The Best Kitchen Shears based on rigorous testing

Much like a sharp chef’s knife and a quality pan, a pair of kitchen shears is an essential cooking tool. Not only can a good pair replace a knife in many cases, but shears also make tasks like snipping herbs and spatchcocking a chicken significantly easier (and dare I say, fun). To determine the very best kitchen shears, I spent two weeks testing 12 popular pairs and reached the conclusion that Hammer Stahl’s Kitchen Scissors are the top option for most home cooks. Not only are they reasonably priced, but also versatile, comfortable to hold, and a breeze to clean.

But more than one set of shears impressed me during testing. Here are all the winning picks:

• Best Kitchen Shears Overall: Hammer Stahl Kitchen Scissors
• Best Value Kitchen Shears: Joyce Chen Unlimited Kitchen Scissors
• Best Upgrade Kitchen Shears: Shun Multi-Purpose Shears
• Best Heavy-Duty Kitchen Shears: OXO Good Grips Poultry Shears
• Best Kitchen Shears For Herbs: Wüsthof Stainless Kitchen Shears

If you can’t decide which shears are right for you, start by thinking about how you’ll mainly use them. “The type of shear I choose depends on the application,” says Jakub Baster, chef at Yingtao in New York, meaning he might use one pair for breaking down a chicken and another for snipping herbs. Whereas some pairs (like the OXO Good Grips Poultry Shears) are designed for heavy-duty tasks, others (like the Wüsthof Stainless Kitchen Shears) excel at more precise ones. Below, here are what the very best shears have to offer home cooks.

Best Kitchen Shears Overall

A Versatile, Reliable Pick That’s Easy To Clean

Our score: 9.5/10 | Length: 10 inches | Material: Stainless steel, rubber | Pull apart: Yes 

Best for:

• Home cooks who want one pair of shears for everything
• Those who desire a comfortable grip
• Those who cook with a lot of herbs that need stripping

Skip if:

• You care a lot about aesthetics—these aren’t the prettiest shears out there

During testing, it was hard to find anything wrong with these shears from Hammer Stahl. The features are endless: Not only does this pair have razor-sharp stainless steel blades, but it also doubles as a bottle opener and a nutcracker, plus it has a screwdriver bit. While the blades pull apart easily for effortless cleaning, they feel securely locked together when you’re using them—important when you’re in the middle of a heavy-duty task and don’t want the shears to fall apart. Adding to their ease of use, the handles are both padded and ergonomic with a rubber grip, so when you’re cutting through something tough, they don’t dig uncomfortably into your hand.

Simply put, every task I performed with this pair was enjoyable. Thanks to the bone notch, spatchcocking was a breeze, while the rivets on the blade (which the brand says is for scaling fish) were great for tearing herbs off the stem. They’re also dishwasher safe and held up under multiple cycles.
All in all, these shears are ones you can really rely on for most tasks, plus they’re well-priced. Even though they’re relatively long, measuring in at 10 inches, they fit nicely in my kitchen drawer. I even liked the packaging, which made these shears feel more premium than perhaps they really are. At the end of the day, this is not the most aesthetic pair, but then again, who said kitchen shears have to be beautiful?

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Best Value Kitchen Shears

A Value-Priced Set That’s Up There With the Best

Our score: 9/10 | Length: 6.5 inches | Material: Stainless Steel, plastic | Pull-apart: No 

Best for:

• Home cooks who care about precision
• Those who want a shorter pair of shears
• Those on a budget

Skip if:

• You want a set with pull-apart blades—these are not

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I won’t lie—I was a little skeptical of these shears, despite the reputation they have in the culinary world (several experts I consulted recommended them). To put it simply, they look and feel like scissors you might’ve used in elementary school. But when I put them to the test, they surpassed my expectations significantly.
Because of their petite size—they’re just 6.5 inches long—I found it easy to get enough leverage to snip through bones and joints. They’re also less than $20, making them ideal for home cooks on a budget. There’s just one downside: They don’t pull apart, which makes cleaning them a little trickier than I’d like. That’s a small price to pay for a set of shears that can really do it all, though.

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Best Upgrade Kitchen Shears

A Versatile Pair For Those Willing To Splurge

Our score: 9/10 | Length: 9 inches | Materials: Stainless steel, plastic | Pull-apart: Yes

Best for:

• Home cooks who want a set of shears for every task
• Those who are willing to spend a little more for quality
• Those who value the dependability of a high-end brand like Shun

Skip if:

• You primarily want shears for cutting herbs

While these shears are on the pricier side, they really are the last pair of shears you’ll ever need. Like my top pick overall, this Shun pair is more than just kitchen scissors—it’s also a nutcracker and jar opener, and it has two screwdriver tips.

The standout feature, though, is the bone notch, which makes cutting through bone an effortless task. Adding to the pair’s overall appeal, the handles are ergonomic, and the shears pull apart for breezy cleaning. That said, it’s not too easy to pull them apart—an important distinction to make. During testing, I also enjoyed that one side of the shears has tiny serrations, which made stemming herbs easy. These are as multi-purpose as shears come.

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Best Heavy-Duty Kitchen Shears

A Spring-Loaded Pick That Can Power Through Anything

Our score: 7.5/10 | Length: 9.6 inches | Material: Stainless steel | Pull-apart: Yes

Best for:

• Home cooks who cut through meat and bones on a regular basis
• Those who want the toughest shears out there
• Those who are willing to have more than one pair of shears

Skip if:

• You frequently snip herbs, as these are imprecise

These powerful OXO kitchen shears are built for heavy-duty tasks like slicing through chicken joints, trimming rose stems, and cutting lobster shells. The secret to their success is the spring-loaded design, which won me over during testing; with this pair, spatchcocking a bird wasn’t an arduous task. They also get a good grip on whatever you’re cutting through, as one of the blades is micro-serrated, and pull apart for easy cleaning. One more thoughtful touch: They have a safety to keep the blades together in the drawer. All that said, these shears aren’t the most versatile, as I found them imprecise and difficult to control while cutting through herbs. But if you primarily want a pair for cutting through meat and bones, these are your best bet.

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Best Kitchen Shears For Herbs

A Surgical Pair For The Most Precise Tasks

Our score: 8.5/10 | Length: 6 inches | Material: Stainless steel | Pull-apart: Yes

Best for:

• Home cooks who are frequently snipping herbs
• Those who care about aesthetics
• Those willing to splurge on a high-end brand

Skip if:

• You want shears for breaking down chickens

During testing, I invited 10 friends over to look at the 12 shears I tried out, and this pair from Wüsthof was unanimously voted the best-looking. It’s undeniable—the uniquely shaped, brushed stainless steel design is something anyone would be proud to display on a magnetic knife strip. These have more than good looks going for them, though: They are surgically precise, especially when it comes to cutting herbs.

When snipping away at chives and parsley, the tension was perfect, making the chore neat and breezy. Unfortunately, this didn’t extend to tasks like spatchcocking chicken. While these shears felt good in my hand overall, the handles aren’t very ergonomic and tend to slip just a little. That said, these are great all-around shears I’d recommend to anyone.

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Other Kitchen Shears I Tested

In addition to the five best kitchen shears listed above, I also tested six other popular kitchen shears, ranging in price from $10 to $40. Here’s how they stacked up:

KitchenAid All-Purpose Shears (4.75/10): During testing, this set of shears got stuck in the chicken and herbs. While they weren’t the worst, I don’t think they’re worth the money.

OXO Good Grips Multi-Purpose Kitchen Scissors (7.5/10): This is a quality set of shears that many people would be perfectly happy with. The reason they aren’t up there with the winners is because they lack added functionality and weren’t the sharpest.

Messermeister Take-Apart Shears (7.5/10): This is a really great set of shears that came apart just slightly too easily. That said, they’re up there with the best, especially considering the low price.

Miyabi Kitchen Shears (7/10): I found these shears to be well-crafted overall, though the handles have an odd shape that isn’t very ergonomic or comfortable to hold.

Misen Kitchen Shears (7.5/10): These shears from Misen (which makes one of the best knife sets) were really long—too long, in my opinion, and the handles are huge. That said, these could potentially good for someone with Shaquille O’Neal-sized hands.

X-Chef Herb Scissors (0/10): When testing chives, everything got stuck in the blades; same with parsley. This pair couldn’t even cut through chicken skin. In other words, I’d rather pull out my chef’s knife and wooden cutting board.

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How I Tested The Best Kitchen Shears

When looking to test kitchen shears, I first broke the category down into subgroups. There are classic shears that look like the Hammer Stahl Kitchen Scissors, there are pure stainless steel varietals like the Wüsthof Stainless Kitchen Shears, and there are extraneous ones like the OXO Good Grips Poultry Shears. After breaking them into these three groups, I considered best-selling brands like Wüsthof, OXO, and KitchenAid, as well as lesser-known brands popular on Amazon. I also asked several chefs and experts what shears they recommended (and nearly all of them mentioned the Joyce Chen pair).
After acquiring 12 different shears to test, I tested them each on four foods: chives, parsley, a whole chicken, and a steak. During testing, I assessed each set’s sharpness, ergonomics, versatility, precision, ability to power through bone, and ease of cleaning. I also asked friends with different-sized hands to hold each one and tell me which one they preferred, based on feel.

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How To Pick A Pair Of Kitchen Shears

Once you have a trusty pair of kitchen shears, you’ll never look back. Here are the factors to keep in mind as you browse pairs.

Length

When shopping for shears, pinpoint what tasks you perform most. If you are butchering fish or poultry, Jakub Baster of Yingtao recommended shears with shorter blades like the Joyce Chen pair, which measure just 6.5 inches long. For cutting herbs, which doesn’t require as much leverage, it’s wise to seek out a longer pair to give you more precision.

Detachability

Evan LeRoy of LeRoy and Lewis says he “doesn’t have a favorite pair of shears, but the ones [he] uses have to be detachable.” This makes them much easier to clean. However, there is a limit here; if your shears come apart too easily, it can be dangerous when performing heavy-duty tasks.

Sharpness

Pretty much every chef I spoke to told me that sharpness is the most important quality when it comes to kitchen shears. “You really want something that will cut through anything,” says Jessie Nicely, the editor in chief of Compound Butter magazine. I couldn’t agree more: At the end of the day, shears are similar to a knife, and you want to find the sharpest pair you can get your hands on.

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