I'm a Michelin-trained chef with 11 Guinness World Records — 3 kitchen knives I recommend for the average at-home cook

Yahoo

6 hours ago

A good chef's knife is an indispensable tool in any kitchen. A high-quality knife can tackle any sort of culinary task, from chopping herbs and dicing onions to mincing garlic and cutting proteins. A sharp knife not only speeds up meal prep, but it also makes cooking more enjoyable.
Unless you're a professional chef, selecting the right knife can feel daunting. What's better: German blades or Japanese knives? Is high-carbon stainless steel important, or will a less expensive ceramic knife suffice?
Wallace Wong, a Michelin-trained chef, content creator and 11-time Guinness World Record holder for speed slicing, says that if you invest in good-quality, durable knives, you only need two of them in your kitchen: a large knife and a small knife.
"If you buy a really nice knife, you never need to buy another one again," the TikTok star tells Yahoo Canada.
Wong, a Mississauga-born chef, has found internet fame — and landed his own MasterClass — for his knife skills. His most viral TikTok video has garnered nearly 150,000,000 views on the platform. Outside of social media, Wong has appeared on shows including Fridge Wars, Top Chef Canada, Chopped Canada and Bake it Possible. Needless to say, he knows a lot about knives.
Some cheaper ceramic knives are "actually really good," but if you want to get a good-quality, professional-grade knife, "you should budget for at least $100," he explains.
Whether your budget allows for $50, $100 or room to play, we asked Wong for his top knife recommendations for the average at-home cook — plus the essential tools needed to keep your knives sharp and well-maintained. Scroll below to shop his recommendations.
"If you're a general home cook or someone who doesn't cook very often, ceramic knives are actually really good because they're very sharp and they stay sharp," Wong tells Yahoo Canada. "They do sometimes crack and break [if you're not careful], but they are very inexpensive."
That said, "they're not meant to be sharpened or put into the dishwasher because they can crack," he warns. They won't last nearly as long as stainless steel knives, but if you're sticking to an under-$50 budget, "they're a good option."
The Vos Ceramic Knife Set from Amazon Canada includes three commonly used ceramic knives: a 6" chef's knife, a 5" santoku knife and a 4" paring knife. The set has more than 5,000 reviews on the site and a solid 4.3-star average rating.
"Zwilling has the Gourmet line and Twin Master line," both of which are "great options for under-$100 knives," Wong says.
"If you budget for $100, that's when you will get a knife that will stay pretty damn sharp." The problem with knives under that $100 mark is that they "end up dulling really quickly," he says. Then, you end up buying another cheap knife because the first one you bought is "too dull," and the cycle repeats.
The ZWILLING TWIN Master 9.5" Chef's Knife is made in Spain and NSF-approved (an NSF certification is a process that ensures products meet strict standards for public health protection). It has an ergonomic, non-slip handle and 57 Rockwell Hardness (a measure of a material's resistance to indentation).
"I am a very big fan of Japanese knives," Wong tells Yahoo Canada. If you're getting into "Japanese brands and Japanese steels, you're in a very good spot." A high-quality Japanese knife is "like a piece in your wardrobe that you can use every day — it can match everything."
"If you buy a really nice knife, you never need another one," he adds. If you're keen on Japanese knives, Wong recommends trying one from Miyabi.
Miyabi knives can cost $1,000s for a set and a single chef's knife will set you back a few hundred dollars. That said, if you're willing to invest in cookware, Wong believes you can't go wrong with Japanese knives — they're the "crème de la crème."
Miyabi's 8" Gyutoh Knife is handcrafted in Seki, Japan and features 48 alternating layers of stainless steel in a spark Damascus pattern.
To keep your knives sharp, "never throw [them] into a dishwasher or a drawer with other knives or utensils," Wong advises. "Either put them into a knife sheath or sleeve — something that protects the blade — or use a magnetic strip."If and when your knives do go dull, "a honing steel is what I like to use," he says. "It doesn't sharpen your knife, but it straightens the blade. As you're using a knife, over time, it microscopically starts to warp." Those slight curvatures are what causes it to dull over time. If you use a honing steel to upkeep your blades, "it will help a lot."
While a honing steel is excellent for daily maintenance, a whetstone is a handy tool if your knives require a little more TLC.
Wong recommends honing your knives every time you cook and using a whetstone every few weeks to polish your blades. If you do that, "you're more than good."
Similar to investing in a high-quality knife, a solid whetstone should "last a long time."
"I've had my [whetstones] for over a decade," Wong says. A whetstone is "what sandpaper is to a woodworker, [...] they fine-tune polish" your knives.