Top 10 Best High Carbon Stainless Steel Knife Sets 2025

What is a high carbon stainless steel knife?

Confusing – there are high carbon stainless steel knives sets and high carbon steel knives sets. What is the difference? As far as good kitchen knives go, high carbon steel is the best knife blade material for me. It is nearly indestructible and easy to sharpen with a sharpening steel or other honing tools. Once sharpened, high carbon steel holds its edge well, even with repeated use. But this comes with some disadvantages. The steel is not resistant to stains and will discolor if it comes into contact with acidic foods such as tomatoes or citrus fruits.

To solve this problem, stainless steel has chromium added to carbon steel’s basic iron-and-carbon mix. The chromium makes it stainless, so you do not have to worry about discoloring, corrosion, and rust.
So, if you enjoy cooking but do not enjoy the high maintenance required of some knives, this blade material might be a good choice.

Best High Carbon Stainless Steel Knife Sets

We tried to find something for everybody. Of course, you can not compare a $350 high carbon stainless steel knife set to a $59 set. We took the price into consideration as well, so you can find a good quality knife set for your budget. Let’s get started with the best High Carbon Stainless Steel Knife Sets:

Wusthof Classic 7-piece Slim Knife Block Set

You got me – I love my Wusthof knives. Made for over 200 years at the same factory in Germany. Perfected over time by expert knife makers. You will feel a difference!
The knives in this slim knife block set are precision-forged from one piece of steel. Cooled down quickly to get a stronger blade. They come with a full tang and bolster to add weight and balance. My old knife does not have it, but this set comes with their new Precision Edge Technology (PEtec) which gives the blade a better sharpness. The cutting edge is computer-controlled, so you can be sure to get the best quality. The blades feature a 14° cutting edge on each side. They changed this from the old design. The new angle and more tapered cutting edge reduce the drag when slicing through foods.
Traditional Wusthof knives come with a triple-riveted handle made of highly durable Polyoxymethylene. It does feel good in the hand!
These knives are so well-balanced, it is pure joy to work with them.

Now for the knife block. This one is designed to save space in your working area. It is only 9.5 x 3.5-inch.
The Set Includes:

• 3.5-inch Paring Knife
• 5-inch Serrated Utility Knife
• 6-inch Kiritsuke Prep Knife
• 8-inch Bread Knife
• 8-inch Chef’s Knife
• Come-Apart Kitchen Shears
• 6-slot Slim Design Wood Knife Block

Lamson 3 Piece Premier Forged Chef Set

The first thing you will notice when you look at this Lamson Chef Knife Set is the beautiful red acrylic handles. The blades are hot-drop fire-forged from corrosion-resistant grade 4116 German steel. This way they stay longer sharp but are still flexible. The blades are tempered to 58c Rockwell. They come with full tang and trip-riveted handles. The full tang helps to balance the knives. A curved and recessed bolster provides a seamless transition from handle to blade and supports the thumb for better safety. The design is very similar to the Wusthof knives, but the blades are not as round.
Included in this Set:

• 3.5-inch Paring Knife
• 6-inch Utility Knife
• 8-inch Chef Knife

Lamson knives are Made in the USA and have a full warranty against manufacturer’s defects.

Cangshan V2 Series 6-Piece Knife Block Set

The Cangshan V” Series Knife Block Set is fully forged from X50Cr15MoV German Steel with HRC 58 +/- 2 on the Rockwell Hardness Scale. This makes it not too hard and not too soft – great for everyday use. Cangshan is very proud of its heat treatment of the steel. Every blade goes through a precise 6 stage heat treatment. This makes the knives hard enough but also durable to keep sharp for a long time. They are sharpened at a 16-degree angle.
The full tang knife is perfectly balanced, and it is a pleasure to work with. If you scroll up again to the Wusthof and Lamson Knife, you will notice a big difference with the bolster design. The Guard of the Wusthof goes towards the front of the knife, the Lamson is straight and the Cangshan comes toward the handle. I love this cause it “locks” the hand and the handle together and makes the use of the knife very safe. But that is an individual choice.

The set includes:

• 8-inch Chef Knife
• 7-inch Santoku Knife
• 8-inch Bread Knife
• 5-inch Serrated Utility Knife
• 5-slot Acacia Knife block

Chicago Cutlery Insignia2 18-Piece Knife Block Set

The Chicago Cutlery Insignia2 knife block set features high-carbon stainless-steel full-tang blades with heavy-duty forged bolsters. This gives the knives a great balance. The handles are made from polymer and are secured with triple stainless-steel rivets to the blade. The design of the handle is quite good. The handle feels good in the hand, and it is super easy to work with the knives. The blades come with what Chicago Cutlery calls the 26-Degree Taper Grind edge. It stands for optimum sharpness, precise cutting, and easy sharpening.
There is a built-in knife sharpener in the block, which is quite convenient.

The set includes:

• 3-inch Paring Knife
• 3.5-inch Paring Knife
• 5-inch Boning Knife
• 5.5-inch Utility Knife
• 7-inch Bread Knife
• 7-inch Santoku Knife
• 8-inch Slicer
• 8-inch Chef’s Knife
• 8 4.5-inch Steak Knives
• Shears
• Wooden cutlery block with built-in sharpener

Chicago Cutlery gives a full lifetime warranty for the knives.

J.A. Henckels International Forged Premio 19-Piece Knife Set

This Zwilling J.A. Henckels International Forged Premio knife set is highly durable with extremely balanced blades. It comes in an 18-slot wood knife block with a Cherry finish. The knives in this set (except the steak knives, which are stamped) feature a fully forged blade. They are full tang and have a triple-riveted handle. I do like the stainless steel end cap with the Henckels Logo on it. The Chef knife is perfectly balanced and so are the other knives. You will enjoy working with them every day you use one tool of this set.

The Zwilling J.A. Henckels Premio Set has very good edge retention, and it is quite easy to re-sharpen.

Included in this set:

• 3-inch Paring Knife
• 3-inch Hollow Edge Paring Knife
• 5-inch Serrated Utility Knife
• 5.5-inch Boning Knife
• 6-inch Utility Knife
• 7-inch Hollow Edge Santoku Knife
• 8-inch Bread Knife
• 8-inch Chef’s Knife
• Eight 4.5-inch Serrated Steak Knives
• 9-inch Sharpening Steel
• Kitchen Shears
• 18-slot Wood Knife Block with Cherry Finish

Zwilling offers a lifetime warranty for the set.

GLOBAL Classic 4-Piece Knife Set  

Quite a different knife set – the Global Classic 4-Piece Knife Set. The blade is constructed of a single piece of steel, with a unique convex edge for better performance. To optimize the balance, Global fills the hollow handles with sand to achieve the desired weight and deliver the perfect balance. The handles are quite ergonomic, and the signature dimple pattern offers a comfortable, slip-resistant grip.

I have quite big hands and for me, the handle is a bit on the small side. My partner on the other hand side has smaller hands. She loves this set and Global in general. And she claims that they are way more hygienic than other knives since it is only one piece of metal.

The knives are made of stainless steel called CROMOVA 18 (Chromium, Molybdenum, and Vanadium), designed exclusively for Global. The blades are ice tempered and hardened to Rockwell C56 – C58 degrees. This will ensure a sharp edge for a longer time. The blades are hand-polished and have a 15-degree edge angle without a bevel on both sides. Think razor blade here. It makes it also easier to resharpen the blades.

A warning for people that want a sturdy blade. Global blades are quite flexible compared to other knives.

The set includes:

• 3-inch Paring Knife
• 8-inch Chef Knife
• 6-inch Serrated Utility Knife
• 8 ½-inch Bread Knife

DALSTRONG Gladiator Series Steak Knives Set

The Dalstrong Gladiator Series is beautifully crafted with lots of important details in mind. The high-carbon German steel (55 Rockwell hardness) is hand polished and comes with a full tang for increased resilience and robustness. The 5-inch blade has serrations at 14-16 degrees per side. You feel the difference when you cut your meat with this knife.
The knives have a tapered blade to improve hardness, flexibility. The design minimizes slicing resistance, with a rounded tip for unnecessary piercing. A satin-finished bolster adds additional finger protection while providing additional heft for balance.
The black Pakkawood handle is triple-riveted for extra strength, and it does curve for a more natural and pleasing grip, ensuring comfort and maneuverability.

Why Serrations?
Large serrations (micro serrations tend to tear at meat) are the ideal geometric configuration for steak knives for one very crucial reason: Most of us eat and cut our food on ceramic plates, which are incredibly punishing to straight edge blades. The unforgiving dinnertime dishware quickly and mercilessly damages, dulls, and break-down the edges of straight blades. Requiring them to be continually and painstakingly re-sharpened prior to use, involving considerable time and energy.
If you prefer to avoid the trouble of continually honing your steak knives, serrated is the way to go.
The Dalstrong Gladiator Series steak knives use large-size serrations to ensure sharpness but also durability and resilience, so they can be used for a very long time, without sharpening.

Victorinox Swiss Classic Knife Block Set

Most of you know the iconic Swiss Army Knife from Victorinox, but the company makes way more knives. Some of you might know them under the former importer’s name “Forschner” but know they called only Victorinox.
The knives are designed to handle both small and large kitchen tasks. Crafted with high carbon stainless steel, each knife is conical ground and ice tempered to ensure long-lasting sharpness.
The Handle is similar to its Fibrox Pro line. It is textured with a non-slip grip even when wet. The knives are weighted and balanced for easy handling. The Utility Knife and Chef Knive have long, sloping curved blades that “rocks” for effortless mincing and chopping. That is, if you like that kind of working with the knife – you do not have to.
The handle is dishwasher safe, but we highly recommend washing all your knives by hand!

Included in the Set:

• 3.25-inch straight Pairing Knife
• 3.25-inch serrated Pairing Knife
• 4.5-inch serrated Utility Knife
• 6-inch Utility Knife
• 6-inch Boning Knife
• 8-inch Chef’s Knife
• 8-inch Bread Knife
• 9-inch Honing steel
• Shears
• Hardwood block.

Victorinox provides a lifetime guarantee against defects in material and workmanship.

TUO Cutlery Fiery Phoenix Series Knife Set

The TUO Cutlery Knife Set is different from your regular knife set. It comes with a cleaver and what we used to call Chicken shears when I was young. Why? Because we used it to cut poultry on the dining table with it.
This full tang line of kitchen knives is using German X50CrMov15 stainless steel with HRC 58 +/- 2 on the Rockwell Hardness Scale. Most of the famous German brands use this steel as well. It is holding the edge very well and is easy to maintain. The TUO bladesmiths hand sharpen the edge with the traditional 3-step Honbazuke method. The knives have a 12-18 degree edge on each side.
The handle is made from composited high-density Pakkawood. It does fit nicely in your hand – even if you have bigger hands.

This set includes:

• 7-inch Cleaver
• 7-inch’ Santoku Knife
• 9-inch Bread Knife
• 8-inch Chef Knife
• 4-inch Paring Knife
• Shears
• Honing Steel
• Bamboo Knife Block

Emojoy 16 Piece Knife Set

This Emojoy 16 Piece Knife Set stands out. It does come with two Pakkawood knife blocks instead of one. So you can put the Steak knives on your dining table in the block and keep them separate from the big block. It makes sense to me since you will only use them to eat but not to work with them in the kitchen.
Let’s look at the knives – the blades are made from high carbon X50Cr15 stainless steel. This will make them more resistant against wear and tear in the kitchen and also corrosion-resistant. The full-tang knives feature a traditional Japanese D-handle that has a beautiful mosaic nail in the middle. It is one of the few sets that come with a Carving Fork.
This set is often on sale, so if you want it you might wait and check the price a few times.

Included in this set:

• 6.3-inch Carving Fork
• 8-inch Chef Knife
• 8-inch Slicing Knife
• 7-inch Santoku Knife
• 8-inch Bread Knife
• 5-inch Utility Knife
• 3.5-inch Paring Knife
• 6 x 4.5-inch Steak Knives
• Kitchen Scissors
• Knife Sharpener
• 2 Hardwood Blocks