Best electric carving knives

An electric carving knife can save you a lot of effort and time when slicing meat for a Sunday roast or Christmas dinner, as the blades automatically saw back and forth to cut clean slices of meat. However, if the power cable is too short or the handle is awkward to hold, it can be a real pain to use.

In September 2021 our researchers tested seven electric carving knives ranging in price from £12 up to £35, from Kenwood, Dunelm, Russell Hobbs, Judge and more.

Find out which is the most comfortable and easiest to use to ensure you can quickly carve up your hot joint of meat and serve it to your guests.

Pricing and availability last checked 8th November 2021.

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The best electric carving knives

Only logged-in Which? members can view the electric carving knives results below. If you're not yet a member, you'll see an alphabetised list of the electric carving knives we tested. 

Join Which? now to get instant access to our test results and Best Buy recommendations below.

Cookworks 2 Blade Electric Knife

Cheapest price: £21.99 available from Argos

Number of different blades: Two

Weight: 628g

Cable length: 115cm

Blade length: 17cm

With one of the shorter cables and lighter builds, how did this Cookworks 2 Blade electric knife do in our tests?

To find out log into your account or join Which? today to get instant access to all our reviews and Best Buy recommendations. 

Cookworks Blade Electric Knife

Cheapest price: £14.99 available from Argos

Number of different blades: One

Weight: 635g

Cable length: 115cm

Blade length: 17cm

This Cookworks knife is half the price of the other Cookworks electric knife in our selection, but could we tell much difference between them?

To find out log into your account or join Which? today to get instant access to all our reviews and Best Buy recommendations. 

Dunelm Electric Knife

Cheapest price: £12 available from Dunelm

Number of different blades: One

Weight: 603g

Cable length: 111cm

Blade length: 17cm

The cheapest product in our selection, how did the Dunelm electric knife fare compared to the rest of the electric carving knives we selected?

Read our full review by logging into your account or joining Which? today.

James Martin Electric Carving Knife

Cheapest price: £23.14 available from Amazon. Also available from Robert Dyas, Wahl

Number of different blades: Two

Weight: 650g

Cable length: 142cm

Blade length: 16cm

James Martin is a celebrity chef best known for his appearances on BBC and ITV and he's put his name to this electric knife made by Wahl. 

Read our full review by logging into your account or joining Which? today to see if it impressed us.

Judge Electric Carving Knife

Cheapest price: £29.95 available from Amazon.

Number of different blades: One

Weight: 716g

Cable length: 112cm

Blade length: 17cm

This electric carving knife from Judge was easily the heaviest electric knife we tested.

Find out how it was to use and how well it slices beef by logging in or joining Which? now.

Kenwood Electric Knife KN650A

Cheapest price: £21.99 available at Amazon, Argos.

Number of different blades: Two

Weight: 677g

Cable length: 127cm

Blade length: 17cm

Kenwood claims its electric knife can slice evenly and easily, and that it can be used to slice frozen loaves of bread without needing to wait for it to defrost.

See our full review of this knife by logging into your account or joining Which? today.

Russell Hobbs Electric Carving Knife

Cheapest price: £15.99 available from Argos, Robert Dyas. Also available from Amazon. 

Number of different blades: Two

Weight: 683g

Cable length: 123cm

Blade length: 17cm

Russel Hobbs says this electric knife has a 'thumb-tip trigger switch' which makes it incredibly easy to use. 

We put it to the test to see whether it's good enough for our recommendation. Read our review by logging into your account or join Which? now.

VonShef Electric Knife

Cheapest price: £24.99 available from Vonhaus. Also available from Amazon.

Number of different blades: Two

Weight: 653g 

Cable length: 152cm

Blade length: 16cm

This electric carving knife from VonShef has the highest price out of those in our test. 

But does more expensive mean better? Log in or join Which? now to get instant access to all our reviews and Best Buy recommendations.

How to use an electric carving knife

Most electric carving knives are remarkably simple and easy to use. 

If your electric knife comes with more than one blade make sure you select the blade you want first. 

It is also best practice to prep the workstation before you plug in the electric knife. 

Once it's plugged in you hold down the trigger or button to activate the blade. 

Instead of pushing the button directly down with the flat of your thumb, use the side of your thumb to avoid irritation and fatigue.

The motor inside the plastic handle will rapidly slide the pair of blades against one another to create the carving action. 

To cut a slice of bread or meat, take the knife to the food like you normally would, but instead of doing the carving motion yourself you just slice directly downwards.

Can an electric carving knife cut bread?

The short answer is yes. 

If you are a prolific home baker or prefer to buy your loaves unsliced; consider getting an electric carving knife to make quick work of slicing your bread. 

These kitchen utensils make quick and easy work of slicing bread and also make it easier to keep the slices straight and even. Some even claim to slice frozen bread.

How we tested electric carving knives

To find out which of the seven electric carving knives in our selection was the best we put them all through the following series of tests. 

Build quality

Our researchers examined each electric carving knife. 

They checked the products for any flaws and examined how well they're made. 

They also checked how easy it was to safely attach and remove each set of blades that came with the knives.

The best had easy to press buttons, clearly labelled or identifiable parts and had no sharp edges or gaps.

Cable length

We measured the cable length of each of the electric carving knives to see how much manoeuvrability each one gave us when plugged into the sockets.

Evenness of slicing

Each of the electric carving knives was used to slice up half a 1.5kg joint of well-done beef. 

These slices were compared to each other to see how even they were. 

The more even the slices the better the knife was considered to have done.

The best knives slid right through the beef without issue, while the worst juddered or slipped.

Washing

After being used to slice through the beef, the blades of each set of knives were soaked in gravy for 30 minutes to make sure they presented a more challenging washing-up experience. 

Despite this, we found no difference in how easy any of the blades were to clean. 

Comfort

Our team of researchers tried each of the electric knives and sliced through loaves of thick and stodgy rye bread.

They considered how comfortable each of the knives was to use while slicing through the bread. 

In the group, we had men and women with larger and smaller hands, left and right-handers as well as a researcher with a weaker wrist. 

The best knives had smooth slicing action. The worst knives, on the other hand, juddered, slipped and sent vibrations up our wrists and arms.

Durability

To test the durability of each of the electric carving knives they were each dropped five times from a kitchen counter (about 90cm off the ground) to a linoleum floor.

After they were dropped they were examined for any damage and checked to make sure they still worked.

How we chose the electric carving knives we tested

To find the electric knives we tested we looked for electric carving knives which were sold at one or more leading UK retailers. 

We purchased all the products we tested. No beef was wasted to bring you these results.