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Recent bought a chef's knive and a paring knife, both are high carbon stainless steel. The chef's knife is quite sharp and can cut a piece of butcher's twine just by touching it, with little or no pressure. The paring knife cannot. In fact, I can even grip the blade quite hard and it doesn't cut me. Should I have it sharpened?

Sdarb
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AfterWorkGuinness
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  • I also have both types of knives. I use the paring knife a lot to peel fruits and vegetable and, while I like my knives sharp, I don't like the paring knife too sharp. The reason is, if it is too sharp, after peeling potatoes or apples, I get a bunch of little cuts on my thumb. – user3653831 Aug 29 '16 at 09:20
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    @user3653831 : there are different ways of using a paring knife. If you're slicing in your hand, you generally bring it to your thumb, and you may need to develop a bit of a callous to use it both safely and quickly ... but for peeling (aka 'paring') you bring it around the side of the food item, and don't tend to bring it in contact with your thumb. For decorative work, you don't go all the way through, and typically want it sharp enough so you don't have to push so hard that you damage the item being carved or accidentally go further than you planned. – Joe Aug 29 '16 at 14:00
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    "In fact, I can even grip the blade quite hard and it doesn't cut me" - that was a really dumb test to perform. For your own safety, please don't do that again. – user2357112 Aug 29 '16 at 17:23
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    Some people might have a terrible habit of using relatively blunt paring knives straight against their hand or thumb, these should obviously not be using a level of sharpness they are uncomfortable with :) – rackandboneman Aug 30 '16 at 08:16

4 Answers4

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All cutting (slicing, chopping) knives should be as sharp as you can get them, really. A dull knife is much more likely to cause an accident and cut you. Dull knives are more difficult to use properly and any knife used improperly is likely to lead to accidents. The duller the knife the more pressure you need to apply in order to cut your food, leading to a higher chance of slipping and hurting yourself

Sdarb
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    Also, a dull knife is just plain awful to work with. – J... Aug 28 '16 at 22:45
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    While this should probably be obvious for halfway experienced cooks, I think it would be a good idea to rewrite this to something like “a dull knife is much harder to use in a safe way”. Because _any_ knife is likely to cause accidents if handled improperly; in that case a sharp knife is not going to help. And indeed, unsurprisingly, with _the same force_ a sharp knife is going to cut you deeper; just with the proper technique a sharp knife can relieve you from ever _needing_ to apply as much force as you would with a dull one. – leftaroundabout Aug 28 '16 at 23:18
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    A "dull" knife doesn't stop being dangerous, so there's really no benefit to even having a dull knife. Heck you can stab yourself with a pen if you're stupid. – Nelson Aug 29 '16 at 01:21
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    Even an extremely sharp knife will not cut skin if hitting it straight on unless there is some force - otherwise no one could use razors. Compare tomatoes, it will take either force (smacking the knife into it and/or the infamous "tomato drop test") or just a slight amount of slicing motion (a few mm can suffice!) to break through the skin even with something scary sharp. By contrast, an axe will make unclean but short work of the fruit - and so will a dull knife, used with momentum/force, of your fingers. If you hit your fingers with a slicing motion - tough luck in both cases. – rackandboneman Aug 29 '16 at 08:00
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    Not to belabor this but the key danger of a dull knife is that you need push really hard and then the item you are cutting suddenly gives way. You will then end up with a knife being pushed or pulled rapidly with great force in an uncontrolled way. – JimmyJames Aug 29 '16 at 14:32
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    All knives is possibly an overreach, a spreading knife probably should not be razor sharp and is certainly just useful for cooking when blunt, and I am sure there are more examples like that. However yes, cutting knives are usually best sharp. – Vality Aug 29 '16 at 19:35
  • i feel like this is a bit pedantic, and it was pretty obvious that the poster was asking about cutting knives. I don't feel it warrants editing that in to the answer – Sdarb Aug 29 '16 at 22:07
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    @leftaroundabout A sharp knife may in fact help you if an accident occurs and you slice/stab/poke yourself. A sharp knife will cause a lot less tearing of the flesh, which may hurt less, and is easier to clean and care for afterwards. Of course this is to a certain degree, because stabbing oneself in the abdomen is going to cause pain regardless if the knife is sharp or dull. A sharp knife, as others mentioned already, may also reduce the amount of force required to make a cut - meaning a slipped sharp knife may also have less force behind it, making the accident less worse. – SnakeDoc Aug 29 '16 at 22:37
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It needs to be sharp enough to cut easily and cleanly. A sharp knife grips the food, cuts better, and is easier to control. Food also has a nicer presentation with a clean cut. A sharp knife is safer because it is easier to control. It does not need to be razor sharp and cut hair. Cut paper is plenty sharp for meat, fruits, and vegetables.

You can also buy a sharpening kit to do it yourself. Many options where you get cooking supplies. Or pay to have it professional sharpened.

A knife does not hold an edge very long. A honing steel will re-align the microscopic teeth and can be used frequently- even after each use. You will get one with most knife sets. I hone before each use. You will feel when the knife does not bite. Something like a cucumber will bite easily. A tomato takes a sharp edge. When it does not easily penetrate the skin then hone.

wusthof.com care-and-sharpening using-a-steel

paparazzo
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    I have a ceramic knife that keeps it's edge much longer (maybe 5, 10 times?) than my steel knives. The downside is you need a special sharpener but it's great for cutting fruits and vegetables. For some reason, steel seems to be better for meats. It's nice if you aren't big on sharpening frequently. Note, these are actually ceramic blades, not enamel over steel or anything. Don't try to use them to pry things open. – JimmyJames Aug 29 '16 at 18:56
  • Only do that with a knife that is designed to work well with a honing steel, some harder edges can be damaged by it. What works on every steel edge, though, is stropping on paper, balsa or leather. BTW, the problem with ceramics is that with a steel knife, it won't take long until you will have honed/stropped/done-something-to-improve-edge 10 times. So 10 times as long until you need to do something about the edge is NOT long. Sure, there are upmarket ceramics, but at prices that will afford you a decent VG10 or SG2 based steel knife (which keeps sharp quite long once sharpened right!). – rackandboneman Aug 30 '16 at 08:24
  • @rackandboneman Stated question is "high carbon stainless steel" – paparazzo Aug 30 '16 at 09:00
  • Yes. But since others started suggesting alternatives (ceramic of all sorts), let's constructively hijack this :) – rackandboneman Aug 30 '16 at 09:24
  • @rackandboneman Not how SE is supposed to work – paparazzo Aug 30 '16 at 09:54
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We had an axiom when I worked in a kitchen:

A sharp knife is a safe knife.

That applies to all types, in my opinion. You want to maximize your control while cutting. If you are slicing an apple or a tomato with a dull paring knife, your chance of injuring yourself will be elevated.

Using a dull knife also makes it more difficult to make something beautiful. In order to fan out most fruits/vegetables, you need sharp, precise cuts.

Apple Fan

See also Why Dull Knives are More Dangerous in the Kitchen

Community
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Zuke Nukem
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I laughed out loud when I read the question and some of the answers. I am notorious, at least in my family, for not sharpening my knives regularly (or very fully even when I do). Every time my brother visits me, he complains about my knives and sharpens them, and as as result I invariably cut myself while I'm washing dishes or actually paring. As a result of this result, he is now barred from my kitchen.

I think you should have a paring knife with a cutting blade you're comfortable with. If you're comfortable with a sharp one, use it. If you like them a bit dull and know how to maneuver them properly, do that.

I really don't think this is one of those questions that has a right answer. Each cook needs to decide what s/he likes and use it accordingly in this case. The point, after all, is simply to be able to pare things!

Norma
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    It sounds like you have picked up some unfortunate habits over the years. If you know how to handle a knife safely, you should not be at risk of cutting yourself while paring, and *definitely* not while washing. If you're depending on the blade being too dull to cut you when you accidentally press against it, you're already doing something dangerous, and on top of that you're risking injury from the blade slipping instead of slicing cleanly. I get that this ends up working out for you, but for others, I would *strongly* suggest avoiding developing similar habits. – Cascabel Oct 13 '16 at 22:30
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    BTW; there is no common way (unless you sharpen, then wear down the knife - or choose an intentionally very obtuse edge angle, but that would still be fully sharpening ;) ) to sharpen a knife "not very fully" - either a new apex is established or it isn't. In the first case, you end up with something that would be too sharp for your habits even if doing it on a very coarse stone but but properly. The second case is not "not fully sharpened" but "incorrectly sharpened" – rackandboneman Nov 30 '16 at 10:38
  • it sounds like you have developed the wrong skills so that trying to start over the right way is difficult. This is bad advice and not dissimilar to saying "i drive my automatic car with both of my feet, and when I tried to use one foot the other day i missed the break and got into an accident." the proper technique can sometimes be harder to learn at first, but that doesn't mean it isn't the better way to do things – Sdarb Sep 26 '18 at 16:09