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Best Knife for Cutting Meat

Best Knife For Cutting Meat (Top Picks For 2025)

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When choosing the best knife to cut meat not, all kitchen knives are suited for the job. If you’re cutting cooked meat or slicing raw meat, there are knives that are perfect for each prepping task.

Unfortunately, there’s not really a one-job knife that can be used on both raw and cooked meat. Sure, you could probably get away with using just a chef’s knife if that’s all you have to hand. But to get the job done you really need the right kitchen knife for the job in-hand.

Best Knife For Cutting Cooked Meat

The best knife for cutting cooked meat needs to have a slightly flexible blade, not too flexible but not too stiff. Also choosing a slightly heavier knife will make cutting a lot easier as well as aiding in cutting the perfect straight slice.

For the best results try and use a knife that has a Granton edge. A Granton edged blade features small dimples along the length of the blade. This type of blade edge will allow the knife the effortlessly move through the cooked meat and at the same time letting the freshly cut slice fall away from the knife blade with ease.

Victorinox 12-inch Granton edge slicing knife

Victorinox 12-inch Granton edge slicing knife

The best-cooked meat cutting knife we have found is the Victorinox 12-inch Granton edge slicing knife. This kitchen knife has all of the must-have features of a cooked meat cutting knife and with a price tag that will suit most budgets.

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Best Knife For Cutting Raw Meats

The best knife for cutting raw meat has slightly different characteristics and features when compared to cooked meat kitchen knives. Choosing the perfect knife really boils down to what type of raw meat you are preparing. Are you only slicing portions or are you deboning a game bird? To help you decide we have picked out one knife for each task when dealing with raw meats.

Boning Knife

If you’re trying to remove bones from meat carefully, say from a raw chicken or a piece of beef, the boning knife is the best knife for the job and is a favorite with butchers, fishmongers, and professional chefs.

J.A. Henckels International CLASSIC 5.5" Boning Knife

J.A. Henckels International CLASSIC 5.5″ Boning Knife

The blade of a boning knife is typically flexible, narrow and comes to a sharp point to help you really get into small crevices. You can find various sizes but the most common boning knives tend to be about 5 to 6 inches (12cm – 15cm) in length, and this type of knife can be found in some of the best knife sets.

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Butcher Knife

Sometimes referred to as a scimitar or cimeter the butcher’s knife is perfect for cutting, slicing and trimming meat and is a favorite among butchers. The blade is typically 10 to 12 inches (25cm – 30cm) in length with a slightly flexible blade and should have a good grip on the handle.

Victorinox Cutlery 10-Inch Straight Butcher Knife

Victorinox Cutlery 10-Inch Straight Butcher Knife

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Meat Cleaver

If you need a kitchen knife to chop up large pieces of meat with the ability to cut through bones and sinew the meat cleaver is going to be your go-to kitchen knife. The cleaver is designed to be swung like a hammer and can cut through bones without cracking or splintering them.

For home use, the best cleavers for cutting meat tend to be around 6 to 8 inches (15cm – 20cm) in length.

Global G-12 - 6 1/2 inch, 16cm Meat Cleaver

Global G-12 – 6 1/2 inch, 16cm Meat Cleaver

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Wrapping up

Do you really need to invest in all of these kitchen knives for cutting meat? Not really in most cases you should be ok with just a good chef’s knife. But if you are a professional or if you prepare a lot of cooked or raw meat at home these kitchen knives are essential, and a must-have.

Andy Nash