Despite the fact that F. Dick is best known for their honing steels, their knives have long been well regarded amongst professionals.
Although this “Z Knife” or “Offset Sandwich Knife” isn’t amongst their respected upper tier of forged knives, it doesn’t need to be. Like many other companies who offer “lower grade” knives meant for professional use, this knife is all about function.
It’s a simply made, inexpensive serrated knife meant for use in the rough and tumble world of a professional kitchen. Offset serrated knives are a fixture in professional kitchens everywhere and this one shares the same hallmarks as most of the others. It’s inexpensive and meant to be discarded in favor of a new knife when performance starts to wane. Chef, author, and TV personality, Tony Bourdain, waxed poetic about the virtues of the Z knife in “Kitchen Confidential”, saying that all a cook needs is a serrated Z knife and a Global chefs knife. While I usually draw on a slightly deeper knife kit than does Chef Bourdain, I can’t argue with his conclusions regarding the utility and functionality of the basic design.
The serrated blade isn’t a good choice for sushi or other applications where the appearance and quality of the cut surface is important, but for many other applications, particularly ones where you might be a bit hesitant to use a more expensive delicate knife, this is an excellent option.
Most importantly, regardless of how long you use it, courtesy of the offset handle you’ll never bang your knuckles on the cutting board. While this may not be a significant consideration for the home cook, when you have eight cases of tomatoes to slice, the benefits of the offset handle become very clear.
I generally prefer a slightly longer blade when it comes to serrated knives, including offset knives, but for the home user or the professional in tight quarters, the shorter 7″ blade would be a fine choice and will undoubtedly deliver when it comes to performance.
