Victorinox vs Messermeister - Best $30 Chef knife

The Best budget kitchen knives

[onebackzach]

I own the Victorinox fibrox and I find it to be very practical in a food service/line cook type setting. I really like the handle because it's very grippy and the blocky profile prevents it from twisting in your hand when you've been cutting up meat and vegetables for extended periods of time or when the handle gets greasy or wet

[PT.mrit]

You're spot on the Victorinox needing touch ups every two weeks but the lower HRC makes it easy to resharpen and provides good practice. Also it's affordable enough that it doesn't hurt the soul when someone scratches it or leaves it in the dishwasher ;)

[DBCuzitis]

I bought Victorinox knives in 2020 and luv them: 8” chef, 5” chef/utility, and a 3 1/4” paring. I use the 5” the most - I am single and cook for 1 so only minimal home use. I also bought a Victorinox honing steel and they have remained sharp and efficient. They slice though veggies and fruit so easily, even the tricky skins like peppers (I clipped the tip of one finger cutting peppers in a university kitchen with a dull knife). They are not beefy blades so when I am chopping hard root vegetables I’ll usually use my bulkier IKEA brand chopping knife. My first decent knife set and I luv them. After spending most of my life sawing and squish-cutting food it is like a whole new world I didn’t know existed to use sharp knives. Thank you Burrfection

[MessermeisterInc]

We truly appreciate your in depth review. Thank you so very much!

[digitalspecter]

I use Victorinox with fibrox handle. I mostly just touch up it with a honing steel regularly. It stays reasonably sharp and would be an upgrade for most home cooks I know :)

[matthirn]

I have the Victorinox Fibrox and I find it to have good utility for the price. I have two other knives with harder steel and G10 handles that I prefer. It really is about how the knife feels for the individual user during tasks. Thanks for pointing out that within a class of knife there are going to be different characteristics that will be favored by different people.

[az]

I’ve never thought that Messermeister had the best steel, but they just feel “right” when I’m using them. The grip, the blade shape, the weight balance. The Victorinox feels too nose heavy and the problem gets worse on the 10” and 12” blade.

My daily driver chef knife through culinary school and a few years working in restaurants was a 10” Messermeister Park Place. I’ve owned it for about 15 years now and still use it at home. I own two Messermeister Four Seasons knives, a 10” cimeter and a 3” paring knife. Both of those are decent too, but I’m a lot less picky with those knife shapes anyway. My nice knives in my knife block are mostly Messermeister Meridian Elité. The 9” “Stealth” (thinner) chef knife feel like perfection to me.

I’ve actually given the Victorinox Fibrox knives as gifts to people who have garbage knives at home because I know they’re sharp, durable, and cheap enough that I can gift a few different knives without breaking the bank. As a gift I’ll usually give an 8” chef knife, 3” paring knife, 5” serrated utility knife, and 10” bread knife (measurements are approximate)

My advice to anyone reading is to test drive the knife, don’t try to buy it based on specs or reviews. Get what feels “right” when you’re using it.

[mr.samurai]

I have had the 10" Fibrox for 9 years. It worked in countless commercial kitchens and stays on the counter at home. It's not the fanciest knife, but to me it's impossible to best. I had also the Messermeister 8" wide blade four seasons knife. I found it at the thrift store. I used it for a few months at a job in lieu of the Victorinox. It was much heavier, for some tasks I think it was superior blue to it's weight. It has a much thicker blade that tends to "wedge " while doing vegetable prep, the tasks that you do 90% of the time in a commercial kitchen I found the Fibrox to be the superior knife. It wasn't quite as fancy looking but who cares.

[banluesak]

Thank you for the reviews. I have watched many of your reviews and greatly appreciated your honest opinions. Thank you and keep up those good works.

[Sleep_SDE]

Another great video. Have you tried the 6" Fibrox chef's knife? I'm curious about it as a utility knife/small knife for the wife but haven't seen any reviews of it at all.

[spamento]

I LOVE the head to head comparisons from a working chef/home cook where we get to see 'boots on the ground' results as well as a personalized review. You have both shown the ability to remain impartial and balanced, to share your bias if it exists and remain humble throughout. PLEASE keep these coming and PLEASE do one on sub $20.00 "Japanese" steel chefs knives we find on eBay and Amazon. Yes, I know, I should crawl back into my hole... but sometimes these knives are gems in the rough! Thank you Ricky, you ROCK!!

[psycholocke]

Hey Ryky.
i tried to sharpen a Morakniv with a Skandy grind. i found it difficult to hold the angle at the curved top. since these knives are very popular you might could give a lot of people some tips for sharpening. Thank you very much.

[simontili]

at the same pricepoint are Sanelli and Arcos here in europe. Ikea 365+ is superb budget knife, cost only 20€. It would be creat to see Ikea versus those more "premium" manufacturers like victorinox, sanelli, etc.

[Noobkx]

Episode should have been named "Best $30 Work Horse!" :D Might have been worth including a Dexter in this conversation.

[sanduliaka]

Thanks for the break down, I was actually just looking for comparisons online yesterday!

[boathe]

i owned 1 Victorinox Classic, a year later i got one as a gift, cant complain im very happy with them they see regular use even tough i have much more `fancier` knives

[rorilee]

But what is that beautiful cleaver one you're using??

[franciscolopez]

Can you review the Imarku chef knife sold on Amazon? Thanks

[MrMsal]

This is a great breakdown, also quite timely as I was just looking at both of these.

[Santiago]

I really liked this review. I'm not in a place where I can afford $100+ knives. A knife shop in Boston turned me on to the Victorinox series and I've never regretted it. They do dull quickly but from watching your videos and buying the right stones I can keep them very sharp.