A friend, knowing my interest in knives and growing interest in cooking, introduced me to the large “Serbian Chef Knife” via the AlmazanKitchen cooking channel on YouTube. Although the recipes and cooking were entertaining (it’s a popular channel), I was more intrigued by their very large chef’s knife which looks like a rounded off cleaver. Thinking to purchase one, I discovered that it carried a very expensive list price but was deeply “discounted”.
After reading up a bit on the knife, I’ve found quite a few copies being sold at a much lower price. Of course, some say the copies are no good and some say they are just as good. I decided to find out for myself. I first ordered an authentic Almazan Kitchen Original Knife; $147 without sheath. It looks nice and feels good but was very dull. Next I ordered the lowest priced look alike knife from Amazon: XYJ Full Tang Serbian Knife 3CR13 Stainless Steel Butcher Chef Knife for $16. It is slightly smaller and thinner than the Almazan Kitchen Original Knife but arrived quite sharp. I also ordered a Promithi Full Tang Forged Handmade Professional Kitchen Chef Knife from Amazon for $36. It has a slightly different shape from the Almazan Kitchen Original Knife but also arrived quite sharp. Finally, I ordered the 3/32” thick Almazan Chef Style Kitchen Knife from Spain in the optional Damascus metal.
Here are links to the knives I purchased:
- Almazan Kitchen Original Knife – $147 without sheath, $176 with sheath
- XYJ Full Tang Serbian Knife 3CR13 Stainless Steel Butcher Chef Knife – $16; no sheath
- Promithi Full Tang Forged Handmade Professional Kitchen Chef Knife – $36; no sheath
- Almazan Chef Style Kitchen Knife (3/32” and 5/32” thk) – $89; with sheath (red handle)
The following knives look similar although some have a few more curves to the shape:
Almasi – $90; no sheath
VKY Knife- $58; with sheath
Ken Fuyuki Serbian Chef’s Knife – $70; no sheath
Promaja – $85; with sheath
Nakiri Knife – $48; no sheath
Jaka – $98; no sheath
Zeekka Serbian Meat Cleaver and Original Serbian Chef Knife – $130
Master Snazan Serbian Knife – $85; no sheath
Mr. Teuchi Serbian Knife – $90 no sheath.
DIY Knives
A number of knife makers have made their own variations of the “Serbian Chef Knife”. Their starting point is often an old saw blade or leaf spring. Here are a few links to various DIY Serbian Chef Knives:
Almazan bıçağı – Knife Making – Serbian Chef Knife (Almazan)
CUTELO SKULL
Making Almazan damascus kitchen knife.
You can even purchase a blade blank and make your own!
My Tests and Video
I conducted tests on my knives and made a video describing the knives and tests: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKsq-teX0PM&t=18s
Some test results are summarized below:
Controversy
Who invented or developed or even was first to use the Serbian Chef Knife is controversial. I suspect that the Almazan Kitchen Original Knife was first. The Almazan Kitchen Original Knife folks make a strong claim to have developed the Serbian Chef Knife and claim that all others are “fake”.
Almazan is the surname of Boki and Alex Almazan from Serbia. Their knife can only be ordered from them – there are no retailers. Their trademark application was entered on 2017-11-25 by Aleksandar Almazan. The mark consists of a shaded illustration of a tomato containing the wording “ALMAZAN KITCHEN” written in stylized text. The word mark is “Almazan Kitchen”.
The first time the Almazan Kitchen Original Knife was shown online was in their “How to Make Quesadilla…” video published on Feb 3, 2016. This video is no longer available on their YouTube channel. The knife used in the next several videos does not look like their Almazan Kitchen Original Knife. The Almazan Kitchen Original Knife appeared again on May 29, 2016 but there were no comments or sales pitch for the knife. It looks to me like by October 19, 2017 that the Almazan Kitchen Original Knife had taken shape and people were beginning to comment on it. The October 21, 2017 video is the “All Others are FAKE” video. Judging by the comments, knives had been available for purchase for several months before October 2017.
It turns out that there is a city in Spain named Almazan and that bladesmiths have been making knives there since 1985 using 18th century blacksmith techniques. However, I think that Almazan Spain did not begin making “Serbian Chef” knives until 2017.
As noted previously, there are now many “Serbian Chef Knives” for sale.
In a random survey of whoever was around, many people preferred knife #3, the Promithi, based on its look and feel but a few preferred knife #1, the Almazan Serbia, or #4, the Almazan Spain. Often people commented that knife #2, the TYJ, seemed a bit heavy.
Which knife do I use? If there is an audience, I’ll use knife #1, the Almazan Serbia, and tell the story of the outdoor chefs and their YouTube channel. Then I might drag out the Almazan Spain knife to show off the Damascus blade. If there’s no audience, then frankly, I’ll use my Wustoff Santoku knife – it just obviously cuts better.