Does carbon steel taste funny?

[FortyTwoBlades]

Carbon steel oxidizes (especially cutting fruit), and Iron oxide taste kind of like blood. sometimes after a long days grinding when I smell almost like I am smeared with blood. I used to think it was just because I cut/scrapped/ground my hands so much that there was significant dried blood on them.

Also some really finicky "gourmet" chefs use silver, or the like for caviar and other delicacies.

Even more hardcore caviar fanciers use horn spoons.

 

[jamesbeat]

I would imagine there are plenty of people that would have been happy to remove his wooden handles and craft some synthetic ones that would work, no?

Quite possibly, but I'm pretty sure he said the handle had to be molded onto the tang, presumably to prevent gaps that could harbor bacteria.
This was in the UK, where safety laws are notoriously overzealous.
I guess the idea of replacing the handles must have occurred to him, but for whatever reason, he didn't do it.
I wonder if he still has those knives?
Maybe I'll try to persuade him to part with them next time I visit the UK

 

[timberweasel]

Not only does carbon steel taste funny, but it's damn hard to chew as well...

Seriously though, carbon steels will take on a bit of a funny taste and/or odour with use. That's why most people would prefer a pocket knife made of stainless rather than carbon steel. No one wants to be known as 'Stink Pocket'...

 

[puukkoman]

...taste "funny?" No way. It tastes like steel should.

 

[edge-holder]

Not only does carbon steel taste funny, but it's damn hard to chew as well...

Seriously though, carbon steels will take on a bit of a funny taste and/or odour with use. That's why most people would prefer a pocket knife made of stainless rather than carbon steel. No one wants to be known as 'Stink Pocket'...

That kind of sounds like an STD...

Back on topic, when my grandpa used to cut up an apple with his old pocket knife I always thought it tasted kind of funny, so there might be something to this theory.

 

[C.S. Graves]

I dunno about taste, but I found that when I cut pineapple with carbon steel, it makes the steel smell like home made beef jerky.

 

[climbingrocks]

Sorry to resurect such an old thread, but I am beginning to really dislike the flavor imparted to my favorite apples by the Swamp Warden. Its such a wonderful knife though!