Serrated blades?

[97guns]

i have a serrated blade or two for my kitchen duties and use them quite a bit mostly for bread.

i am also a huge knife collector. many collectors and users of knives shy away from serrated blades, they always say that any sharp plain edge knife will always outcut a serrated blade but im one of the few that feel partial serrated blades are the perfect style blade for everyday cutting duties. it seems to cut through rope, rubber, plastics and heavy cardboard much better than a plain edge, just wondering what a chefs thoughts are on serrated blades not only in the kitchen environment but outside of it as well.

nice place you have here, ill probably be hangin out a little bit. i love to cook.

 

[jpaulg]

Serrated blades are good for bread.

If you can keep any sort of edge on your normal blades then the only place for serrated blades is breads and pastries. Normal blades can cut bread, but serrated blades do it so much better.

 

[GB]

Serrated blades have a place in my kitchen, even though I have some very good and very sharp regular blades. When I slice open a bagel I reach for a serrated. When I an skinning a pineapple I reach for a long serrated. I could do both tasks with my chefs knife, but I find the serrated better suited for both these tasks.

 

[ChefJune]

slicing tomatoes is a serrated task, too, imho.

 

[jpaulg]

slicing tomatoes is a serrated task, too, imho.

A good nakiri with a well maintained edge will change your opinion.

The problem with tomatoes is that too many people use blunt knives on them.

 

[NAchef]

I have been looking for a good serrated knife for bread.

Any ideas?

 

[jpaulg]

You want a very thin blade and a longer blade 10" + for best results.

I generally don't care for Wusthofs but their bread knives are very good.

 

[theages]

I agree w/ GB. I keep a serrated knife in my tool kit for certain tasks, but prefer my straight edged knives for the majority of kitchen tasks. In addition to using a serrated on breads and pineapple I also may use it to peel hard shelled squashes.

 

[buzzard767]

I have been looking for a good serrated knife for bread.

Any ideas?

MAC SB-150

For the money the best bread knife in the world.


Buzz

 

[tzakiel]

Soft and delicate - use serrated.
Anything else - chef or paring knife.
That's my motto.

 

[Kayelle]

Just an aside about serrated knives.....never use them on your wood cutting board. I have a cheap flimsy plastic cutting mat for just that purpose.

 

[RPCookin]

slicing tomatoes is a serrated task, too, imho.

I feel just the opposite. I do NOT like cutting tomatoes with a serrated knife. My 10" Cutco (don't ask, it was a gift ) chef's knife goes through tomatoes effortlessly. I keep it sharp and I can cut paper thin slices with it, yet it's stiff enough to half a spaghetti squash. Cutco isn't a bad knife, just overpriced..

 

[Andy M.]

I actually have a serrated knife that is called a tomato knife. It has a 6-inch blade. I use it to cut my bagels. It does a great job on bagels and tomatoes but I use regular-edged knives on tomatoes.

If I have a problem cutting a tomato with a regular-edged knife, I know it's time to sharpen it.

 

[Robo410]

bread, tomatoes, fingers

 

[Rob Babcock]

MAC SB-150

For the money the best bread knife in the world.


Buzz

For the money, I'm nominating the Kai Wasabi II bread knife as one of the best bread knives in the world. To be honest it's so good that it made me sell my Shun Elite bread knife! Certainly the Elite (and even the Classic) uses "better" steel, but the Wasabi is a tad longer and has a wee bit more curve. In actual use I find it to be about as good as any, if not better, and you can't beat $35. I love mine so much that I have a 2nd one, NIB, ready to go if I ever lose the first one.

 

[Nicholas Mosher]

I use my 8" chef knife for dang near everything. We have a serrated bread knife, but I rarely use it. Honed on oil-coated stone (every couple months) and it's edge kept with a steel, my chef knife will pretty much fall through a tomato under it's own weight just by setting it on the skin and lightly drawing it back.

I use a Wüsthof Cordon Bleu edition which has a half-bolster and a slightly thinner blade than the classic edition. I even bought a spare for traveling.

Only other knife I ever reach for is a paring knife.

 

[Rob Babcock]

Well, yeah...if the weight of the blade isn't sufficient force to cut a tomato, your knife is dull. Serrated knives fill a different role; hopefully, they're reserved for crusty bread, and perhaps a few esoteric tasks too specialized to enumerate here (of course, this definitely doesn't include tomatoes- they're properly cut with a sharp non-serrated edge; at least in commercial kitchen; I don't know how Rachael Ray does it).

Pro cooks don't use serrated knives much, pretty much just for crusty bread.

 

[ChefJune]

A good nakiri with a well maintained edge will change your opinion.

The problem with tomatoes is that too many people use blunt knives on them.

I don't use blunt knives, but I still prefer a small, slender serrated knife for tomatoes.

 

[GB]

For me, when it comes to tomatoes and knives I have a few thoughts.

1. I would always pick a properly sharpened straight edge knife to cut a tomato over a serrated knife.

2. I would always pick a serrated over a dull straight knife to cut a tomato.

3. Unless I am going to very thin slices, I can get the same results from a serrated and a straight edge.

Personal preference is why I like to use a sharp straight edge. I enjoy using a very sharp knife. There is a satisfaction that comes put slicing through an entire tomato with one pull from a sharp blade. There is also a satisfaction with slicing super thin slices of a veggie/fruit as challenging to slice as a tomato. Most of my cooking applications do not call for super thin slices, but when I sharpen my knives if I have tomatoes on hand that is one way I will test sharpness. I do not get the same sort of satisfaction from using a serrated blade.

 

[bigdaddy3k]

I love extra thin sliced tomatoes on freshly made sammiches!