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Chef's Choice Knife
Sharpener and Your
Kitchen Knife
Learn what make up a good kitchen knife?
How Chef's Choice Knife Sharpener will
tranform your food preparation experience?
Kitchen Knife
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A kitchen knife is any knife that is intended to be used in food
preparation. While much of this work can be accomplished
with a few general-purpose knives, there are also many
specialized knives that are designed for specific tasks. Kitchen
knives can be made from several different materials.
Construction
Material
• Carbon steel is an alloy of iron and carbon, often
including other alloys such as vanadium and manganese.
Carbon steel commonly used in knives has around 1.0%
carbon (ex. AISI 1095), is inexpensive, and holds its
edge well. Carbon steel is normally easier to resharpen
than most stainless steels, but is vulnerable to rust and
stains. The blades must be cleaned, dried, and lubricated
after each use and new carbon-steel knives may impart
a metallic or "iron" flavor to acidic foods, though over
time, the steel will acquire a patina of oxidation which
will prevent corrosion.
• Stainless steel is an alloy of iron, approximately
10-15% chromium, possibly nickel, and molybdenum,
with only a small amount of carbon. Typical stainless
steel knives are made out of 420 stainless, a high-
chromium, low-end stainless steel alloy often used in
flatware. Most consumer grades of low-carbon stainless
are considerably softer than carbon steel and more
expensive grades of stainless, and must be more
frequently sharpened though most are highly resistant
to corrosion. The thin, flexible, shiny blades common
in cheap kitchen knives are typically made of low-
carbon, inexpensive stainless alloys. They are difficult to
sharpen, so they are often made with serrations, which
slows dulling and enables them to cut adequately when
they do become dull.
• High carbon stainless steel normally refers to higher-
grade, stainless steel alloys with a certain amount of
carbon, and is intended to combine the best