R H. Forschner by Victorinox 10-1/4-Inch Curved Blade Bread Knife, Black Fibrox Handle Reviews

• Mislabeled product

  
  By A2AWVROFGSZU4E on 2007-08-17
  After six weeks of ownership of this knife (Forschner 40547) I can tell you it is mislabeled. It is called a "Bread Knife," but it should be called a "Bread, Meat, Carving, Sandwich, and Other Stuff Knife."
  
  Here's how I made a sandwich a few minutes ago. Use knife to slice large rye bread. Use knife to slice some corned beef into slices so thin you can't pick them up with your fingers. Go ahead and use same knife to swab some mayo onto the bread. Use knife to slice sandwich in half (duh). Use knife to pick up two sandwich halves from cutting board. That's five uses for one sandwich, and not one other utensil needed.
  
  The edge is still deadly sharp.
  
  The Fibrox handle gives a good, solid grip.
  
  The curved edge allows you to cut through only the very center part of a tough bottom crust. And if you draw the knife straight across, say, a slice of soft bread, the curve causes the knife to act as a guillotine as it enters the leading edge of the victim, which reduces tearing.
  
  Although I haven't tested it because my little brother does all the fancy knife-work at family get-togethers, my guess is that this knife would carve a turkey or a smallish emu just dandily.
  
  At a total length of 15 inches, this will likely be the longest knife in your collection, so I'm not saying it would be your first choice for slicing an olive. But if you can learn to handle a knife this long, it does a lot more than slice bread, and it does it well.
  
  My only complaint is that the top edge of the blade is also curved, so you can't use it to scrape a cutting board of its contents. But maybe there's a design reason for that that I don't know about.
  
  I wish I had owned this knife 20 years ago.
  
  Update of December 2007: The more I have this knife, the more I realize how often I reach for it first among the five knives I use.
  
  

• Excellent Knife

  
  By AF1ZGT1K3VTUK on 2007-09-27
  Excellent knife. Well balanced and exceptionally sharp. It cuts through hard bread and soft items easily.
  
  People not used to handling large knives should consider the 8" version of this knife as it takes practice to hadle such a long cutting edge.
  
  Although the blade is very thin and a bit flexible it's not flimsy.
  
  I have owned a Forschner Fibrox handled chef's knife for years and it's my everyday knife. This bread knife is equal in quality and will become part of my standard tool kit.
  
  
  
  

• Excellent bread knife

  
  By A1WQOWDOUVXFM8 on 2007-12-08
  This is a real bread knife, not an imitation "do all". I work for a retail food company and the research chefs recommended this as a great professional knife. The cuts are sharp and tight, with no tearing of the bread, even soft french bread. The light weight makes this easy to handle and the price is right. I came home from work yesterday and my wife had cut up a baguette without using the cutting board. Not a problem with the old knives. But now I have numerous cuts in the countertop. Who cares, the knife did great!!! I'm switching to marble this summer anyway...
  Highly recommended.
  
  

• Highly recommended by Cook's Illustrated

  
  By A3T5O5SGSQXWME on 2008-02-04
  Perhaps I shouldn't rate this knife because, though I just ordered it, I haven't received it yet. It was rated by this month's Cook's Illustrated Magazine. They were assessing serrated knives by testing how they worked on four foods: bread and tomatoes, club sandwich, cake, and sticky dough. The top choice (when considering quality only, not price) of the two "highly recommended" choices was Wusthof Classic Bread Knife, 10 inches, but that knife costs $79.99. The second of the "highly recommended" choices was this knife. It got top ratings on all four types of foods, just like the Wusthof, but is $24.95, according to Cook's. They gave it their "best buy" rating, which they give to their best choice, with price taken into account.
  
  There was only one "recommended" choice, which is their next level down, and that knife, the Viking 10-inch serrated slicer, was $108.
  
  I've never been steered wrong by Cook's Illustrated. If you're not familiar with it, they are a cooking magazine that uses a tests kitchen to test many varieties of a recipe, scientifically changing one factor at a time, until they get what they consider the ideal recipe. They also tell you at the start what the characteristics of the ideal recipe they are looking for is, so that if they are trying to get a crispy crust, and you don't want that, you can look elsewhere. They also include in every issue a scientifically-done assessment of some type of cooking implement or gizmo.
  
  

• Excellent Value

  
  By A3TO7Q9ZH0056K on 2007-04-05
  I've had several bread knives and this is the best. Forschner knives for the money are head and shoulders above their more expensive cousins.
  
  
• Forschner's bread knife
  By A21WXGW0AFTTQ0 on 2007-08-23
  
  Wedding gift in 1954, has never needed sharpening
  and is used every day.
  
  
• Favorite Knife
  By A6UG08V7FI8BI on 2008-01-14
  Christmas gift for 90 year old MIL with arthritis in both hands. Light weight, sharp, non-slip handles - she uses this knife the most. Slices with little effort. Great value.
  
  
• Outstanding slicer!
  By ATIPISO8N66BY on 2008-04-01
  Cook's Illustrated gave this knife top marks, so I bought it. They were absolutely right. Best tomato slicer, bread slicer, meat slicer I have ever used. Great price!!
  
  
• Best Bread knife ever
  By AKHD46W65OQ9O on 2007-10-30
  This is the best bread knife I have ever used. Great for slicing tomatoes also. I bought one for all my children as well.
  
  
• Best Knife Ever
  By ACYFS8E40O0YY on 2007-11-07
  The RH Forschner 10.25 inch Curved Blade Bread Knife is the BEST KNIFE EVER. I use it for chopping, slicing, mincing, carving - almost everything. It can be sharpened with a steel or stone and is cheap enough that when it lose s it serrated edge, just throw it away and buy another one.
  
  
• Comfortable, effortless
  By A1X4YV4FLE220T on 2008-02-26
  After reading a review of this bread knife in one of my favorite culinary magazines, I decided to order it. It's everything it was touted to be. I love it! I would recommend it to friends and may even get a few as gifts.
  
  
• Tremendous value
  By A4LBRD6T8RG5Y on 2008-03-07
  This knife will cut through a crusty bread with very little effort. The handle is comfortable and light, but well balanced. I agree with other reviews that the 8" Forschner bread knife is a great alternative if you are looking for something a little smaller. Overall, the Forschner line offers the best blade for the price, hands down.
  
  
• A Great Knife
  By A43GQVF1MRASD on 2008-03-19
  I read reviews about the Forschner and wondered, do I really need another bread knife? I bought it and realized that, yes, I really did! Slices very thin and even. I love it and use it whenever I can. I also use this knife to score the tops of my artisan bread before baking. My son used it and now he wants one, too.
  p.s. My other bread knives are history.
  
  
• Great Bread Knife
  By A2P4YGO8030C2O on 2008-04-10
  I highly recommend this bread knife.
  
  It works very well with the big loaves of gluten-free crusty French bread I make in regular loaf pans for regular size sandwich bread.
  
  
• Great knife, but huge.
  By A1WVB4993TVZDQ on 2008-04-22
  It's great for the reasons others mention. But be forwarned that this knife is huge. It's 15 inches long in total - more than my big 10-inch chef's knife. Most standard knife blocks have only one slot that would hold a knife this big, and that's the slot for your big chef's knife.
  
  My wife says this knife is way too big for her. She much prefers the Good Grips bread knife.OXO Good Grips 8" Bread Knife
  
  
• Professional cook
  By A2O2J0YNTP1DYF on 2008-05-14
  I work in a restaurant kitchen where I prep the entire menu daily. I've used the Fibrox 10" chef knife for over a year and am very satisfied. The 10.25" bread knife is a recent purchase that I use for tomatoes, romaine, squash and other items that must be sliced in bulk. This is a very good knife at a great price - not so expensive that I worry about damaging the blade but sharp enough to get the job done. Only downside? Because this knife is ground on only one side, the blade tends to travel away from straight line cuts.
  
  
• This is a knife you will mention in your will, so toss away your Bread Slicing Guide and buy now.
  By A2PYUSR9I60RDM on 2008-01-24
  After reading all the reviews I was skeptical at first.
  This knife slices better than my electric and any other knife I own.
  Using this knife I can easily slice hot fresh bread in quarter inch slices with almost no crumbs and without a bread slicing guide.
  
  I did see a similar Victoria Brand knife for ten dollars less, but don't you deserve the best. (Note: If I had the money to toss it would be fun to compare this with the other knife side by side, but I only need one good bread knife.)
  
  My recommendation: Toss your old bread slicing guide and knife away after you purchase this knife.
  
  OOPS: Yes the review on slicing the meat and making your sandwich all with one knife works also. Reading all the reviews first will make you confident that you are purchasing the right knife.
  
  
  
• bread knife
  By A7NMGO81QDMTZ on 2008-02-26
  this great bread knife slices easily through even the softest breads without squashing them, however it does not come with a blade guard so - be careful when storing it.
  
  
• Great knife
  By ADIU5X8GQMGQ4 on 2008-04-28
  This knife was recommended by Cook's Illustrated. It is very sharp and works great. It might be a little large for cutting smaller items.
  
  
  
• A good bread knife, but...
  By A1GG9TW3X6YTST on 2008-04-28
  This knife is light-weight, comfortable to use, and the blade cuts through bread easily without tearing it. The only problem is that it's beveled on one side only, which means that it naturally pulls to one side. I have to be careful to apply the right amount of pressure to keep it slicing straight. A disappointing flaw in what would have been the perfect bread knife!
  
  
• Great Knife!
  By A145P7IBZK29R4 on 2008-05-08
  I bought this knife based on the America's Test Kitchen/Cooks Illustrated recommendation. It does exactly what I need it to do. It slices through sandwiches on french bread without crushing the bread or dragging the contents out. A good knife is so valuable and this one is well worth the cost!
  
  
• Bread slices best with this
  By A287EKRXTMDZEU on 2008-05-09
  I have been using this functional bread knife at home for over a year and find it to be the blade of choice for many cooking chores, including carving large pieces of meat. Best of all this is a superior knife for cutting all baked goods, from angel food cake to hard, crusty artisan loaves of bread. It is a commercial quality kitchen tool suitable for many kitchen chores. When I recently read the COOKS ILLUSTRATED review of serrated knives I was happy to see my favorite bread knife getting the highest recommendation.
  
  
• Love it
  By A29457UYOR5DLK on 2008-05-19
  Great knife, good price. Have only had it a few weeks but so far seems like it'll be my favorite, I'll be using it a lot. Really sharp, cuts very well.
  
  
• Outstanding knife
  By A2U3PLXPA8S0YR on 2008-05-29
  I suspect that from now on, I will only buy Froschner knives. They don't look all that good, but are outstandingly engineered.
  
  We already had the very nice Chicago Cutlery 10" bread knife when I thought of buy this since the Chicago knife tended to "pull" to the left when I cut. This knife also has a slight pull but the depth of the blad allows for more control.
  
  The fibrox handle has a nice feel, though not as nice appearance as the walnut on the Chicago Cutlery knife.
  
  The knife is sharp and perfect for cutting anything from delicate pasties up to crusty European bread. It's a winner.
  
  
• Sharp, inexpensive, comfortable.
  By A15RCHXCEZ9JDM on 2008-06-09
  I bought this based on the America's Test Kitchen review, but was somewhat skeptical. When I used it I was completely won over. Best I've used, even though not impressive looking. If you want function over beauty, get this.
  
  
• A great tool!
  By A3KA5FEBTMTQMY on 2008-06-18
  I have been looking for bread knife longer than the typical 8" but also one that had an offset handle. I make some larger loaves in the oven but even my breadmaker loaves are a bit big for an 8" knife. The curved blade and long length of this knife make any size loaf workable. If I have one concern it is that when cutting a heavy or stiff bread the blade drifts one direction or the other. I have learned to compensate for that characteristic. For that I would deduct a star but, this knife cuts a whole lot more than bread. I use it for meat, tomatoes, mushrooms, or most anything in the vegetable kingdom and meats (but not bones).
  At $26 or so, it is a great value. I looked back on my Amazon purchase and found that I paid a lot less.
  
  
• 10 1/4" Forschner
  By A3JK209WF5GS6S on 2008-07-09
  Ordered this knife based on the reviews. It is a superb knife in every aspect - couldn't be more pleased. Am a Sr. Citizen with many "cooking" years of experience. Also, knife was delivered promptly.
  
  
• Add me to the rest of the happy people.....
  By A1U8VI6I2MFEU8 on 2008-08-12
  I won't write a lengthy review here because there are so many good ones that pretty much cover how great this knife really is!! It is an FANTASTIC value and I LOVE THIS KNIFE!! The quality is outstanding, and it is much larger than most serrated knives that I've come across, but takes less work to get the job done.
  What a great gift it would make.
  
  
• Great Knife
  By A2OMP1QGG3BHL2 on 2008-09-02
  I had recently acquired a taste for buying and eating extremely large loafs of bread from the local Andronicos and was in desparate need for a bread knife.
  
  This knife has exceeded my wildest imaginations, bought it based on all the rave reviews lauding the Forschner brand of knives.
  I feel it certainly lives up to the hype.
  
  
• Excellent bread knife
  By A2TVINOETUYBRO on 2008-09-03
  I, too, ordered this knife, as well as the paring knife and chef's knife, based on the review in Cook's Illustrated. It's light-weight, but extremely sharp and makes cutting home-made bread a breeze. It's also excellent for cutting tomatoes, much better than a chef's knife. The price is right, too, a real bargain.
  
  

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