Mercer Culinary M23540 Renaissance, 3.5-Inch Forged Paring Knife

What do you want from a knife review? It fits my hand. It cuts nicely. Pares well with wine. Seems to be well made. I use it every day. Literally every day. Yes, I know what literally means. Inexpensive for a knife of this quality. I'm happy with it. Definitely recommend.

Arrived at our front door yesterday and I brought it in, washed it well w/dish soap, rinsed, dried it, and placed in the knife drawer. Within an hour Hubby came into the Kt to eat a fresh peach. He got the knife from the drawer (looks almost exactly like the one we already had) and started to slice the peach into sections. In about five seconds he let out a startled yell. Somehow he had rammed that sharp, sharp, point halfway through the underneath side of his left index finger where it joins the hand. Yep, blood everywhere! Sharp knives are great, but this one is like a barber's razor, so please, PLEASE, if you order it be as careful as you possibly can!!Today I took one of those super "gritty" nail files (like manicurists use and which you can buy at Sally's Beauty Supply and on Amazon), and filed down that point on the end until it was fairly rounded. Of course one could also slice a finger or hand w/the blade of the knife, so just keep in mind that although it cuts wonderfully when you're peeling or cutting fruits or veggies, it can also cut a finger off if you don't pay really-close attention!I still believe the old saying that more ppl are cut by dull knives than sharp ones, b/c you over-compensate when a knife is dull, then all at once the knife slips and you have a bad cut somewhere.

Love the Mercer line especially these pairing knives and the Nakiri blade (new favorite)

6-20-24: Three years after my initial review on June 2, 2021 - Thought I'd provide an update:Have now used THIS knife for 1,114 days since my first review. It gets used at least 3x a day so at least 3342 uses later > with only one sharpening, this paring knife is still SHARP & BETTER YET >>> it STILL HAS A very sharp TIP (not to put a too fine a point on its quality - hahahaha.While some folks seem prone to stabbing their own hands with the knife point (and have mentioned it in reviews to 'prove' how sharp it is I suppose >> I prefer to jab the knife point into onions, carrots, celery, squashes, fruits of all kinds like Limes, Lemons, Tomatoes and then pull down for a razor like slice.Because this knife slices instead of smashes its way into the foods, there is little juice lost and when you want to have beautiful slices for display or when carving this is the one to use if you don't have special veggie carving tools.Am SERIOUSLY IMPRESSED by this thing!Thank you Mercer!~~~Here's my original review:Not entirely certain why I waited 20 years past the prime time of my beloved old paring knife purchased in 1968 BUT... well... guess some things are worth waiting for.THIS Mercer Paring Knife is REALLY sharp!!! It fits my hand perfectly and wow does it slice thin slivers. I was able to slice 1.5-2mm thick LEMON rounds and the lemon barely leaked. In my experience with slicing citrus rounds a good knife is one that does not mash the lemon cells. This knife is a GREAT KNIFE because it sliced thru so cleanly that my cutting board was almost dry (and it was a fresh juicy lemon)Yes, it could be said that any new paring knife would be better than the old one but, well... I really do like this Mercer Paring knife so... I recommend it.Will post an update if it goes wonky.

I know you can get more expensive knives but this guy is very sturdy and very sharp! So well made. I will continue to get knives from them in the future

I really wanted to love this knife. I like how it feels and for the time I was able to use it it worked well. However, as I washed it yesterday, I noticed a line on the bolster that turns out to be a crack that has almost propagated completely around the handle. Catastrophic failure is not far away. As a mechanical engineer I know it can be caused by a number of factors including bad heat treat, rough surface before heat treat or defects/inclusions in the steel. Doesn't really matter. All relate back to quality control failure. I would not recommend any knives from this manufacturer.Update: I had purchased two of these knives and hoped that the second was better. I just checked and it is as bad or worse that the first. My conclusion stands. Do not buy these knives. They have a serious flaw that could hurt you if they break at the wrong time.Second update: I was contacted by the manufacturer and they are working to find out what happened and provide replacements. I will update again when that is complete.Final update: Mercer seemed truly concerned about my satisfaction and wanted to determine what happened to my two knives. I returned them and they sent me two replacements as well as an 8 inch chef knife. Obviously the problem was frustrating and a bit disturbing but I can't say enough about their timely and excellent response. I am changing my rating to 4 stars because it is clear they stand behind their product and I do believe this was a unique and probably isolated problem.

I’m slowly changing over all my knives—you don’t need that many! Mercer is the best quality and stays sharp. Money well spent.

It’s a good little knife, solidly made. An extra few cm of blade length would be nice.

This is a great value . I also own Henkel/Zwilling knives . Some how my favorite paring knife got thrown mistakenly with the kitchen garbage . I thought I would give a budget knife a try and bot this Mercer one. Does it feel as good cut as good as a Zwilling (2 stick men logo) no but close . But for the price its really good and doesn't cost 6x more . It feels a little lighter cause it is and the handle shape is pretty comfortable haven't needed sharpen it so holds its edge well.

Forged 3.5 paring knife, replaces a 3.8' Wusthof paring knife that surprisingly snapped in half when it dropped on a hard floor. Too expensive to replace with another standalone wusthof. Mercer is equally well known for good quality, good value knives. Has a nice solid handle and a finish that fits in with other knives we have equally well. Good replacement. Its not the cheapest value out there but for what I needed its ok. The Victorinox makes better value paring knives as well. Maybe next time. 3.5' is the ideal length for a paring knives. A 3.8'-4' paring knife is actually a bit long.

This is the second Mercer knife I've bought, and I'm impressed with both. The weight is perfectly balanced and from reviews I've read here (and elsewhere) many people have commented positively on the balanced weight, how the blade stays very sharp and doesn't rust.