The Shape of The Blade

A serrated steak knife has a jagged, razor sharp edge that resembles teeth. On the contrary, non serrated steak knives have a straight cutting edge that is designed to cut steaks more smoothly. To be clear, the best steak knives can either have serrated or non serrated blades. It is a matter of personal preference.

The Sharpening Process

A serrated blade is considerably more difficult to sharpen than a non serrated steak knife. This is due to the more intricate edges of a serrated blade. Those who use an electric sharpener on serrated blades, for example, risk ruining the sharp edge and should instead use a ceramic sharpening rod.

If you want to have the easiest possible experience when sharpening your steak knives, avoid electric knife sharpeners when sharpening serrated blades, and instead try to focus on using straight edged blades that are non serrated.

Maintenance Needs

Serrated blades may slice meat much more quickly out of the box and can make tougher cuts easily, but they also can dull much more rapidly than smooth blades that are non serrated. A serrated steak knife might be the best choice if you are okay with constant maintenance and less edge retention.

However, those who want to minimize the maintenance needs of their knife should instead get a non serrated steak knife with a razor sharp edge. Straight edge steak knives tend to hold up better over time.

The Size of the Meat

There are serrated and non serrated blades that can be used for cutting meat of all sizes and shapes. Serrated knives can be good for cutting through large cuts of meat, but serrated knives also typically have shorter blades than non serrated knives. However, this is not always the case.

Typically, a serrated steak knife will not perform as well when slicing big cuts of meat compared to a non serrated steak knife. As we will explore below, a serrated knife also creates much more trauma on the meat itself, making you lose more juice than non serrated knives would.

Fluid Retention When Eating

It’s important to note that those who like a juicy steak and want to keep all the flavorful juices intact when using a knife should consider using non serrated steak knives. Non serrated knives do a much better job helping you make a nice juicy steak.

Since the blade’s edge on non serrated steak knives doesn’t rip and tear through the meat as much, you will find that non serrated steak knives require much less trauma on the meat and help keep fluid in the meat when eating.

How Well Done You Cook the Meat

If you prefer to have juicy pieces of steak, you should use a non serrated blade when cutting the brisket into smaller pieces of steak. As mentioned above, the fluid retention is much better when using a non serrated blade.

Therefore, those who cook rare – medium-rare steaks should focus on using a non serrated steak knife, as this will help you keep the fluid inside the meat while cutting and enjoying each bite.

Ease of Cutting the Meat

Steak lovers tend to prefer a scalloped edge over a straight edge since you might not have to do quite as much sawing motion with a serrated blade as you would with a non serrated knife. However, there are exceptions to this rule.

A scalloped edge typically provides a sharp blade most ideal for slicing meat easily. Although it’s important to note that many non serrated knives can cut just as efficiently. In addition, non serrated blades tend to hold up a lot better over time and are easier to sharpen.

How Long the Blade Stays Sharp

Steak enthusiasts who are accustomed to cutting a perfectly cooked steak with a serrated blade might also be great when it comes time to sharpen serrated steak knives. However, as we mentioned, this is also typically a little harder to do compared to a straight-edge steak knife. Typically, a non scalloped edging will hold up the best over time.

The Cutluxe Artisan Series steak knife set is best for those who want to cut through steak quickly without any issues at the dinner table. However, you will not want to use a serrated knife like this for cutting large cuts of meat.

This is also a knife set. Therefore you will need to purchase a set of four if you want to use this serrated knife. This is the best choice for those who buy small steak cuts ready to be cooked and eaten. However, those who start with large brisket cuts should instead look at a longer non serrated knife.