HexClad
HexClad Essential 6-Piece Knife Set
Five knives, including a boning knife, and a honing rod
Editorial review Reviewed 23 October 2026 How we assess products
HexClad Essential’s exact six-piece bundle contains five knives and a honing rod, including a boning knife rather than a Santoku. Independent testing found clean fruit, vegetable, meat and crusty-bread cuts. Its thick, substantial handles may be awkward for smaller hands. Choose it if you will use the boning knife and already have, or will buy, protected storage. Robert Welch includes a block; Wüsthof concentrates the budget on three preparation knives.
Key facts
Use these figures as a starting point. If a specification is critical to your choice, confirm it on the retailer or manufacturer page before buying.
- Best For
- Premium
- Format
- Knife set
- Knives
- 5 knives + honing rod
- Storage
- No block
- Cleaning
- Hand wash only
Strengths
- Clean fruit, vegetable, meat and bread cuts
- Substantial full-tang construction
- 20cm chef’s and bread, 15cm boning, 13cm utility, 9cm paring and 23cm honing rod.
Limitations
- Thick handles can be awkward for smaller hands
- No everyday storage block
- The presentation box is awkward for everyday extraction; plan protected storage before buying.
- The rod maintains the edge between sharpening sessions, not instead of sharpening. Hand wash and dry, and use a sharpening method matched to these blades.
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No. 6
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