knife with patina..food prep.

Yes, with a consideration to certain acidic foods. For example, my Old Hickory knives have a forced patina of mustard, vinegar, and or grapefruit. Those knives will often leave a blackish color on apples, some cheeses, and I can smell them interacting with some foods, apples, strawberries, grapefruits. I've never felt bad from eating any of these foods, but for presentation it would be a no go, like a restaurant.
 
Absolutely. Forcing the patina to form faster on a blade than simply letting it develop over time with normal use only differs in the time required, not in the chemical reactions that are occurring. There was a time when surgical scalpels were made from carbon steel instead of so called "surgical stainless steel", and they were no more or less sterilizable than their stainless successors. Shiny just looks safer and cleaner.
 
I too have experienced the "phenomena" of which Foxx speaks, but only after forcing a patina on a Bark River I have in 52-100. It doesn't do it near as much nowadays. Maybe after forgoing prompt cleanup after cutting something that would lend to a natural patina, but that's about it. I've never seen that occur from my Bark River in A2, a Fiddleback in O-1, nor my BK-11 with stripped blade, all of which were never forced. Can't say I've tried too many cheeses with either, though; mostly just apples, oranges and pickles.

Maybe this occurs more when excess patina is being rubbed off by certain acidic foods? A forced patina would undoubtedly have more built up, at least initially, than a natural patina that gets any excess rubbed off every use while continuing the build-up.
 
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