Seeds and thin edges

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Mr.Wizard

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In vai777's mini review of the Uraku Santoku I read:

Cut up an apple on a cheap bamboo cutting board... obviously not through the core / seeds.

If I infer correctly he is saying it would be abusive to cut through apple seeds with this knife. I found this a bit surprising as I have used some pretty thin edges to slice citrus, seeds and all, and I noticed no damage to the edge. (I think citrus seeds are harder than apple seeds?) Is this abusive? What kinds of seeds, rinds etc. are soft enough to cut with a thin/hard knife and what kinds are not? Clearly there are different degrees of thin and hard so I guess I am looking for some kind of ranking.
 
Funny, I read that review today and was wondering a similar thing. I think with citrus though it's not as big of a deal because citrus flesh is much softer, and the blade can force the seeds away into the flesh. With a harder apple it may not be the case and you might end up cutting into the seeds... unless you're implying in your post that you actually cut through the citrus seeds... in which case I have no idea or experience.

I also thought, apple cores? Surely they aren't too hard to cut though.. assuming you aren't twisting the knife all over the place.. hmm.
 
If a seed is going to bust your knife edge chances are something is wrong. Pretty pointless to keep an edge so fragile that you cant use your knife for its intended purpose.
 
The original comment was that the edge was failing when cutting cored apples or onions, so that he suspects there is something seriously wrong with the steel in the knife, not that one usually damages a blade edge by cutting apples.

My knives usually slice up the seeds in oranges when I'm making marmalade, to the point where I really need to seed them since it's a pain to fish out the slices later. They are softer than apple seeds.

Usually cut right through the apple seeds even with my junky Chicago Cutlery stainless paring knife, which gets really sharp but not for long. Definitely something wrong with a blade if the edge fails cutting apples or onions.....

Peter
 
The original comment was that the edge was failing when cutting cored apples or onions, so that he suspects there is something seriously wrong with the steel in the knife, not that one usually damages a blade edge by cutting apples.

Ok good, I'm happy to admit I misread that!

If a seed is going to bust your knife edge chances are something is wrong. Pretty pointless to keep an edge so fragile that you cant use your knife for its intended purpose.

I hope by "intended purpose", you mean this!! (skip to 4m 20s)
[video=youtube_share;ayXWk6u-rVA]http://youtu.be/ayXWk6u-rVA?t=4m21s[/video]
 
Me thinks you're focusing on the abstract and not the reality of this. "... obviously not through the core / seeds."

You read this and see seeds. I read it and see core. Can't imagine a task that would warrant cutting through the core (where the seeds live) of an apple. For vertical slices, or dice you cut the apple off the core. For horizontal slices core the apple first.

To compare apple seeds to citrus seeds is again focusing on the abstract. You can of course measure height, circumference, weight and even rockwell the different seeds. Or you can just cut the fruit. Citrus seeds are suspended within the flesh of the fruit, throughout the fruit. You might cut through the occasional one. No big deal.
 
The original comment was that the edge was failing when cutting cored apples or onions, so that he suspects there is something seriously wrong with the steel in the knife, not that one usually damages a blade edge by cutting apples.

My knives usually slice up the seeds in oranges when I'm making marmalade, to the point where I really need to seed them since it's a pain to fish out the slices later. They are softer than apple seeds.

Usually cut right through the apple seeds even with my junky Chicago Cutlery stainless paring knife, which gets really sharp but not for long. Definitely something wrong with a blade if the edge fails cutting apples or onions.....

Peter

You are completely wrong about the original post. You really need to re-read that original post.

He doesn't write anything about the edge failing or a problem with the knife. He simply wrote that he didn't cut through the core or seeds. The OP's conclusion is that the knife is "A STEAL" (caps in original post).

http://www.kitchenknifeforums.com/s...a-mini-review-Gesshin-Uraku-165MM-SKD-Santoku
 
The original comment was that the edge was failing when cutting cored apples or onions, so that he suspects there is something seriously wrong with the steel in the knife, not that one usually damages a blade edge by cutting apples.

I read the original post again carefully and I cannot find support for your assertion or even see a way that it might be interpreted that way. I suspect you are confusing it with a different post. You can view the context of the quote by clicking the little arrow icon to the right of "Originally Posted by vai777 View Post" -- please do that now and review it again.
 
You read this and see seeds. I read it and see core. Can't imagine a task that would warrant cutting through the core (where the seeds live) of an apple. For vertical slices, or dice you cut the apple off the core. For horizontal slices core the apple first.

When personally preparing an apple to eat I do cut through the core, then cut out the seeds. It takes slightly longer but it wastes less flesh that coring it first.
 
I've had edges get dinged when cutting certain fruits (there's an Indian fruit that has very hard seeds)...but I've never seen it with an apple and I've cut through dozens of them...hell, maybe 100s.
 
I've had edges get dinged when cutting certain fruits (there's an Indian fruit that has very hard seeds)...but I've never seen it with an apple and I've cut through dozens of them...hell, maybe 100s.

Thanks. Are you able to remember the name of that Indian fruit?
 
You are correct, Wizard, I was confusing it with another thread where a new knife had an edge fail after cutting some apples.

I still don't think apple cores or seeds should blunt a knife though!

Peter
 
No problem. I shall take from this that vai777 either runs his edges paper thin or I misinterpreted his comment.
 

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