If you’ve ever shredded meat when you’ve meant to slice it, you might want to try a knife with a special edge. This slicing knife has a long, rigid blade that features hollowed-out ovals spaced evenly along it. The special edge reduces friction and traps juices to help the knife glide through meat cleanly.

Since it’s so effective on ham, the knife is sometimes called a ham slicer. More often it’s identified as a Kullenschliff slicer (kullenis the German word for hollow), and almost every major knife manufacturer makes at least one knife with this type of edge. (You might also notice the kullen edge on salmon slicers, which are very skinny, long flexible knives for cutting thin slices of smoked salmon.)

Kullenschliff knives are available fromProfessional Cutlery Direct.