The knife is a necessary element of any kitchen. That is why it is important to approach its choice carefully. Now kitchen knives are produced from various materials, primarily the carbon steel and ceramics. Despite the wide range, stainless steel remains the most popular material. It has many advantages over its competitors.
Which are the Pros of the stainless steel knife?
Materials such as carbon and high-carbon steel certainly have significant advantages, but compared to stainless steel, they quickly rust and therefore fail. So stainless steel, as the basis for the kitchen knife, is still popular. It is characterized by high strength and an impressive service life, even considering that such knives are in the kitchen often and have a lot of contact with water and other liquids. Main advantages of stainless steel:
- Resistant to the appearance and development of rust,
- High strength threshold even under strong physical influence,
- Resistance to temperature and humidity,
- Lack of development of “its own” taste and smell even in prolonged use,
- Environmental Safety,
- Beautiful appearance due to the natural glow of steel.
Despite these advantages, sometimes come across knives of low-quality stainless steel. Therefore, you need to know how to choose the right quality knife from knifespedia.
Rules of choice
Stainless steel is a good material for knife production, but much depends on the specific composition and the presence (or absence) of impurities in the primary material. It should be understood that a high-quality kitchen knife in principle can not be cheap. Anything that is sold at a low price, in reality, is not stainless steel. You should immediately throw away knives with very thin blades. He’ll be blunt and useless in no time.
The main element that prevents the steel from rusting is the oxide film. It covers the blade. The thickness of this film is several nanometers. It is completely transparent but protects the metal from any chemical effects.
When choosing a kitchen knife it is important to specify technical details:
Type of stainless steel – ferrite, martensitic, austenitic. There are also mixed types. Directly for kitchen knives almost always used martensitic steel. It have the necessary level of rigidity and resistance to physical impacts.
Whether the necessary heat treatment of steel has been carried out. In the case of martensitic stainless steel, it should be carried out slowly, i.e. the thermal conductivity of the metal is low.
In general, the optimal grades of steel for the manufacture of knives are as follows:
- 12C27,
- AEB-L,
- DD400,
- AUS6.
For other specifications, attention should be paid to:
- the hardness level at hardening shall not be less than 63-64 HRC,
- the level of chromium under hardening – at least 12%, otherwise the product will quickly rust,
- the presence of small carbides in the material with the requirement of their uniform distribution.
Stainless steel kitchen knives should be durable and resistant to physical stress and pressure. In addition, the blade should be ready for subsequent sharpening at home.
The purchase of a high-quality kitchen knife will greatly simplify the cooking process and also bring a lot of pleasure to the cook lover.
