What's In a Knife?

Because high carbon stainless steel was probably not around in the 1970s, when Bryony takes places, I'm guessing when Steve Barnes taught Brian Marchellis how to cook, he used either carbon steel or stainless steel knives.

Here are the type of materials used for kitchen knives and their benefits and disadvantages:

The best kind of knife is one that is forged and tempered from one piece of metal, although it can also be cut or stamped from the metal. There are different kinds of metal that a knife can be made from. They can be made from: Carbon steel, Stainless steel, High-carbon stainless steel, and Ceramic.

Carbon steel is very easy to sharpen and is the traditional metal used in making knifes, but watch out when used with acidic foods the metal will without a doubt discolor and corrode.

Stainless steel is a durable material. It is rust-proof and resists discoloring and corroding. The blade remains sharper than a carbon steel blade, but the stainless steel knife is harder to sharpen than the carbon steel knife.

High-carbon stainless steel is the most used metal for knives today. It takes the best of both worlds from the carbon steel and from the stainless steel. This metal is almost as easy to sharpen as the knife made from carbon steel. This metal will not discolor or corrode.

Ceramic is very expensive and is now made from a ceramic called zirconium oxide. This makes the knife very sharp and easy to clean, it also will not rust and it is also nonreactive. The ceramic knife will stay sharp for a long time, possibly years, if the knife is taken care of. This knife, though, after it becomes dull will need to be sharpened by a professional. This ceramic is durable, but is not flexible like metal.

Timothy M. Baran