Serrated knives

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flphotog

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Jul 10, 2014
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I've got a question for you guys about serrated knives. The only serrated knife I have in the kitchen is a bread knife. I see sets that have a serrated utility knife for use on tomatoes and other soft foods.
My question is, is there any real need for this. I have no issue cutting tomatoes or anything with the exception of some breads with a properly sharpened plain edge knife. Do the serrations actually accomplish anything?
 
Serrated utility knives are for people who don't actually have good chef and pairing knives. The only reason for using a serrated kitchen knife is sawing through hard crusts. I do love my Tojiro ITK bread knife for such purposes. However, when it comes to tomatoes, I use my gyuto or a laser-thin non-serrated petty knife.
 
Thanks, that was pretty much what I was thinking. I generally use a 6" utility knife on tomatoes, but mine cuts through them like butter.
 
Yeah, I actually like serrated EDC knives, but I've got little use for serrations in the kitchen. The only two knives I think they're handy on are bread knives and those funky looking cheese knives, which I actually find useful and like.
 
Insipid Moniker said:
Yeah, I actually like serrated EDC knives, but I've got little use for serrations in the kitchen. The only two knives I think they're handy on are bread knives and those funky looking cheese knives, which I actually find useful and like.
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I partially agree :). the only serrated knife I have in the kitchen is a bread knife. But I also prefer a plain blade for EDC.
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Personally, I feel that there is absolutely no reason to ever have serrations on any knife in the kitchen. For hard crusty bread, I might make an exception...but only barely. Serrations on kitchen knives were only introduced because they stayed "sharper" longer than poorly made plain edge knives. As long as you have a good knife, or at the very least know how to maintain the edge of a cheap knife, serrations are obsolete. Compared to a well made, plain edge chef's knife, the cut a serrated knife leaves behind is silly
 
I read the other day that serrations work well for hard crusty FRESH bread, but are not necessary for anything else.
 
The serrated utility knife gets used for household utility stuff usually not related to cooking. I got my parents a cold steel block set and my dad uses the serrated utility all the time for all kinds of stuff. Just today he made a new water bowl for the dogs by cutting a 5 gallon water jug to size.
 
I hank it is a matter of the crust of fresh bread being fairly hard and the interior being very soft. They kind of equalize out as the bread cools off and "ages"
flphotog said:
My feeling exactly and I do love a good baguette.
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Serrations are not restorable (not fully 100% anyway for the Spyderco style serrations, no matter what many will say) so they are more for one-time emergency use: They make sense for fighters for instance, as to me a box-stock serrated edge is always far superior to a box-stock plain edge...: My own re-profiled plain edges are a match, or better, than box-stock serrations, but are much thinner in angle at 10-12 degrees per side than the usual box stock plain edge of 20 to 25...

Serrations do cut thick soft materials faster than plain edges. Take one plain knife and an identical serrated one, the serrated edge will do rough separation work quicker on soft yielding materials or rope.

The biggest issue to me is the lack of maintainability: A seriously damaged serrated knife is basically a throwaway, as it will never be like new in performance again, but there is another advantage of serration, not on the long term, but in long-term use without maintenance.

On survival knives they would make sense on the spine, not the main edge, instead of the usual sawback: Serrations maintain a cutting ability even when severely used, which could be a concern in prolonged use in an emergency: The only knife I know to exploit this usefully is the Al Mar SF-10.

Gaston
 
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