Talk to me about....kitchen knives.

[Mottie]

Can’t just slice through pork crackling with a carving knife no matter how well cooked it is. Next time I’ll use either the bread knife or the chefs knife. You can see how much I use the carving knife - the logo on the handle has completely disappeared!

 

[Loofah]

Just to update this. Looks like I’m getting a new one. I got on to who I bought the set from and they said they would deal with it for me. Just received this email from them today:

Hi Steve
I am pleased to advise that Wusthof have agreed to send you one directly.
Please let me have all your current address contact details, including mobile number.
Many Thanks,
Kind Regards
Neil

Thats what I call bloody good customer service - especially after more than three years. I’d definitely buy from them again. https://millyskitchenstore.co.uk/

Excellent result I have some Wusthof Ikon knives and they're just awesome. Good to know the company treats their customers well

 

[Brigadier]

Can’t just slice through pork crackling with a carving knife

Some things just aren't suited to being "sliced through", and are better "sawn" instead.
Bread being your obvious example.

On a related note, some cheeses are cut better with a cheese wire as, among other reasons, there is minimal / no none-cutting-bit to adhere to the cut faces of the cheese.
(Doesn't apply to soft cheeses, obviously

 

[Lower]

That's well known fake, which you can tell if you stop the frames.


Yup.
QI, blades are.

Obviously, tougher materials need less acute angles etc.
If the angle is too small the blade is weaker than it needs to be; if you polish it down to the last feather at the edge, same thing.
If you try to cut a slice of something tough like a crusty roll with a razor, it'll bend and buckle the edge of the blade and snap it. (You eat the metal feather that broke off.)
-
So you need hardness, toughness, wear resistance, corrosion resistance, then the optimum in edge angles.
You get most of those by alloying, unless you want to use ceramics, which take diamonds to sharpen - not such a biggie these days. You also get the option of coating something tough(steel) with harder ceramic.
I've used glass/sapphire knives for EM prep, diamond knives, and vibratomes, a bit specialist.

Other way round. Tougher and more flexible materials can support more acute angles without the edge burring and folding over. A very acute angle will have a very thin edge and therefore the material the blade is made from needs to hard enough to not burr and fold and flexible enough to not snap when the edge flexes in normal use.

Softer materials need less acute angles so that the area immediately behind the cutting edge is thicker so that the edge doesn't fold or break.

 

[Lower]

or a stress fracture caused by smacking the back of the knife?
A sharp knife should not need any force at all to cut meat.

If you push a knife into something tip first and smacked the end of the handle so that the blade bent, then there's a good chance that any kitchen knife will snap unless its a very cheap one which would just bend.

But a kitchen knife should never snap if its being held horizontally and force is applied through the handle or smacked on the spine.

I'm fairly well qualified to know this sort of stuff. I was production manager for a knife (and sword) manufacturer in a previous life and was responsible for developing the heat treatment processes amongst other things.

 

[Justin Passing]

Other way round. Tougher and more flexible materials can support more acute angles without the edge burring and folding over. A very acute angle will have a very thin edge and therefore the material the blade is made from needs to hard enough to not burr and fold and flexible enough to not snap when the edge flexes in normal use.

Softer materials need less acute angles so that the area immediately behind the cutting edge is thicker so that the edge doesn't fold or break.

I didn't word that properly - in that line (now edited out) I meant the material to be cut, rather than the blade.
I'm sure we're on the same page on this but terminology has to be careful.
Toughness is an area under a curve so a difficult word, unless you mean K1C/KIC fracture toughness. Hardness doesn't necessarily mean brittleness, softer doesn't imply too much good, either, etc.
I have a set of wood chisels made from S7 tool steel tempered for grinding at 20° for very soft wood. I had access to the facilities once. But they never got handles..

 

[Odds]

I was watching an NHK doc on the islands around Taiwan and this guy has found a way to make something special.

They're not cheap.

 

[noseall]

That's well known fake, which you can tell if you stop the frames.


Yup.
QI, blades are.

If the angle is too small the blade is weaker than it needs to be; if you polish it down to the last feather at the edge, same thing.
If you try to cut a slice of something tough like a crusty roll with a razor, it'll bend and buckle the edge of the blade and snap it. (You eat the metal feather that broke off.)
-

I'll let my scalpel wielding surgeon know your thoughts.

 

[ReganAndCarter]

Like these threads that bring out the clash of the armchair experts on any obscure subject you can name.

 

[Justin Passing]

Like these threads that bring out the clash of the armchair experts on any obscure subject you can name.

Is that because you don't know about anything?
I'm sure you do and most would like to hear about it - I know I would.

Actually I don't see any clash. The terminology is often loosely applied/understood.
Metals, materials, mech properties, is part of wot I dun at uni. When it comes to cutting, apart from wood chisels I did more with more exotic alloys than steel but I could just about still take you through the iron-carbon phase diagram, heat treatments and that. At a pinch - it's been a while.

 

[Notch7]

I’ve a flint and flame knife which I use all the time for meal prep.

It is so sharp cutting an onion or potato is no effort at all, I’m trying to learn to cut properly - mostly because using chefs knifes properly is safer.

If you slip with one of these knives, it would easily cut to the bone, or slice a chunk straight off.

 

[foxhole]

I’ve a flint and flame knife which I use all the time for meal prep.

It is so sharp cutting an onion or potato is no effort at all, I’m trying to learn to cut properly - mostly because using chefs knifes properly is safer.

If you slip with one of these knives, it would easily cut to the bone, or slice a chunk straight off.

Yes sharp knifes are much safer as should never slip due to undue pressure like a blunt knife .
You cut against your knuckles and push the food thru from behind the knuckle with the thumb .

 

[ReganAndCarter]

Is that because you don't know about anything?
I'm sure you do and most would like to hear about it - I know I would.

Nah, you're alright, thanks. I'll leave the willy waving to others.

Did you recognise yourself by my description?.

 

[Justin Passing]

Did you recognise yourself by my description?.

How could I possibly?

 

[Vinty]

I’m looking for decent set of kitchen/cheffy type knives. Anyone here 'into' knives? Looking for recommendations/suggestions.

That bloke Neilson was into knives in a big way, he was a former chef of course.
fortunately he is now deceased.
Jeffrey Dharmer is no longer available for comment.
Then again, take a stroll around certain parts of London and you might get a bargain in return for your life or your trainers.