Wusthof makes this Classic 5-Inch Soft Cheese Knife with most of the same strong features as the knives the company builds for tougher jobs. That means more control and more forgiveness from the blade, if you tackle just a little more than you thought you did.
Because soft cheese knives are meant for working with food soft enough to push a blade through, the job involves less cutting than other work. Keeping the knife sharp still helps, and this Wusthof blade of high carbon Solingen stainless steel can be kept razor-sharp easily with nothing more than a honing steel. Many soft cheese knife styles skimp on blade strength, and thin stamped steel blades actually do work well. Though this Wusthof knife does feature a thin blade, the strength of the forged pattern expands what the knife can do. The full tang construction and steel bolster of the Wusthof 5-inch Soft Cheese knife give the knife more strength than it really needs, but that’s never a bad thing. The knife is still light and easy to handle.
The large holes in the blade decrease the amount of contact between cheese and steel, creating smoother cuts with less distortion of the pieces as the knife passes through. These holes also weaken the blade, so the knife shouldn’t be twisted or levered as it cuts. The wide, pointed tip of the blade is used for scooping up soft blocks of cheese. Piercing blocks of Parmesan or slicing hard cheddars are both jobs for other knives.
Instead of being the oddball knife in the set, the Wusthof soft cheese knife matches the other serving and prep knives in the Wusthof Classic lineup and won’t look out of place if used with most other modern patterns. This soft cheese knife from Wusthof works well and doesn’t look cheap.
