What are chef's knives and why are they different?

Interest in fine chef's knives is on the rise. This is probably because as factory produced knives increase in cost, the investment to properly outfit and equip a chef approaches that of custom knifemakers. Most professional chefs are covetous of their knives and tools, indeed a fine custom knife set can personalize, identify, and set a chef apart. Ask a professional chef what he most values and he'll probably tell you his knives. But how professional is he if he's carrying around factory produced, inferior tools? Read about factories and their dirty little secrets on my "Blades" page here.

True chef's knives can be works of art. They're very different in geometry, style, and temper than other knives. here are some of the points:

• A good piece of professional chef's cutlery starts with a good blade. This doesn't mean an ornamental blade, though style, appearance, and artistic value can be well applied here. What I'm talking about is the steel. Fine quality martensitic high alloy stainless tool steels are the best. Get more details about these knife steels on the FAQ page here and the Blades page here. Carbon steels and non-stainless damascus steels are not a good choice. Why? Because high carbon steels will flat-out rust if not meticulously cared for, and that doesn't often happen in the kitchen. Carbon steels will corrode, and the steel that corrodes goes somewhere... usually into the food. Also, because the overall blade corrodes, that means that the cutting edge corrodes, so they dull faster. Carbon steels sometimes have a greater following though, because they're easily sharpened. A few well-angled whips over the steel is usually all it takes to sharpen them, and this is done often, since they dull so quickly. So the incorrect perception is that carbon steel blades are better, because they seem to be sharper, and sharpen easily. Stainless steel got a bad reputation in the 1960s and 1970s, due to the cheap 420 series and 440A stainless blades that were sold as bargain, universal, forever-sharp knives. They're still sold as such, but they're just thin, weak, stainless springs, and not tools.
• The blade must have a thin cutting edge. Very thin. Wafer thin. See-through. Some factory knives used in food prep work are too thick and heavy. This kind of work demands speedy movement, fairly light weight, and a razor keen edge. That's why my chef's knives are popular, I'm known for some of the thinnest hollow grinds in the business. The only exception to this rule is for cleavers or nut and spice choppers, which must be thick and heavy for strength.
• The blade can be too thin also. Thin blades do not have any lateral resistance, and some of them can bend sideways too easily. In tough food prep, this can lead to uneven cutting. In chopping, extra force must be applied to the knife if it doesn't have sufficient weight to do the job. The user might be tempted to put the heel of his hand on the spine of the thin blade, and that will hurt.
• The blade should be hollow ground, but it is not an absolute requirement, particularly on thin blades. Look at the different grind descriptions on my Blades page here. You'll see that the thinnest, sharpest grind is the hollow grind, and it also has the greatest longevity. The last thing you need is a thick, dull blade to try to cut through meat or vegetables. See the discussion of hollow grind vs. flat grind below. Most current and available knives for cooking are flat ground. Flat ground knives are okay, but after repeated sharpenings they can thicken at the edge, requiring a regrinding by machine. But flat ground knives are easy to make and cheap, they don't require much steel, so they're popular. The best reason for me to make a flat ground knife is if the steel stock is 1/16" (.0625") or less, where a hollow grind is impossible. So flat and taper grinds do have their place
• The knife must last. See the previous point. A hollow grind allows the easiest sharpening because it has the thinnest cross-sectional area, and remains thin over the longest time. Very thin knives are flat or taper ground. Since kitchen cutlery is the most used of any knife, it makes sense to have a long lasting blade.
• The blade must be tough. Tough means resistant to breakage. These knives will be used to lightly chop. They will contact bone, nut shells, and will get in a bind while cutting through tough meats, tissue, and fibers. For all that will be asked of them, they must be tough enough for the task, and not brittle. That is up to the knife maker, his choice of steel, and how he hardens and tempers the blade.
• The blade must be hard and wear-resistant. This is where factory knives fall on their face. Factories do not typically use steels that can be both hard and tough, so they settle for tough. Like a spring, they will flex, but not break. But they will dull quickly, and are usually left and used dull, because they are made with thin stock. A hard, wear-resistant knife will hold an edge longer, and therefore last many, many years longer.
• The knife must be wear-resistant. Again, this is a failure of most plain carbon steels. Since they only have iron carbides, not chromium carbides, tungsten carbides, or vanadium carbides in their crystalline lattice, wear is quicker on carbon steel blades, and much slower on high alloy tool steels.
• The knife must be clean, and it has to be able to be cleaned and kept clean. If your dealing with a carbon steel knife and not a stainless steel knife, you might ask yourself where small particles of high carbon steel end up... in your food? High carbon steel corrodes, so it rusts away, and the cutting edge corrodes away as it is being used. Though this "wear" is slight, it could flavor your food with steel. This free corrosion has another negative impact. Since the blade corrodes faster, the cutting edge corrodes faster, therefore, it dulls faster. Since the steel can corrode easily, it cant' really be cleaned as well as a mirror-polished stainless steel. Also, moisture (what food prep knife does not remain damp) will accumulate and remain beneath bolsters and handle, and eventually corrode away, causing the metal to fracture, or at the least, lead to leaching of corrosion condensation back onto your food. Yuk. Worst case scenario? The corrosion cuts through the tang underneath the handle at the ricasso, and the knife breaks.
• Knife construction should be considered. Plastic molded against a steel handle will eventually gap. Wood will gap, check, crack, shrink, and loosen, unless stabilized. I know of no major manufacturer who uses stabilized wood on their chef's knives. Stabilized wood is wood that's been impregnated with nearly 20,000 pounds per square inch of polymer or phenolic resin. It becomes a block of plastic, with wood fibers running through it. Yes, it is expensive, but it is virtually waterproof. Any dissimilar materials use in the knife construction must be mechanically and adhesively bonded, bedded, sealed, and secure. Phenolics are good, but with both woods and phenolics, high heat must be avoided. Gemstone is, of course, permanent, non-absorbing, hard and beautiful. Read more about gemstone handles here.
• All-metal handles are a bad choice. Unless you're working wearing gloves in an assembly line kitchen or packing plant where the knives will be tossed into the dishwasher/sterilizer, metal handles should be avoided. They are cold, lifeless, uncomfortable to grip, and ugly. Softer metals like aluminum will wear off on your hand, tarnish, and corrode. Just rub a piece of aluminum and then smell your hand (I'll bet you're wondering about those aluminum pots and pans now). Most metal handles used on expensive factory knives are welded to the tang of the knife for a forged appearance, but they're still a bad choice.
• The fine chef's knife must have a sheath or custom storage block, rack, device, or holder. If the knife will travel with the chef (executive chefs are typical traveling users of fine custom made cutlery), then the knife needs protected, and the person transporting it needs protected. Knife edges will be damaged by stainless steel sinks and counters, pots and pans, utensils, ceramics, tiles, stone countertops, and other knives. A fine knife is a fine tool and must be treated as such. The most destructive thing for a knife edge to encounter is another knife blade. Blades can be dulled, dented, chipped, and worn by storage in a common drawer with other utensils.
• The knife must be balanced for its use. This is probably the number one offense of factory knives. They are often designed by people who work at a computer terminal, designed to be constructed with little waste of materials and minimum of machining. The CNC (computer numerically controlled) mills and machines that cut these knives out by the millions are given instructions by a CAD/CAM (computer aided design/computer aided machining) program. That means that the knife is designed in flat profile for appearance, and handle shapes and weights may be an afterthought. This is quite different than a custom knife designed by a person who works with their hands, every day for their entire life, for a living. There is no easy formula for the weight, balance, and feel of a fine custom knife. It is a matter of touch, grace, feel, and practice matching the knife with the intended purpose. But what is balance, after all? Does it mean that a blade must have a balance point exactly on the center of the forefinger placement? How can this be possible if you have a large blade with a wide profile? Some reasoning must be applied here. Some knives are blade-heavy by design. Some are handle-heavy. Every knife is different, and every client is different. A knife handle designed for a woman's hand is different from one designed for a big burly male chef. Do you get any choices of handle sizes and shapes with a factory? No.
• The handles should be comfortable to use. The reality is that hands are different; hands are active and dynamic, but there is no universal handle. Each can be different and custom. Also, each person holds a knife differently. Most texts suggest pinching a chef's knife at the blade, with the palm of the hand resting on the handle spine. Then, it doesn't really matter what size your handle is, you're going to tire of squeezing the blade, and a blade with a thin spine will dig at the heel of your hand. If you need a custom handle shape and size, be sure of the dimensions before you order your knife. Then let the factory know what shape and size.... uh-oh. Never mind.
• Glass cutting boards should be outlawed. Glass (silicon dioxide) is a 5 on the mohs scale. The mohs scale is a scale of hardness applied to rocks and minerals. Rocks are hard, abrasive, and can wear a steel edge down. A fine custom knife blade is usually a 6 on the same scale, but just because something is harder doesn't mean it won't wear. Glass cutting surfaces (ceramic tiles and stone countertops are worse) will wear and abrade away the cutting edge of a knife. You wouldn't use a rock as a cutting surface, so why use glass? Debates rage about the sterility and hygienic properties of wood vs. plastic cutting surfaces. Some say the tannic acid in wood limits bacterial growth, and plastics can be bleached and sterilized. Apply your own logic and preferences here, but please, please NEVER use a glass or ceramic as a cutting surface, you will most surely dull your knife, shorten its life, and ruin your investment!

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What about flat grinds and hollow grinds in chef's knives?

There is endless discussion among knife people and chefs about knives: their construction, the materials, the design, shapes, and geometry. Everyone has their own opinion, and usually they are absolutely certain that they are right, and therefore, everyone else is wrong. Often, they set out on forums and discussion boards to prove their point, if for nothing else, to justify their own purchase, passion, and endorsement of a certain type of knife. The buyer loyalty of knives can be a powerful incentive, and no one wants to consider that there may be another option than one they've chosen.

The argument of flat grind vs. hollow grind invariably comes up. I go into those differences on my "Blades" page here. The truth is, the first main concern of a chef is the cutting edge. Is the edge razor sharp? After repeated sharpenings, will the blade geometry and the cross section be thin enough to allow another razor edge? After more and more sharpenings, and as the blade is used up (in a custom handmade knife, this should be decades), will the grind allow a thin enough steel to allow a low sharpening angle, and a razor edge? The truth is, flat ground blades thicken at a faster rate of use than a hollow grind, unless they are very thin (.0625" or less). This is clearly illustrated and described in detail on the Blades page at this topic. That is why that the hollow-ground straight razor has the keenest, sharpest, most formidable cutting edge. Simply put, it is very thin at the edge, and therefore can be made very sharp. That is why all cutting edges are verbally compared to a razor: specifically, a hollow-ground straight razor.

This does not mean that flat grinds can not also be very thin and sharp: they can. Usually, a flat grind is used on a chef's knife that does not have substantial thickness in the spine, and is very thin anyway (1/16" or less). I use flat grinds, too, and only on thin stock, as my clients greatly appreciate my thin hollow grinds. A flat grind often has a problem of foodstuffs stick to the flat side of the blade because of surface tension, and the hollow grind can allow air to come between the steel and the material being cut, allowing a cleaner release. Addition of milled holes, slots, and surface texture may help both knives.

Because the cutting edge and the cross-sectional blade geometry just behind the cutting edge must be very flat, flat ground knives used by chefs are usually very thin and lightweight. This often is in opposition to hollow ground knives which are heavier and usually have more weight and substance. This is a design consideration, and if lightweight, thin, fillet type knives are desired the flat or taper grind may be the way to go.

The largest consideration here is usually overlooked by knife buyers, and that is one of manufacturing. It is far easier and cheaper to flat grind a knife with automated equipment than to hollow grind and mirror finish. A flat grind can be done completely by machines and jigs, but the hollow grind can not be, particularly when both types of grinds are finely finished. Any machine can do an initial rough grind, but not a finished grind, due to geometric changes in the circumferential size of the cut with changing abrasive grits. Without going into technical specifics, I'll say simply that machine finishes of flat grinds are simpler, and manufacturers know this, and extensively hype flat knives to keep their manufacturing costs low. Also, a very thin piece of steel is cheaper overall, so the investment in materials by the manufactures is lower. There are knife makers who continue this misperception, and my opinions are unlikely to change their mind. All you have to ask for, as a custom knife client, is to ask them to see their hollow ground, mirror finished blades, and watch them squirm.

Knife design, finish, and purchase is a matter of informed choices. I'm thankful that my clients have chosen me, and I'll continue to listen to their input, and make the kind of knives they ask for. That's what this is all about. And if clients request flat and taper ground blades, I make those too!

Why do you have those crazy serrations on your bread knives?

If you look long enough at this page, you'll be able to spot my bread knives by the serrations on the blade. This type of serration has evolved in my own work and from use and customer feedback over the decades. The shape of the blade is specifically suited to penetrate hard crusted loaves, yet cut through soft bread with a minimum of tearing. Bread is especially difficult to slice, because of the differing hardness of in the loaf. If a knife edge were super-thin and smooth, it would be perfect for cutting thin slices of the softer parts (like a scalpel), but would merely glide over the hard and sometimes tough crust. Add nuts or other hard or tough material to the loaf, and the task becomes even more difficult. The shape of these arcing "theatre curtain" serrations creates enough localized pressure to penetrate the crusts, and offer enough angled edges to slice inside the softer parts. The edge may look highly inconsistent, but it is extremely thin, sharp and keen all along the serration curves. The feedback from these knives has been great. You won't see this much on factory knives, as the blade shape and grind can only usually be hand-made, and must be hand-sharpened. Factories are only interested in serrations that can be milled on automated machinery, thus the frequent appearance of fine, machine-cut continual teeth to create a more abrasive cutting edge. Factory serrations created this way will tear through most breads creating plenty of crumbs. Great for the knife manufacturer, not so great for performance.

What about longevity, finish, and service in a fine custom knife?

What kind of knife does Jay Fisher use in his kitchen?

From my email response to a client in January 2007, who wondered how his knife might look after use:

What about gemstone on chef's knives?

Just like most of my other gemstone handled knives, I receive a lot of questions about the use of gemstone for custom knife handles. People have concerns. Are they slippery, are they durable, are they expensive? Why would one use gemstones, when no one else does? I'll try to answer all those concerns in this section.

Reasons: Probably the main reasons for using gemstone in the construction of a chef's knife handle are beauty, originality, and value. Because the materials, effort, and skill required to mount and finish gemstone on a knife tang are rare and difficult, gemstone is seldom used in any knife handle. Therein also lies the value. Nothing synthetic has the appearance and beauty of gemstone, and each piece is unique. Wood also pales in comparison to gemstone. The investment value of a gemstone handled knife always increases at a greater rate than knives handled with more common materials. So, beauty, originality, and long term value are the major reasons I use gemstone on my finer knives, including chef's knives.

Economy is not a reason to use gemstone on the handmade or custom knife. It is not cheap to acquire, work, construct, and finish gemstone, and this is the reason you don't see more of it used. Specialized equipment and practiced skill are required to properly fit and finish gem, and few artists and craftsmen have the background or practice. If you're looking for an economical or cheap chef's knife, you're in the wrong place at any custom knife maker's web site. I am committed only to making the finest pieces, not the cheapest. Gemstone handled knives may bring the price up for each knife from $100 to $300, depending on the gemstone used. Some gemstone (like fine lapis lazulii) may add thousands of dollars to the cost of one knife.

Mounting: Though you may see pins used to mount many knife handles, you'll seldom see them used in gemstone handled knives. Pins are necessary to stabilize and support wood, horn, bone, and ivory handles, as they have a large propensity to move, expand and contract, absorb moisture and dry, shrink and swell, work loose from the knife tang, and crack. This may allow moisture to accumulate and remain between the handle material and the tang, further accelerating corrosion, perhaps even allowing the entire tang to crack, snap, and fail. Gemstones are mounted in a different fashion; they use hidden pins or mounts, and are bedded to the handle somewhat like a fine gun action is fitted and mounted to a stock. In an effort to display the gemstone faces completely, pins seldom are brought completely through to the surface of the stone. The bedding allows a sealed joint between the tang, bolsters, and the gem material, and since the gemstone does not expand and contract or react to moisture or contaminants, security and longevity is assured. In the several thousand gemstone handled knives I've made, I've never had one of my standard gem mounts fail. Many of these knives have been in daily use for decades.

Grip security may be an issue on chef's knives, as hands may often be wet. Gemstones are usually smoothly polished, so it would seem that the handle might be slippery when wet. Of course, most other finished handles are also finely and smoothly finished, including plastics, hardwoods, and metals. Though there are some materials that get tacky when moist, they are few. So if the issue of grip security is so large, why is it that the industrial standard for knife handles is a smooth finish? With a rough surface, you face the possibility of skin irritation and abrasion on any type of handle material. If you use a knife for twenty minutes a day (a very long time for the home chef), you probably wouldn't notice the roughly finished handle irritating your skin. But if you are a professional chef who may work with a knife in his hand for several hours a day, you will suffer the consequences and pain of a poor finish and a rough surface texture. I discuss in depth on my Military Combat and Tactical Knife page here about surface texture verses handle shape, and illuminate why the shape of the handle is more important to grip security than the surface texture.

Many people who ask about slippery knife handle grips refer directly to chicken, and sometimes to fish. Good chefs know well how to handle these two meats and don't complain of slippery hands. How do they do this? First, they handle them carefully. Chicken and fish are best prepped when very cool, even frosty, and they can be sliced with greater accuracy and control. Letting these meats warm up will make them slippery, and most good chef's know this. Additionally, good work technique with any knife is key. The hand that is gripping the knife or utensil handle is not the hand that manipulates the food around, and thus, the hand gripping the tool is not in contact with the food or slimy. The ingredients are then scooped or scraped into the dish or pan with the knife. Of course, this is prep 101 for most people who are looking at these fine custom and handmade chef's knives.

You can read more details and see many examples of gemstone handled knives on my Gemstone Knife Handles Page here. There are more details about Knife Handles, Fittings, Bolsters, and Guards in general on this page.

What about construction of Chef's knives and bacteria?

Occasionally, I get asked about the construction method of my kitchen and chef's knives and the possibility of trapping bacteria and contaminating food. This is a hot topic on many people's minds, one that is regularly covered in the morning network television shows, particularly if they have no other worthy news. I always know when things are going relatively well, because the television networks start to do the "germs on your kitchen counter and cutting boards" segments.

They'll make a great show of swabbing various areas and growing cultures in Petri dishes to illustrate the dangers of bacteria in our homes. As always, fear sells best, and they have done their research to know just what you might respond to, in the face of fear. It's important to note that the main commodity they are selling in the advertising on these programs is soap, cleaners, and disinfectants. I hope you recognize the process.

No one likes bacteria, though we could not live without them. No one likes a dirty or contaminated kitchen, utensils, implements, or hardware. So where does the knife construction come into play in this discussion?

Most people who ask about contamination and trapping bacteria are concerned about pockets, voids, recesses, joints, and shapes of the modern chef's knife, and the possibility of those areas trapping and holding debris that will foster bacterial growth. They may even claim that integral or one-piece knives are superior than bolstered and handled knives because there are no voids or seams. This would be a worthwhile argument if these tools were being used to perform surgery in a sterile operating room, but, after all, this is a kitchen. Here are some points to consider:

• All surfaces can become hosts to bacteria, no surface can be completely sterile, unless it is autoclaved before and after every use. Please consider your cutting boards, pots and pans, bowls, plates, silverware, countertops, plastic storage containers, refrigerator doors, drawers, and surfaces, and all of the surfaces that lead to the kitchen tasks of prepping a meal. Consider the sink area, which remains damp, the handles of the faucets, the spigots, the drain board and drainer. Consider the light switch over the counter, the receptacles for the appliances, and the plugs on the cords that are inserted in them. Many of these items are never cleaned, much less decontaminated for sterility. Some of these items are permeable, or somewhat porous.
• Every knife, no matter the construction, can host bacterial growth if not kept reasonably clean.
• There is no knife without some type of seam, unless you are describing a solid metal knife and handle. These are heavy, uncomfortable to use, and not practical from a construction or user standpoint. If the concern for bacteria was high, this is the only knife you would see. Conversely, this type is actually rare. Some knives along this line have hollow handles and are welded in construction, but you might consider what is in that hollow void...
• Even when the continuous metal blade and handle is used, it is often shaped at the handle with cuts and milled grooves to aid in gripping, or with rubber or plastic inserts to improve the grip. These can host bacteria as well as any other void or seam on any other knife, so there is no advantage.
• Integral knives with handle material other than solid polished stainless steel have other handle materials attached. These all have seams, potential voids to trap bacteria. It does not matter whether the handle material is synthetic, manmade, wood, horn, bone, ivory, or gemstone; all have seams and can trap bacteria.
• The knife blade itself can be a trap for bacteria. Consider carefully that damascus blade now. All those welds are seams. Microscopically, those seams can and do often have voids. Those voids can and do trap debris and can host bacterial growth.

Obviously this could get ridiculous. If one dwells on the subject too long, he'll chance the conversion to an obsessive-compulsive personality disorder like an eccentric billionaire, confining himself to darkness in a Las Vegas penthouse and counting his peas while insulating his flesh from the world with layers of boxed tissue. Bacteria exist. Keep your home, your kitchen, and your utensils clean and dry them after use. Just to sooth your fears though, here are some points about my own knives:

• Most of my knives are polished, which makes them easier to clean and keep clean.
• Many of them do not have filework, or the filework may be limited to the blade only, making them easier to clean.
• Most gemstone is not permeable, so cannot host to moisture and contaminates. The same can not be said for woods, horn, bone, ivory, and (believe it or not) synthetics and plastics! But I use those too, if requested.
• All of my handles are bedded and sealed with jeweler's grade epoxies.
• The seams between the bolsters and blades are also sealed with epoxies or cyanoacrilate esters.
• Though the blocks are wood, just like a cutting board, wood tannins are believed to inhibit bacterial growth.
• In over thirty years of making fine knives for kitchen, chef's, prep work including hunting, field dressing, and cleaning fish in the wild, I've never heard of anyone getting sick from a knife... anyone's knife!

If you're still worried about this whole contamination thing, take a coarse bristle brush to your fingernails with a generous dose of surgeon's anti-bacteriological soap. Then do it again, and again, and again... okay, one more time to be sure-