There was a time when I saw a knife simply as a sharp piece of metal used to cut some vegetables from time to time. No longer. In addition to knives specifically designed for very demanding tasks (eg tomato knives), there are other important differences. Is it a European style knife or a Japanese style knife? What kind of sharpness is the knife? What style of handle does the knife have?
In this article, we will look at the various surfaces that a knife can have. That standard surface, the most common texture for a blade plane. In more elaborate knives, however, there may be different textures. To improve their performance, the knives can also be dimpled, hammered, or use a textured steel such as Damascus.
Smooth
Standard smooth steel on the flat side of the blade is easier for most fabricators to produce. A natural product of the buffing process, it is easiest to simply machine buff a flat surface and lay it flat on the blade.
One problem with the perfectly smooth surface is that food sticks more easily, especially wet food, which will be most food. Anyone who has ever cooked before knows how annoying it is to scrape chunks of minced garlic or tomato slices from the side of a knife. That is why textured surfaces were developed.
Dimpled
These knives are often incorrectly labeled as “hollow earth” knives. This is an inaccuracy as hollow ground actually refers to the shape of a knife’s edge, not the polishing of the gaps in the blade.
Dimpled knives are becoming more and more common. These knives have small hollow dimples in the blade, usually quite close to the edge. The idea behind these small holes is that they trap air inside, preventing food from sticking to the blade. The resulting cuts are smoother, easier and it is much easier to collect the food after cutting.
Hammered
An old-school take on dimples, a hammered blade has been deliberately dented and textured during manufacture. The resulting uneven surface has a dimple-like effect, trapping air and preventing food from sticking to the flat part of the blade. This feature is most commonly seen in Japanese-style knives, especially high-end traditional Japanese knives.
Damascus steel
Damascus steel is a softer layer of steel found in various styles of knives, although it is more common among Japanese knives. As a softer steel, Damascus is typically used to clad a harder, more brittle steel that is used for the core and edge of a knife. Since it is made up of several layers of folded steel, Damascus steel does not usually have a smooth finish. Instead, it has a rough, textured surface that acts much like the dimpled or hammered steels above. Air is trapped in small valleys in the steel, preventing food from sticking to the blade during cutting.
Textured sheet vs flat sheets
Textured blades are best used for cutting and chopping tasks that do not produce very small parts. It is better to leave minced and minced very fine to a flat blade. This is because small pieces of food can lodge in dimples or blemishes on the blade, making them even more difficult to remove. The same pieces can stick to a flat sheet, but they are easy enough to remove.
Textured metals also need a bit more attention when cleaning. Not only do chunks of food get stuck in them, but they can be harder to detect when cleaning the knife. Water can also get trapped in small tanks, increasing the possibility of rust or discoloration.
However, these blades are great for any cutting job, and it’s worth having one of them just for making fine cuts that other knives may not handle as well. If you have a slicing knife and a chopping knife, be sure to sharpen the slicing knife only with a ceramic or glass sharpening rod. A steel sharpening rod could change the qualities of the edge.