Taste of various kinds of steel.

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buendia

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Apr 12, 2005
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A blade of one of my favourite pocket knives (old 4$ Gerlach working knife) is made of 1090/5 steel. There is sth that I like very much about this blade. Razor sharpness and V geometry. Its thinnes (2mm) and wonderful patina. A perfect cutter!
I don`t like the taste of the steel though. I can feel it especially when I eat veggies (cucumber) cut with this blade. I`m very sensitive to it.
I also own several other knives in stainless steels - 440A, 440C, 420 and no problem at all. That`s basically the only reason I use stainless in my EDC.
Did you notice this phenomenon with other kinds of steel?

I am about to buy a new EDC and I would like to gather some information on this topic. I am especially curious about exotic steels like G3 laminate, S60V and S90V.
 
That's why most kitchen knives are stainless steel, so they don't react with the food you cut with them. If you use a carbon steel knife it may react with the food and alter the taste.
 
Carbon steel was the norm in most home kitchens when I was a child, the stainless of the time wasn't used much.

I remember my grandmother using her favorite paring knife to prepare tomatoes for home canning. The knife would go dull from the acid in the tomatoes, in a short time.

The pocket knives of the time were mostly carbon steel, and would get dull in the pocket, due to the sweating of the person carrying it.

I don't recall food that was prepared with the carbon knives taking on a taste or oder, it may have been masked by the tast or odor of the cast iron skillets used by my folks.

Thomas Zinn
 
Many chefs like stainless steel cookware because it won't react with the food and alter it's taste. So I don't see why a non-stainless knife couldn't alter the taste of food.

When I first saw this topic I thought someone was going to post about how they lick all their knives and notice the difference in taste. Like "s30v has a slight nutty flavor, while VG-10 kinda of tastes like chicken!"
 
Yeah, I'm pretty sensitive to the taste/odor of carbon steel, especially when cutting something like tomatos which have both a strong reaction and "somewhat" light flavor that carbon steel makes totally disgusting. It really helps if you wipe the blade "every" time before and after cutting something, not every slice mind you, but like, dice a tomato or whatnot and then wipe the blade down with a damp cloth, and then again before moving onto the next item.
 
WadeF said:
"s30v has a slight nutty flavor, while VG-10 kinda of tastes like chicken!"
Click to expand...
Everything tastes like chicken :D

I have an OLD cleaver from my grandfather's restaurant that is in carbon steel, and I make sure to rinse it often and wipe it down, as Yoda mentioned. The taste doesn't bother me too much, but doing this helps a lot.
 
WadeF said:
When I first saw this topic I thought someone was going to post about how they lick all their knives and notice the difference in taste. Like "s30v has a slight nutty flavor, while VG-10 kinda of tastes like chicken!"
Click to expand...

LOL! That's what I thought too! :)

Followed by a vision of a bunch of BFC members going to bed tonight with Band-Aids on their tongues! :)
 
Before stainless steel was invented, fruit knives often had silver blades to avoid the nasty taste you get from carbon steel. It seems like some people are more sensitive to the taste than others though. I notice it a lot when cutting apples. If you look at a slice of apple after rubbing it against a carbon steel blade, sometimes you'll see black rust smeared on it. :barf:
 
WadeF said:
When I first saw this topic I thought someone was going to post about how they lick all their knives and notice the difference in taste. Like "s30v has a slight nutty flavor, while VG-10 kinda of tastes like chicken!"
Click to expand...

Blackwood sharpened D2 taste like ...... gaaaaaa ....blood! I only meant to lick the SIDE !!!!

LOL

Rob
 
Originally Posted by WadeF
When I first saw this topic I thought someone was going to post about how they lick all their knives and notice the difference in taste. Like "s30v has a slight nutty flavor, while VG-10 kinda of tastes like chicken!"
Click to expand...

benchmade d2 tastes like 3-in-1 oil. :grumpy: guss i should have washed it first.

speaking of, has any one else ever cut in to something like a orange or apple and get that nasty oil/gm super lube taste for the first few bites :p
 
I have often noticed the smell of carbon steel used to cut fruit. I haven't noticed the taste as often. I like carbon steel knives for cutting meat. It often takes a very agressive edge. I generally go for stainless for everything else. Carbon steel is also good for cleavers.

PS. I thought we were going to compare the tastes of steel too.
"An impertinent little alloy with a spicy taste, a smooth finish and a hint of rasberry in the nose."
 
I have an old Austrian tinned carbon steel spoon. The front is worn out and you can`t eat anything without this iron aftertaste. Brrrr... I love the Arnie size though. You won`t buy that big spoon anymore...
 
I still don`t know whether steels like 3G, S60V, S90V and zdp189 (all quite high in carbon) are neutral in taste or not. I would be very dissapointed if I bought one of them and it would taste like iron.

Cucumber test is the best!
 
One of my roommates was a chef, and apparently he can even taste a difference in tomatoes that have been cut with even stainless steel. So when tomatoes are fresh, he'll sometimes eat one like an apple, without cutting it (unless he had a ceramic blade).

Me, I don't really like the idea of ceramic knives. I like metal knives, so I'd have to try Talonite.
 
What about D2 steel? It`s high in carbon and chromium. Many classic slip-joints are made of it. I wonder how does it taste like?
 
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