10 Knives for Any Kitchen Technique, From Slicers to Dicers to Champagne Sabers

In these times of open-kitchen tasting-menu restaurants and nose-to-tail butchery classes, the knife has become a fetishized object—not just among culinary-school grads but on the countertops of everyday Americans. Amassing the ideal cutlery collection is a high-stakes prospect, fraught with questions about single versus double bevels and whether to use a cleaver or a meat saw to carve a whole hog.  To help you make the right investments, we created a compendium of expert knife picks, from oyster shuckers to steak knives.

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Photos by Bobby Doherty/New York Magazine

1 / 10
Carving a Goat: Nenox G-Type Sujihiki Slicer. This double--bevel style is long and thin enough to slice a full goat or pig cleanly, but thick enough for more mundane tasks like onion-chopping.

2 / 10
Butchering a Hog: Mound Tool Hand Saw. Home butchers looking to take apart whole hogs should try this saw. Easier to use than a cleaver, simply grip the handle horizontally and move back and forth.

3 / 10
Serving Steak: Laguiole en Aubrac Steak Knife. The straight edge is better for clean cuts into well-aged, well-marbled meats, which don’t need to be torn through so much as sliced.

4 / 10
Skewering Beef Ribs: Tramontina Passador. These sturdy Tramontina Passador knives handle almost like a small sword and are intended for Brazilian barbecue chefs.

5 / 10
Shucking Oysters: French Oyster Knife. This knife is strengthened with a full tang (an extension of the blade that’s hidden underneath the handle)—helpful for prying apart stronger shells.

6 / 10
Peeling Radishes: Shiro-ko Hongasumi Usuba. The usuba is made for the meticulous vegetable chopping common in Japanese cooking; the razorlike knife is perfect for slicing baby turnips and carrots.

7 / 10
Making Noodles: Suisin Inox Menkiri. For soba geeks, this is an essential tool, highly specialized for cutting long strips of handmade Japanese noodles.

8 / 10
Serving Hard Cheese: Boska Cheese Slicer Taste. This rosewood-handled, stainless-steel-bladed Boska knife is a formidable match for even the hardest Cheddar.

9 / 10
Sabering Champagne: Laguiole Champagne Saber. This polished sword continues the Napoleonic tradition of using a saber to strike a Champagne bottle and whisk off the neck in one fell swoop.

10 / 10
Serving Fancy Cake:ThermoHauser Pastry Knife. This 12-inch knife is made with a pointed tip, so slicing large cakes is easy and clean. Use it to remove a layer cake neatly from a springform pan.