Kitchen shears review and compare

A good set of kitchen shears can handle a wide range of cutting duties, and needn’t cost the earth.
 
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  • Updated:6 Aug 2008
 

02.Results

The following models scored the best results in our test 

What to buy
Brand Price
Cuisena Kitchen Scissors 949668 $10
Zwilling J.A Henckels Twin Select 41471-000 $125
Victorinox Super Schere 7.6363 $30
Messermeister Kitchen Take Apart Scissor DN2070 $20
Wiltshire Kitchen Shears Laser Edge LASE9809 $13
 

 

Results table

Full results for all models are shown in the table below.

  Performance Cutting performance score components
Features Specifications
Brand / model (in rank order within groups) Overall score (%) Ease of use score (%) Cutting performance score (%) Cutting poultry score (%) Cutting flower stems, paper and chives score (%) Sharpness and durability score (%) Pull apart Handle material Dishwasher-safe Left or right-handed Price ($)
Straight-blade multipurpose shears
Cuisena Kitchen Scissors 949668
www2.dksh.com		 84 67 91 100 90 88 Plastic ns Both 10
Zwilling J.A. Henckels Twin Select 41471-000
www2.dksh.com		 84 63 93 100 90 94 Stainless steel ns Both 125
Victorinox Super Schere 7.6363
www.oppenheimer.com.au		 83 73 87 80 85 94 Plastic ns Both 30
Messermeister Kitchen Take-Apart Scissors DN2070
www.messermeister.com		 81 80 81 60 80 94 • Plastic • Both 20
Wiltshire Kitchen Shears Laser Edge LASE9809
www.mcpher.com.au		 81 77 83 80 75 98 Plastic Both 13
Wüsthof Pull Apart Shears 5558
www.wusthof.com.au		 79 73 81 80 75 92 • Plastic • (B) Both 65
Zwilling J.A. Henckels Twin Multipurpose 43967-000
www2.dksh.com		 79 73 82 40 83 100 Plastic ns Both 73
Cuisena Kitchen Shears 949667
www2.dksh.com		 74 77 73 80 65 86 Plastic / rubber • Both 13
Zyliss Multi Purpose Shears 30374
www2.dksh.com		 74 87 68 60 60 86 Plastic / rubber Both 24
Messermeister Utility Take-Apart Shears DN1070
www.messermeister.com		 73 80 70 80 55 94 • Plastic • Right 36
Oxo Good Grips Kitchen & Herb Scissors 1072121
www.worldkitchen.com.au		 71 77 69 60 65 81 • Plastic / silicone Both 35
Oxo Good Grips Kitchen Scissors 31181 (A)
www.worldkitchen.com.au		 71 60 76 60 70 93 Plastic / rubber • Both 30
Wiltshire Kitchen Shears Resolution W1153
www.mcpher.com.au		 70 73 68 40 60 96 • Plastic / rubber Both 20
Mundial All Purpose Take Apart 0666
02 9482 6666		 64 70 62 40 60 75 • Plastic ns Both 40
Victorinox 7.6375 (chrome, red handle)
www.oppenheimer.com.au		 62 40 71 40 65 95 Metal ns Both 60
Homemaker Everyday Kitchen Shears
www.kmart.com.au		 61 53 64 80 65 56 Plastic Both 3.29
Poultry Shears
Victorinox Poultry Shears 7.6343
www.oppenheimer.com.au		 76 70 78 60 70 100 Plastic ns Both 70
Fiskars Functional Form Poultry Shears 85-9975
www.fiskars.com		 74 57 81 80 75 94 Plastic / rubber • Both 25
Victorinox Poultry Shears 7.6350 (All Stainless Steel)
www.oppenheimer.com.au		 55 63 52 20 45 79 • Stainless steel ns Right 160
Mundial Poultry Shears 321-10
02 9482 6666		 34 40 31 40 25 39 Chrome ns Both 80
 

Table notes

ns Not stated
(A) Discontinued, but may still be available in some shops.
(B) Dishwasher-safe but handwashing recommended

Scores The overall score is made up of:'

  • Cutting performance: 70%
  • Ease of use: 30%

Price Recommended or average retail price, as of July 2008. Store prices vary so it pays to shop around.

How we tested

Cutting performance

  • Raw chicken Our tester butterflied a chicken to assess the shears for cutting through bone and flesh cleanly, with little or no resistance.
  • Flower stems She cut through woody stems (roses) and soft stems (gerberas), looking for clean cuts that didn’t tear the stems.
  • Baking paper She cut baking paper to fit a round cake tin to check the shears’ ability to cut accurately and cleanly.
  • Chives She cut chives to see how well the shears can cut a food item that requires precision, without the shears bruising the chives.

We put the poultry shears through the whole range of tests to see if they could cope with other kitchen tasks too.

Sharpness and durability

  • A specialist lab measured the ability of the shears to cut a range of materials (from soft wet tissue to very tough Kevlar fabric), then put them through a durability test of 5000 opening/closing cycles, after which the cutting tests were repeated.
  • The lab also tested the hardness of each blade.

Ease of use

  • Our tester assessed comfort, grip and balance for different-sized hands.
  • She also checked whether the shears could be used left-handed.
 

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