A bread knife is a type of serrated knife which is designed to cut soft bead without crushing it. Bread knives are easily identified by having sections of grooves or serrations along a long blade edge. These serrations along the knife blade form individual small cutting edges that allow the knife to cut through the bread without excessive pressure or horizontal force. Some bread knives actually feature serrations on both perpendicular edges of the blade separated by a section of smooth blade which allow the bread knife to cut both hard and soft bread cleanly in both directions.
Bread knives are slender, long and straight and typically range between 6 and 10 inches in length. The serrated blade of most bread knives is offset from the handle to ensure the chef’s knuckles will not touch the cutting board when the knife has sliced through the bread completely.