others shatter the crispy bits of a crust.
I’ve used a Victorinox bread knife in the past and found it to be a great all around slicer but felt it was too thin for large, crusty loaves.
I settled on the Güde Alpha Breadsaw. With a 2mm spine and 12.5” blade length it seemed on paper to be up to the most difficult bread cutting task. Güde claims to have invented the serrated knife. This seems dubious in the long history of knife making but it speaks to the enthusiasm they have for their serrated knives.
I was bowled over by how well this knife cuts bread. It’s also a massive knife. The weight of the knife and sharp, large serrations help it cut decisively through large boules. It doesn’t shatter crusty bits but slices right through them. The amount of crumbs from cutting is significantly reduced.
Despite having a thick spine it makes thin, delicate slices with ease. The Germans know something about cutting bread.
I couldn’t be happier with it.
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