The one serrated knife every cook needs. The saw-like teeth ground along the edge of the blade. catch on crusts and create a localized cutting action at each tooth point, applying force across many small contact areas at once so the soft interior is sawn rather than crushed. Most bread knives use single-sided serrations (ground on one face only, with a flat back), but the underlying bevel is still double: the serrations are simply a grind pattern laid on top.
Primary tasks: slicing artisan loaves, baguettes, and sourdough; cutting cakes with delicate frosting; and slicing melons with a hard rind. The serrations also handle ripe tomatoes cleanly, where a smooth edge tends to skate across the skin.
Ideal steel: a mid-hardness, tough stainless such as 440A, 440C, AEB-L, X50CrMoV15, or AUS-8. A very hard steel (63+ HRC) chips at the serration peaks. Serrated knives are typically run until dull and then sharpened by a specialist, so harder Japanese steels like VG-10 are a poor match: they are difficult to re-serrate once worn.
Critical limitation: serrated edges cannot be maintained on a standard whetstone (see care). They require a tapered ceramic or diamond rod, or professional re-serration. The bread knife is also wrong for precision work, clean straight push cuts, and protein slicing; reach for a chef's knife or paring knife there.