MAC Knife HB-70 7 1.4" Chef Knife Review

When I moved out on my own after college I bought one of those knife blocks from walmart that had a bunch of plastic-handled knives of poor quality. Honestly, I am surprised I never injured myself. When I moved in with my wife (then girlfriend) she had a nicer block of knives, which greatly improved cutting. It's a Henckels International set with the "eversharp" chef knife with the small serrations on the sides of the blade so it supposedly never has to be sharpened. Except, it's just not that sharp to begin with. Sure, it's sharper than the chef's knife in my old walmart set but it's by no means sharp. A sharp knife is actually safer to use than a dull blade. It can be more dangerous when you cut yourself but a dull blade is more likely to slide or skip and you need more pressure to slice with that dull blade. A truly sharp knife with good balance will cut easily through almost anything with very little pressure. That means if you do accidentally cut yourself you are less likely to do serious damage.

I went on the hunt for a good home-quality chef's knife with a durable blade, good balance and a reasonable price. My wife told me I could spend as I needed to make sure I kept cooking good food for her. I figured the under $100 market would yield a good knife. The knife I chose is the MAC Knife HB-70 7 1/4" Chef Knife. I bought it on Amazon for around $60. (This review is not solicited.) It's a little shorter than most knives and slightly less expensive than other options I considered but it was the knife in my price range that seemed to have the best reviews.

One review I read described the knife perfectly. To paraphrase, the review analogized to what they say about a camel: it is a horse designed by committee. It's like a committee got together and compromised on a bunch of things they wanted in the horse and then you end up with this weird looking animal. Likewise, this knife looks like it was designed by committee. The handle is fit for a much larger knife and the blade is a mixture of the Japanese santoku design (with a stubby point and flat blade) and the classic western design (with a sharp point and rounded blade). It is meant to split the difference between the two styles while allowing the benefits of both.

The MAC Knife HB-70 is actually billed as a utility knife by MAC, presumably due to the length and the design. I was concerned that I would miss the longer blade of an 8" or 10" chef knife but I really don't. I feel like the blade length is a good fit for my purposes and I can maintain control on finer cuts. I don't have a huge cutting board so it's a good size for my use. If I worked in a professional kitchen where I spent hours with a knife then I would probably want something bigger. For my home use, it's pretty much perfect by size. The blade is slightly curved, which allows the rocking-type chopping and it is thinner than most chef's knives, so it can make fine cuts where one would normally need to use a pairing knife or fillet knife.

The MAC Knife is well balanced with a sturdy handle. Knife balance is an important aspect in leveraging the blade sharpness over physical force, which helps make fine cuts and have those fine cuts not include blood. The knife has some heft to it for its size, which also helps. The handle is pakka wood, which is a hardwood composite that has the feel of a wood blade but without the sanitation fears. The handle is nicely contoured and allows either a traditional grip or pinch grip without fear of slipping into the blade.

What I might say I like best about the knife is that the hybrid design, blade sharpness and ease of control has allowed me to use fewer knives in my cooking. I used to use my fillet knife and pairing knife along with the chef knife to chop different herbs and vegetables because the chef's knife has too thick of a blade to make fine cuts. The MAC Knife makes all those cuts comfortably so it's much easier keeping track of one sharp object in my workspace than two or three.

Overall, an excellent purchase that I look forward to using for years to come. I would recommend it for any home cook looking for a versatile knife to cut both vegetables/fruit and meat. It is not the huge, crazy chef's knife that many people pursue but at it's price point it is easily among the most popular and well-regarded knives.