Our Rating:
4.9
MAC Professional Series MTH-80 Chef's Knife Review
Ranked #2 (Runner-up)
Best Knife of 2025!
Authors: Sharon L, Karly R, Danny N, Tommy L
Introduction
The MAC Professional Series MTH‑80 Chef’s Knife is the definition of precision-focused Japanese blade craft refined for everyday cooking.
After months of putting it through our daily prep routine, it proved so consistently sharp, balanced, and fatigue‑free that it locked in our #2 spot for best knives of 2025, just a half‑step behind our reigning champion.
Design and Build Quality
From the moment you pick it up, the MAC MTH-80 communicates a sense of purpose-built quality and thoughtful craftsmanship.
-
Construction: This knife feels solid, balanced, and perfectly assembled. The moment we first held the MTH-80, its exceptional build quality was immediately apparent, with no gaps or imperfections between the blade, bolster, and handle. It’s a testament to the manufacturing heritage of Seki City, Japan, a region synonymous with centuries of blade-making expertise.
-
Pakkawood Handle: The handle is crafted from a beautiful and highly durable Pakkawood composite. This material gives you the warm, comfortable feel of natural wood but with the added benefits of being incredibly water-resistant and stable. In our months long testing it did not shrink or warp, ensuring a secure and consistent grip for the life of the knife. The handle is secured by three robust stainless steel rivets, providing a permanent and confident bond to the full tang.
-
Welded Half-Bolster: This is one of the MTH-80’s most brilliant and defining design features! Unlike the chunky, full bolsters on many traditional German knives that get in the way, the MTH-80 features a sleek, welded-on half-bolster. This provides the perfect amount of weight for balance and creates a comfortable resting place for a professional pinch grip, all while leaving the entire length of the blade’s heel exposed. This thoughtful design means you can sharpen the knife from tip to tail, maintaining a perfect cutting profile over years of use.
-
Full Tang Construction: The blade’s steel runs the entire length of the handle, a feature known as a full tang. This is the gold standard for knife construction, providing superior strength, durability, and balance. You can feel the structural integrity it provides, giving you the confidence to tackle demanding prep work without a second thought.
The Blade
The soul of the MTH-80 is its blade, a remarkable fusion of advanced metallurgy and a hybrid geometry that delivers an unparalleled cutting experience.
-
Proprietary Steel Alloy: The blade is crafted from MAC’s own proprietary high-carbon stainless steel, enriched with elements like Molybdenum, Vanadium, and Tungsten. This special blend is engineered for a perfect trifecta of traits: it takes an incredibly sharp edge, it resists wear and abrasion for long-lasting performance, and it has enough chromium to provide excellent resistance to rust and staining.
-
Sub-Zero Tempering: A key feature that separates the Professional Series from lesser knives is its advanced sub-zero tempering process. After being heated to extreme temperatures, the blades are cryogenically treated. This sophisticated process refines the steel at a microscopic level, resulting in a grain structure that is harder, stronger, and significantly more wear-resistant. In our experience, the sub-zero tempered blade held its razor edge for months of rigorous daily use in our home kitchen, far outlasting many of its competitors.
-
Hybrid Blade Geometry: The blade shape is inspired by the Japanese Gyuto, featuring a relatively flat profile that excels at smooth, efficient push-cuts and slicing. At just 2.5mm thick at the spine, it’s exceptionally thin, allowing it to glide through ingredients with almost zero resistance. It feels less like you’re splitting a carrot and more like you’re simply parting it in two.
-
The Granton Edge: The iconic oval-shaped dimples, known as a Granton edge, are hollow-ground into the sides of the blade. These are designed to create tiny air pockets between the steel and the food you’re cutting. This helps to reduce friction and prevent wet, starchy foods like potatoes, cucumbers, or apples from sticking to the side of the blade, allowing for quicker and cleaner prep work.
Performance
The most celebrated, and frankly astonishing, attribute of the MTH-80 is its sharpness right out of the box.
-
Sharpness: This knife is incredibly, breathtakingly sharp. The factory edge is ground to a precise and acute 15-degree angle on each side, creating a V-shaped edge that is more akin to a scalpel than a kitchen tool. Our team was consistently amazed by its ability to perform the most delicate tasks, like creating paper-thin slices of a ripe tomato or chiffonading basil, without any bruising or tearing.
-
Effortless Slicing: The combination of the thin blade stock and the razor-sharp edge results in a cutting experience that is utterly effortless. It glides through onions, celery, and peppers with such ease that it feels like the knife is doing all the work for you. This level of precision requires a bit of a light touch—the blade is so effective that you don’t need to apply heavy downward pressure, which is a testament to its high-performance design.
-
A Tool for Technique: The MTH-80’s design rewards good knife skills. Its flatter profile is optimized for a graceful and efficient push-pull slicing motion rather than a heavy, board-banging rocking chop. In this way, the knife subtly guides you toward a more professional cutting style, allowing for cleaner cuts and greater control over the final size and shape of your ingredients.
Ergonomics
A knife’s performance is about more than just its edge; it’s about how it feels in the hand, and this is where the MTH-80 truly shines as an agile and responsive tool.
-
Balance: The knife is engineered for perfect neutral balance. The center of gravity is located precisely at the bolster, which is exactly where your hand rests when using a proper pinch grip. This makes the knife feel like a seamless extension of your arm, giving you incredible control and maneuverability for both fine detail work and high-volume chopping.
-
Lightweight: Weighing in at just around 6.8 ounces, the MTH-80 is noticeably lighter than its heavy German counterparts. This lightweight nature is a huge advantage, as it dramatically reduces wrist and hand fatigue. During long prep sessions for our recipe tests, the knife's agility and perfect balance made what would normally be a chore feel fast, fluid, and comfortable.
-
The Pinch-Grip Handle: Some may note that the handle is slightly shorter than on other chef's knives, but we found this to be a deliberate and intelligent design choice. The handle’s length and shape actively encourage the user to adopt a professional pinch grip, where the thumb and forefinger pinch the blade just in front of the bolster. This grip offers the ultimate in control and precision, and the MTH-80’s handle provides the perfect anchor for the rest of your hand while using this technique.
Long Term Use & Maintenance
Despite its fine, delicate edge, the MTH-80 is a proven workhorse that is built to withstand the rigors of a demanding kitchen environment.
-
Edge Retention: The true magic of the proprietary steel and sub-zero tempering becomes clear over time. This knife holds its incredibly sharp edge for a remarkably long time. For the average home cook, this means months of satisfyingly sharp performance before it needs to be honed or sharpened, a significant advantage that keeps you cooking efficiently.
-
Durability: After using the MTH-80 as our primary chef's knife for an extended period, we can attest to its remarkable durability. When treated with the proper care, it stands up to daily, high-volume use without issue. It’s a tool built for the long haul, backed by a generous warranty that speaks to the manufacturer's confidence in its construction.
-
A Simple Care Ritual: Like any high-performance tool, the MTH-80 requires a simple but non-negotiable maintenance routine to preserve its integrity. It must always be washed by hand with a soft sponge and mild detergent and then wiped completely dry immediately. Dishwashers are strictly forbidden, as the harsh chemicals and high heat can damage both the fine steel edge and the Pakkawood handle. This small ritual is a worthy trade-off for the superlative performance the knife delivers.
Conclusion: The Runner Up
The MAC Professional Series MTH-80 is an absolutely phenomenal piece of cutlery that rightfully earns its place as the runner-up for the best chef's knife of 2025. Its defining characteristics: breathtaking sharpness, effortless agility, and perfect, fatigue-free balance, combine to create a tool that is a pure joy to use. It’s a knife for the culinary enthusiast who prizes precision and feels the difference that a truly high-performance blade can make!
The MTH-80 is a modern classic that represents the pinnacle of function-forward Japanese design. While it was just barely edged out for our top honor, its incredible performance and thoughtful engineering make it a powerful contender and a truly exceptional choice for any serious kitchen! 🎉🎉🎉