Stainless steel or Carbon steel?

And what really gets missed by most when considering sharpness is the fact that there is significant loss of sharpness due to corrosion/etching when working in agressive environments with non-stainless steels. For instance acids/salts from foods.

Those who chose to use non-stainless in the kitchen need to be sure they're really getting what they think. especially with the new grades of stainless cutlery/tool steels available. M390, etc...

Just because sushi knives may be available in carbon steel doesn't mean its the best. Many Japanese things are heaviy tied to tradition because they value it more highly than in many other cultures. That doesn't make it "best", just traditional. and FWIW virtually any steel ground in the chisel/zero edge style of most yanagibas would slice better than nearly any western style chef's knife.... At least for the first few cuts...

To my mind there is no reason to ever use "carbon" steel unless you like the tradition of it and don't mind the care it requires.... The high alloy non-stainless steels like 3V, or M4, or 10V are not remotely like carbon steel.
 
Rapt_up said:
Just because sushi knives may be available in carbon steel doesn't mean its the best. Many Japanese things are heaviy tied to tradition because they value it more highly than in many other cultures. That doesn't make it "best", just traditional. and FWIW virtually any steel ground in the chisel/zero edge style of most yanagibas would slice better than nearly any western style chef's knife.... At least for the first few cuts...
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That's one thing MOST people here in the US will never really understand.

Traditions are very important to many Cultures around the world.

People have to remember that the US and Canada are still VERY young compared to the other Countries around the World.
 
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kreole said:
That's not obvious and also not correct. Super Blue/White are popular in chef knives and aren't stainless. For another, ZDP189, although stainless by chromium percentage, stains a lot easier than many other stainless steels but is another popular steel for kitchens, so again how stain-proof it is is not a major factor. And finally, take a look in the custom fixed blades for sale here on the forum. The latest kitchen knife, a paring knife, is in L6, which isn't stainless. That's standard; a search for 'chef' shows at least the latest 10 listed are all non-stainless.
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Yes, I do agree. I sort of regretted that one. I would not hesitate to use carbon in food prep. I do believe, however, that there may be some conditions under which there are requirements for stainless in food prep? Schools or institutions or something maybe.
 
Wow. Now that I read the whole thread I REALLY regret the food prep comment. Sheesh.

Bottom line, don't be afraid of either steel, there are myriad examples of great blades in both...and everything in between.

At least I got away with my saltwater comment...GO!
 
HoosierQ said:
Wow. Now that I read the whole thread I REALLY regret the food prep comment. Sheesh.

Bottom line, don't be afraid of either steel, there are myriad examples of great blades in both...and everything in between.

At least I got away with my saltwater comment...GO!
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Yeah it had more to do with food prep at home from what I read so either would be fine, I use both stainless and non stainless, more stainless though.

What I was talking about before had nothing to do with kitchens in restaurants at all. ;)

There are more fields of food handling than that very narrow field.
 
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I like carbon steel myself. I use it exclusively in the kitchen. Get a good carbon steel knife, gotten at a yard sale for a buck or two, scary sharp. Then after each use give it three swipes per side on a good steel. It will keep a great edge for a long time, What's not to like.

Sorry for adding kitchen stuff. In my opinion carbon steel is the best steel for the money. You can get many stainless steels which will outperform it, but at a greater cost. Carbon steel is much better than 440A for instance.
 
Ankerson said:
That's one thing MOST people here in the US will never really understand.

Traditions are very important to many Cultures around the world.

People have to remember that the US and Canada are still VERY young compared to the other Countries around the World.
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Traditions an utterly pointless sign of a stagnant culture. If something has practical value, we call it a Technique. It is only when something has absolutely no practical value but continues to be done because it always HAS been done, that it becomes "tradition"

A vibrant, productive, adaptive culture has no need for tradition. The fact that the past can teach you something is no reason to keep doing the same things.

But i'm not really an authority, because i have absolutely ZERO interest in tradition. I ignore it whenever it is not useful.

"Traditional" knife production methods are often the most efficient methods of producing a given knife for a given task. That means those methods are valuable because they are efficient, not because they are traditional
 
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