I’m a pretty avid cook and I’m going through the process of updating some of my kitchen equipment. While I’m doing that I am upgrading some of my kitchen knives. One of the things I was looking into getting is a Chinese Cleaver (I’ve been getting into cooking with a wok too). I am looking at one that is made of carbon steel and am slightly concerned about the difficulty I hear about maintaining a carbon steel knife. I’m seeing that chopping onions with it can be a problem, same with lemons and tomatoes. That kind of stuff. On the other hand they are supposed to be much easier to self sharpen on a stone.
I figure you guys probably have some carbon steel knives. Should I be nervous about a carbon steel knife? Excited? Is it not actually a big deal and I have just fallen into an internet rabbit hole that makes bigger deals out of stuff than it deserves?
What’s your thoughts?
(as a PS looking into these carbon steel cleavers got me looking at some Mac Gyuto knives. Those are pretty, expensive, but pretty. Feel free to talk about any kind of kitchen knife. I’m into it right now.)
The only thing I avoid with mine is the extra-sour citrus—lemons and limes. And even then, if I were to wash them immediately it would be OK. But when I’m cooking that’s more of a distraction than switching to a serrated stainless steel knife that the acid doesn’t interact with.
Yes, the blades are far easier to sharpen, once you’ve got them properly sharpened to begin with. They cut like a razor blade mounted on a handle.
My big knife splurge was a Moritaka gyuto. Thinnish blade, light, effortless, just lay it on something and it starts cutting. I use it everyday for pretty much everything. My only problem is that the heel is unprotected and I’ve nicked myself a couple times.
I have three cleavers (two vegetable, one meat). I’ve never had problems with onions or acidic produce. Like your article stated, they are great for smashing/mincing garlic and as a bench scraper.
As long as the knife is washed immediately after use and toweled dry I’ve been fine. Do not run them through a dishwasher, leave in water to soak or drip dry after rinsing otherwise they can rust.
The meat cleaver isn’t used as often, but it’s great when breaking down poultry or cutting thick skinned melons/squash. The vegetable cleaver can cut boneless meats but if you want to go through bone it won’t work as well as a chef knife.
I sharpen my knives but not as often as they should be.
I use an accusharp hand-held jobby for my cheap knives. There’s a Japanese knife shop (Korin) downtown with a well-regarded sharpening service I’d like to use for the Moritaka but they’ve been closed temporarily. Sharpening is $15 I believe. I want to learn to use a stone but I have other knives I can practice with.
Mechanical engineer here. From a metallurgical standpoint, there are two main types of knives: carbon steel, and stainless steel. Both have their advantages and disadvanteges.
Carbon steel is harder. It’s the carbon within the iron matrix that makes it harder. That means it stays sharper longer. That’s a good thing. But the downside is that it lacks resistance to corrosion (i.e., rust). So it needs to be kept clean and dry, and free from acidic contaminants. Professional chefs, who take care of their knifes with a passion, prefer these types of knives.
Stainless steel is less hard. The chromium that makes it less likely to corrode reacts badly with the carbon that would make it harder, so much of the carbon is left out. So you end up with a knife that is unlikely to rust, but that is less hard, and therefore needs much more frequent sharpening. For the average household chef, who doesn’t use his knives for many hours each day, this is generally a worthwhile tradeoff.
Both have their place. You just need to decide which advantages and disadvantages are most important to you.
I have a couple of knives like that, and it’s true that they can develop a patina (that is not necessarily a problem) and you should keep them clean and dry to avoid rust. (To store one you can use food-grade mineral oil.)
It’s not a big deal to use them to chop stuff in the kitchen— that is what knives are for— and you can sharpen them using whetstones like any other knife. ISTM there are dozens of steels on the market, so if you get one that is ultra ultra hard (I do not have experience with this) it may be more difficult to sharpen, but you could take it to the local knife sharpener and it should also stay sharp longer than a softer knife.
As for other types of knives out there, I have seen friends with things like a glass knife for cutting fruit, ceramic/zirconia knives, nickel-titanium knives…
The only carbon steel knife I have is for outdoor use and I forced the patina to develop. That patina on the surface can help protect from the rust which can eat deeper into the metal and damage the blade. The added benefit, for something like a kitchen knife, is you avoid the messy, random, stained look acidic food can cause. I caused the patina to develop uniformly across the blade with an acidic food (mustard IIRC) coating the entire sides of the blade.
There is a disadvantage that this still disrupts the smooth surface of the metal. You might not find that slim kitchen knife slides as easily through a tomato. I was less concerned, and have not noticed any issues, for a knife that I have batoned through firewood. For something like a cleaver you may not notice or care. Some of that patina will be also developing anyway no matter how careful you are.
You do still to pay attention to not letting the knife sit in water or stay wet for extended periods. The patina covered blade is still not as rust resistant as stainless steel. The edge is also not going to be very well protected. Sharpening removes the patina. You can worry less about what you cut, though. Once you have already stained the blade any further stains show up less.