Zyliss knives look great in a kitchen. The funky colours add a beautiful touch to a bland room. But do they cut well?
We recently bought four Zyliss knives. It’s for my wife. She’s the cook; I’m the eater. I would cook, but I fear ostracisation.
My wife loves the pink one. I like all the others.
I did some cutting tests to see whether they’d hold up in everyday use.
They’re fine knives; not top end, but good knives for average folks.
Let’s take a closer look…
Cuts well
Most new knives need sharpening.
It’s great if you can remove a knife from its packaging and it’s sharp enough to use, but that’s often not the case.
Zyliss knives are sharp enough to work well out of the box.
Is a sharp blade important?
I never sharpened my knives. If a knife didn’t cut, I applied more pressure. Knife sharpening was something tobacco chewing old men with bony fingers did.
Then a friend introduced me to the Lansky Deluxe, which I reviewed.
Since then I’ve never settled for a blunt blade again.
From the Lansky I went on to review the Warthog V-Sharp Classic 2, which became my go-to knife sharpener.
Once I started using sharpened knives, I couldn’t stand working with blunt blades.
Comfortable
Zyliss knives feel comfortable, if a bit small, in my hands.
If you have short fingers, you won’t have trouble gripping a Zyliss.
The plastic handle shouldn’t slip from your grasp either.
Funky colours
The four Zyliss knives we bought came in these bright colours:
- Blue
- Pink
- Green
- Orange
It’s enough to make any vegetable green with envy.
For those who don’t like bright colours, Zyliss makes knives with non-coated blades too.
Safe
Zyliss knives come with plastic sheaths.
When you’re done with the knife, give it a rinse and slide it into its sheath.
Now your knife won’t hurt tiny hands searching for things to explore.
Dishwasher safe?
These knives are dishwasher safe, but ANY knife will get blunt from being washed in a dishwasher.
It’s better to wash your Zyliss by hand. This ensures that the blade doesn’t make contact with other hard objects.
Cutting tests
To test the knifes, I cut pumpkin, garlic, tomato, green pepper and carrot.
Some disclaimers:
- I’m not a chef; I’m a tester of things. I don’t aspire to fast cutting.
- I’m left-handed, but in the vids I use my right hand for cutting. This is awkward, so please excuse the lack of rhythm.
- I worked with ink earlier in the day. Hence the black marks on my hands.
I got my son to video the cutting. He strung together some bits and bobs. Nothing special.
The goal was to show that Zyliss knives cut well, out of the box.
Zyliss achieves that goal.
Bristled knife block
Zyliss makes a beautiful black knife block.
But it’s not a standard wooden knife block with slots into which you slide knives.
It’s a plastic container filled with plastic bristles. You stick your knife in anywhere and it stands upright.
I’ve since learnt that they’re not the first ones to make a bristle block. I’m sure theirs aren’t better than other brands either. But it is a handy way to store knives.
You can pop the knives into the bristle block at any angle.
The bristle block has four holes at the bottom. If you did half a job of drying your knives, liquid won’t accumulate at the bottom.
Furthermore, you can remove the bristles from the container and wash the container.
Technical specs
Technical specs for the Zyliss santoku knife. Metric & Imperial.| Metric | Imperial | |
|---|---|---|
| Weight | 55 g | 1.94 oz |
| Length | 222 mm | 8.74 inches |
| Thickness | ~33 mm | ~1.29 inches |
| Width | 21.4 mm | 0.84 inches |
| Material (blade) | Stainless steel | |
| Material (handle) | Plastic | |
| Metric | Imperial | |
|---|---|---|
| Weight | 41 g | 1.44 oz |
| Length | 185 mm | |
| Thickness | ~26 mm | ~1.02 inches |
| Width | 21.5 mm | 0.84 inches |
| Material (blade) | Stainless steel | |
| Material (handle) | Plastic | |
| Metric | Imperial | |
|---|---|---|
| Weight | 46 g | 1.62 oz |
| Length | 222 mm | 8.74 inches |
| Thickness | ~26 mm | ~1.02 inches |
| Width | ~26 mm | ~1.02 inches |
| Material (blade) | Stainless steel | |
| Material (handle) | Plastic | |
| Metric | Imperial | |
|---|---|---|
| Weight | 95 g | 3.35 oz |
| Length | 275 mm | 10.82 inches |
| Thickness | ~39 mm | ~1.53 inches |
| Width | 25 mm | 0.98 inches |
| Material (blade) | Stainless steel | |
| Material (handle) | Plastic | |
Final thoughts
Zyliss makes beautiful knives. Your kitchen cause visitors to yawn? Zyliss knives bring zest to any cutting board with their bright colours.
Zyliss knives cut well, out of the box. You need to sharpen most new knives. Many people don’t know this, and many people don’t care. That’s why a Zyliss knife is a good buy. It’s sharp enough out of the box. If you don’t care about sharpening a new knife, the Zyliss is for you.
Zyliss knives are comfortable. The handle, made from plastic, feels good in your hand. The handle offers a firm grip and won’t slip and cut where it shouldn’t.
A knife for any cutting need. I bought the following Zyliss knives:
- Small cook’s knife
- Santoku knife
- Utility knife
- Paring knife
But they have many more. They even make knives with toned down colours, for those who don’t dig the dazzling.
Zyliss products have great ratings. You’ll notice that many Zyliss products have a 4+ rating on Amazon, from hundreds of reviewers. They make happy customers.
Zyliss also makes kitchen utensils, including tin openers, cheese graters, food choppers and storage containers.
Zyliss knives are lovely cutting tools, and they won’t rip a hole in your bank account. I recommend you get some.