REASONS TO BUY
Sharp out of the box
Holds and edge reasonably well
Great price
REASONS TO AVOID
Finishing could be better
Babish High-Carbon 8" Review
This surprisingly good knife punches well above its weight in performance and value
Credit: Bradley Nichols
By Bradley Nichols ⋅ Review Editor ⋅ February 25, 2025
RELATED: The Best Chef's Knife of 2025
Our Verdict
The internet chef known as Babish has created his own line of cookware, including the Babish High-Carbon 8" chef's knife. For the price, we were pleasantly surprised by the quality afforded here. For those on a very tight budget, the Babish is a fantastic value and a very capable knife for the price — and looks like something we'd like to keep in our kitchens. Although it isn't the highest quality and our knife came with some manufacturing flaws, overall, we feel that for the money, this is one of the best value knives you can buy. See how it stacks up to the competition in our full chef knife review.
Our Analysis and Test Results
The Babish is an 8-inch stamped steel blade made in China. It comes with a polymer handle with an etching of Babish's stylized face on the end. I measured it at a hefty 8.3 ounces.
The Babish looks more expensive than it is and offers solid performance for most typical cutting tasks.
Credit: Bradley Nichols
Cutting Performance
The Babish pleasantly surprised us with its cutting performance. Despite some manufacturing flaws in the blade I discovered when I took it out of the box (which I discuss below in the section on Build Quality), once I cleaned it up, this knife was surprisingly capable.
The reported HRC (a measure of steel hardness) of this blade is 55. Our team in the GearLab measured it with an HRC of 51, which is still well within the bounds of what we expect from a quality blade.
Steel Properties and Construction Methods
| Reported Steel Hardness | Measured Steel Hardness | Blade Construction | Metal Type | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Babish High-Carbon | 55 HRC | 51 HRC | Stamped | 1.4116 German steel |
| Shun Classic | 60.5 HRC | 51 HRC | Forged | VG-MAX (propietary) |
| Victorinox Swiss Classic | 56 HRC | 54 HRC | Stamped | Not specified |
| Misen | 58 HRC | 53 HRC | Stamped | AUS-10 |
| Imarku | 57 HRC | 53 HRC | Stamped | 7Cr17MoV stainless steel |
Throughout several months of testing, I found that the Babish did, in fact, hold an edge quite well and had no issues with some common hang-ups like soft tomato skins and floppy basil leaves.
With a classic chef's knife shape, I was easily able to make precision cuts with the Babish — chiffonading some herb leaves and employing a brunoise cut on some onions and peppers.
Making the specific cuts we wanted for our food was no sweat using the Babish High-Carbon chef knife.
Credit: Natalie Kafader
Practicality
Despite its strengths, the Babish performed just average during my tests of this metric. It has the appearance of a pretty standard chef's knife, but the shape and weight of its handle held it back from being as dextrous as many others.
The surprising weight of the handle means that any grip other than your textbook grip becomes rather awkward, particularly during unusual cuts. I had a harder time doing things like splitting a butternut squash or breaking down a chicken, as the heavy, rounded handle of this knife just wasn't very secure in my hands.
With wet hands — from washing vegetables or fatty raw meat — the rounded handle of the Babish proved a weak point in its grip. The strongly angled, metal front end of the handle helped to stop the whole thing from twisting in my hands while breaking down a chicken and chopping a canteloupe, but my confidence using this knife was less than with many others.
Though a similar shape to other top-tier knife handles, the Babish handle wasn't nearly as adept at maintaining friction in wet or greasy hands.
Credit: Bradley Nichols
Ergonomics
The basic shape and style of the Babish High-Carbon are based on other high-end knives, some of which are also in our full testing lineup.
Considering the handle shape itself, everyone on our testing team thought it was quite comfortable to hold with many different grips — similar to the more expensive knives this affordable model is based on.
Physical Characteristics
| Measured Weight | Measured Spine Thickness | Bolster | Handle Material | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Babish High-Carbon | 8.3 oz | 2.00 mm | ✖ | Polymer |
| Shun Classic | 7.4 oz | 1.92 mm | ✖ | Pakkawood |
| Victorinox Swiss Classic | 5.7 oz | 2.20 mm | ✖ | Nylon |
| Misen | 8.4 oz | 2.00 mm | ✖ | Polymer |
| Imarku | 6.7 oz | 2.01 mm | ✖ | Pakkawood |
Its long handle gives a fair bit of versatility during normal cutting actions. Though it doesn't have a bolster, the front of the handle features a well-angled slope and defined edges that fit well in the hands of our whole testing team.
However, one significant drawback to the overall comfort and ergonomics of the Babish is the imbalanced weight of the handle. It is intensely weighted towards the back of the knife, and it felt out of balance when I was cutting. However, if you prefer to have the bulk of your knife gripped in your fist, perhaps this skewed blade won't bother you.
The Babish is a shockingly imbalanced blade, holding the vast majority of its substantial weight in the handle.
Credit: Bradley Nichols
Build Quality
Although the Babish is a solidly built knife, I found some significant issues with its finishing. Immediately after unboxing, I noticed several small patches of rust on the metal portion of the handle!
Additionally, the tip of the blade had a small but noticeable burr left over from the manufacturing process and was not sharpened or polished away. Fortunately, I was able to clean all of these things up with about 20 minutes of light work in our shop. However, receiving an unfinished blade rubbed me the wrong way, and it was by far my biggest complaint about this knife.
Once the obvious faults of the Babish were fixed, the Babish easily passed our paper slice test.
Several tiny rust spots were on the base of our Babish blade when it arrived. We were able to sand them off without any issue, but we don't think that should be standard practice for a good-quality chef knife.
Credit: Bradley Nichols
Should You Buy the Babish High-Carbon 8"?
If you are looking to save money, you want the look of a more expensive knife, and you don't mind potentially having to make a few fixes to your chef knife, the affordable Babish could be just the knife for you.
The Babish is shockingly affordable, looks good, and performed better in our tests than many other chef knives double its price.
Credit: Bradley Nichols
What Other Chef Knives Should You Consider?
If you still want a great value and aren't bothered by the unconventional looks, the Victorinox Swiss Classic is an upgrade you should strongly consider. During our testing, I found that it exceeded the Babish in all categories for only a marginal increase in cost — but it looks completely different.
Side-by-Side Comparison
Compare Babish High-Carbon 8" versus top competing products:
—Bradley Nichols
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