Patina

C

cybrok

Joined
Aug 7, 2005
Messages
4,741
I really don't know where to post this, so I take a guess.

I carry an Opinel in my schoolbag tu cut food.

It is made of carbon steel, their stainless is cheap :S

The point is, almost everytime I use it on food, it makes a patina.

The question is: Is it "dangerous" or "harmful" to keep cuttinf food with a knife that has patina, or is it purely a matters of look?

Thanks
 
Opinels are not stainless, they are carbon steel. The darkening will not hurt anything.
Bill
 
cybrok said:
Is it "dangerous" or "harmful" to keep cuttinf food with a knife that has patina, or is it purely a matters of look?
Click to expand...

A patina is just rust, this can be transfered to the food, you can actually see it transfer with some steels which rust very fast. There are individuals with issues with iron levels in their blood which would be the only possible concern. So if you have hemochromatosis you might want to talk to your doctor about it.

-Cliff
 
Bill DeShivs said:
Opinels are not stainless, they are carbon steel. The darkening will not hurt anything.
Bill
Click to expand...

Depends, both are availible. I chose carbon steel because their stainless steel is no a good one. My friend has one in SS.

So if I don't have particular blood problems, it should be ok?
 
Iron itself is not toxic and is a necessary element, however some individuals have problems with overloading. Even in those individuals I would be surprised if it was a problem. Note you consume iron all the time when you cook with cast iron pots/pans.

-Cliff
 
If you're concerned about it, scrub the blade lightly with an SOS pad or similar from time to time. Patina cleans off easily.
 
Dont polish the blade! Just a quick wipe and/or wash.
The patina stops the blade rusting 'deeper' by providing a skin on most of the blade, a bit like the nickle on glavanised stuff. It wont make it un-rustable but it will protect it somewhat though the edge will still 'corrode' off if you leave your knife dirty.
I've never heard of anyone getting any kind of illness or toxicity off the patina and dont think its possible.
You can use mustard to put a pretty damascus like patina on carbon blades, it never worked too wee for me but there were some nice pics a while back.
 
I think patina is beautiful and adds character to the knife. There is a high end french kitchen knife company Sabatier(I think) that used to use only carbon steel because it is better steel and the patina was just something that happend like jeans fading but in north america people had such a problem with this they had to start selling less good stainless knives. Patina is a sign you prefer quality to looks.
 
Yea, a lot of folks go out of thier way to get that patina you are so carelessly polishing off.

:D
 
The stainless versions of the Opinel are very good - I prefer them to the carbon models. Any difference in performance between the 2 steels in this type of knife is minimal.
 
Even if they were exactly the same I would want the patina, hell even if the carbon was a little worse instead of a little better I still want unbrittle steel with character. A little cromium is OK ike in 5160 for a hardness kick but much more makes for a worse blade.
 
Unsub I can understand that from an aesthetic viewpoint. I was really responding to the notion that the stainless in Opinels is "cheap :S". I like Opinels but don't regard them as high performance knives. Within their limitations, both steels are quite impressive and I doubt that, outside of an artificial testing evironment, most people would notice any difference in performance.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top