Unpopular opinions

[ethompson]

Got it… I guess I can see your point to a degree. I know exactly what you’re talking about with boards ripped up by bread knives. But use well it doesn’t have to be that way. I’ve absolutely chipped even conservatively sharpened knives on crusty homemade loaves though and would never ever use such a knife for that task. Super market sourdough? Sure, a gyuto or suji will excel even if nail flexy thin. But shatteringly crisp crust artisan stuff? Not in my experience.

 

[SwampDonkey]

Ummm… please continue? What else should I cut my crusty loaf with?

 

[Michi]

I don't think it's been mentioned enough. Bread knives are evil and should be banned.

Hmmm… I've been using a bread knife to cut bread for well over half a century. I've used the same bread knife to cut all my bread for more than three decades, and it's still cutting bread just fine today. That knife doesn't look particularly evil to me

 

[Naftoor]

Some of my sourdough loaves have crusts I’ve afraid to even use my teeth on, I wouldn’t even use my Walmart specials on them. A cheap HDPE board and a cheap Mercer bread knife will always have space in my kitchen

 

[Heckel7302]

Hmmm… I've been using a bread knife to cut bread for well over half a century. I've used the same bread knife to cut all my bread for more than three decades, and it's still cutting bread just fine today. That knife doesn't look particularly evil to me

Clearly it was forged in the fires of Hades with that kind of edge retention.

 

[Heckel7302]

Campari and all other aperitifs are disgusting. I don’t understand how anyone can enjoy those bitter drinks.

 

[Rangen]

Hmmm… I've been using a bread knife to cut bread for well over half a century. I've used the same bread knife to cut all my bread for more than three decades, and it's still cutting bread just fine today. That knife doesn't look particularly evil to me

Well, you're not a cutting board.

 

[esoo]

Hmmm… I've been using a bread knife to cut bread for well over half a century. I've used the same bread knife to cut all my bread for more than three decades, and it's still cutting bread just fine today. That knife doesn't look particularly evil to me

The evil is there. It was forged and ground into it. But steel has a different sense of time. It will release its fury when it feels its time has come.

 

[HumbleHomeCook]

Hey, my edc today and I resent that!



View attachment 303381


That being said a lot of "DLC" on the market is crappy PVD. There are some good coatings out there. I usually prefer satin/stonewash, I think this is my only DLC, however it does make a lot of sense depending on the steel, this is 15v, and in a sweaty pocket will be a problem uncoated, same with m4 (spyderco has an awesome TiCN coating on some of their m4)

I found a wonderful paragraph about DLC coatings on knives. It's sure to make you eat your words.


Isn't it great? What I love about it is that it claims that a coating on the sides of the knife improves edge retention. You know, because that coating is harder than even the hardest steel.

It is a masterpiece, in its way.

PVD is my life. PVD on knives is a terrible thing.

 

[MSicardCutlery]

hot take: I dont care about the finish, only grind matters

.......I think I'm in love

 

[Michi]

Clearly it was forged in the fires of Hades with that kind of edge retention.

Nope. I sharpened it a few times

 

[aporigine]

Clearly it was forged in the fires of Hades with that kind of edge retention.

It was a forge that was (!)ing legend.

But then these two weird-looking kids had to go and throw a ring into it.

 

[dehory]

A properly thin behind the edge gyuto with a conservative toothy microbevel is the perfect tool for cutting bread.

That may or may not be the case, but I’d posit that a long, serrated bread knife beats any gyuto or suji for getting through the puffed up crunchy pork skin on a slow roasted porchetta.

 

[Jovidah]

A gyuto or a sujihiki. A properly thin behind the edge gyuto with a conservative toothy microbevel is the perfect tool for cutting bread.

Most all of the cutting boards at most every place I ever worked have deep grooves from bread knives. From fine dining to community kitchen. It exacerbates cross contamination and allergen hazards. Puts plastic into people's food. It unnecessarily shortens the life of the boards. And the grooves damage my thin behind the edge knives when I use the boards much faster than non-damaged boards.

Although I agree serrated knives really chew up boards... I don't really see it as such an unsurmountable problem. Just get a seperate wooden board just for breads for like 5 bucks.

 

[stringer]

Although I agree serrated knives really chew up boards... I don't really see it as such an unsurmountable problem. Just get a seperate wooden board just for breads for like 5 bucks.

In my current kitchen we have color coded boards. Red for meat, blue for fish, yellow for chicken, green for produce, and brown for bread. Ironically, the only boards without bread knife gouges are the brown bread boards.

 

[Michi]

Ironically, the only boards without bread knife gouges are the brown bread boards.

Time to get some discipline into your family!

 

[Jovidah]

In my current kitchen we have color coded boards. Red for meat, blue for fish, yellow for chicken, green for produce, and brown for bread. Ironically, the only boards without bread knife gouges are the brown bread boards.

IMO plastic is horrible for a bread board... the boards will get shredded eventually so you're just creating a microplastics problem. If there ever was a case where a wooden cutting board is the clear and obvious superior choice, it's for a bread board.

 

[Chopper88]

I guess this won't fly in a prof setting, but at home we just use one of these, and only use it for bread.
No plastic, no gouging, no cross contamination, no knife wear.

 

[MarcelNL]

I never understood how people gouge a bread board, it's not as if you do not see you're all the way through the loaf.

For the Artisanal Sourdough I frequently buy at a master boulanger patissier a Sakai Gyoto in AS works best, our serrated (crappy) knife just pulls it apart.

 

[stringer]

Time to get some discipline into your family!

IMO plastic is horrible for a bread board... the boards will get shredded eventually so you're just creating a microplastics problem. If there ever was a case where a wooden cutting board is the clear and obvious superior choice, it's for a bread board.

I don't disagree. But wood and discipline are not options for a community commissary and teaching kitchen that I share with other small businesses, non-profits, and amateur culinary instructors. But neither is banning serrated knives. I tried. So y'all just have to listen to me complain.

I wish all bread knives would jump off a cliff and die.

 

[Seemore]

It’s a long shot, but you could tether the bread knife to its designated board, like mittens to a toddler’s coat sleeves.

 

[Jovidah]

I never understood how people gouge a bread board, it's not as if you do not see you're all the way through the loaf.

For the Artisanal Sourdough I frequently buy at a master boulanger patissier a Sakai Gyoto in AS works best, our serrated (crappy) knife just pulls it apart.

Have you tried the cheap Victorinox 26 cm pastry knives (banketbakkersmes)? Those always worked wonders for me, even on the crustiest of breads. Not all serrated knives remotely perform the same, even if they might look similar.

And the gouging...well... it just happens I guess. Over time my bread boards always got chewed up.

 

[MarcelNL]

Have you tried the cheap Victorinox 26 cm pastry knives (banketbakkersmes)? Those always worked wonders for me, even on the crustiest of breads. Not all serrated knives remotely perform the same, even if they might look similar.

And the gouging...well... it just happens I guess. Over time my bread boards always got chewed up.

never tried anything else, but I will since there are users dedicated to serrated knives in the house (I tried...)

 

[SwampDonkey]

I got one of these because it was on sale and I thought the handle was just so pretty...but I'm not actually sure it cuts any better than the $15 Amazon one I had before. I tell myself it does though, and I DO like to look at it.

https://www.messermeister.com/products/oliva-elite-9-inch-scalloped-bread-knife

 

[Michi]

https://www.messermeister.com/products/oliva-elite-9-inch-scalloped-bread-knife

Purrty!

 

[OkayMode]

Have you tried the cheap Victorinox 26 cm pastry knives (banketbakkersmes)? Those always worked wonders for me, even on the crustiest of breads. Not all serrated knives remotely perform the same, even if they might look similar.

And the gouging...well... it just happens I guess. Over time my bread boards always got chewed up.

I heartily back this recommendation. Scalloped serrations are the way forward for crusty bread - no tearing in my experience.

 

[Chopper88]

And another +1 here. We have two, have had them for at least 25 years and never once sharpened.

 

[Justinv]

You can always breadknife your bread knife on a coarse stone.

 

[captaincaed]

There’s nothing a board maker loves to see more than a bread knife coming his way

 

[labor of love]

Toyama, extremely overrated knife. Just buy a cleaver. Steel is fun to sharpen though.