Sliced a tomato then sharpened the knife

[Mark Reich]

Using a more refined edge is de rigueur for foodies.

[Mike Brubacher]

The terms and descriptions used on the Exchange are getting more and more refined. Did you open a side walk cafe in Sturgis this year Mark?

[SHARPCO]

I don't know about the food freshness thing, but you speak of the toothy edge like it's a tree saw.  Even though the edge is toothy, the "teeth" are extremely small requiring a microscope to see the uneven edge.  I find it hard to believe it could effect food freshness.  The edges are very sharp and slice beautifully.

As far as rusting, maybe at a theoretical level because there is microscopically more surface area right on the edge.  But for all practical intents and purposes I wouldn't think it is a concern at all.

In your case I suggest simply providing your customers with what they want.  They will be happy and you won't have to worry these theoretical minute details.   If you want you could give them a couple of toothy edges to try.  They will either like it or not and you can proceed from there.

Toothy or polished is a simply personal preference and the pros/cons have been endlessly debated.  Some folks like me prefer toothy, others enjoy polished.

Thank you grepper. 

I'll test it someday.

[ken123]

The Fibrox knives are not composed of particularly hard (abrasion resistant) steels so they will tend to fail more quickly than some finer knives. You will also be limited in how fine or acute of an edge they will 'take'.

Knives with finer (higher grit) edges will put more refined surfaces on the food they cut. These more refined surfaces will 'rot' more slowly. You can see this watching finely chopped green onions wilt on your cutting board. Even tomato slices, roast beef and sushi will show finer shiny surfaces after being cut with more refined edges than done using a tomato squasher blade..

---
Ken

[grepper]

Mr. Ken123, What?  How dare you berate my finest Fibrox kitchen cutlery with a fine toothy edge sharpened to 100 as a tomato squasher blade.  That exquisite steel set me back something like a whole 30 bucks! 
 
FWIW, the Fibrox knives were recommended by either America’s Test Kitchen or Cook’s Country, I can’t remember which, when they tested chef’s knives.  They had SEM images of the steel and compared to some other blades the steel was of a more fine grain and they surmised that was why they performed so well.  I have no idea if their testing is of any value or not.  I just like to name drop when I don’t know what I’m talking about.
 
That said, I’ve found the Fibrox knives to perform well, take a sharp edge and are a good bang for the buck.  I have never witnessed food wilting before my eyes on the cutting board, and I was recently able to slice a single tomato so thinly that a party of 100 people each got a tasty delicious slice.  If I lost one of the Fibrox knives I would replace it with another.
 
I actually have heard that expert sushi chefs and the like seek a glistening surface on each slice.  I can imagine how a polished edge might very well perform better to that end.  I think that blades should be sharpened in a way that performs best for how they will be used.  For me at least I’ve found a toothy edge performs best for most purposes, but for situations where a polished edge works better, then obviously, a polished edge is the way to go.

Polished Edge:
   

Toothy Edge:
   

[EOU]

Our sympathies go out to Grepper for the beating he and his Fibrox knife just suffered. You're a delicate and sensitive guy Grepper and we hope you recover quickly. 

As told to us by one of our Japanese sushi chef customers, the test is as follows : If the soy sauce puddles on the raw fish surface, the edge was sharp - if it soaks into the fish, it was too dull.

[grepper]

Thanks for the hug, EOU. I was indeed feeling all meek, shaky and insecure worrying that everything I knew was wrong and that possibly even my Mother didn’t love me anymore.

But fret not on my account. Thanks to your reaching out with such compassion, understanding and warmth I’m feeling so much better now.

[MaxtheKnife]

i agree Grepper, the 3m blue fine belt is the key when you want toothy and tomatoes and the older the 3m, the better, when it gets nice and soft, it is a jewel............BUT Ken makes a great point.

many chinese blades lets call it, get the "Grepper treatment" and are loved by the user........but with great german and japanese and other better steels get much more refinement.

jmho

[grepper]

Good to see you back again Max!  I know that you have sharpened a LOT of knives and I respect that experience.  

I agree with you on the blue extra fine SB belts.  The older, softer and more worn the better.  I’ve only had to replace mine once.  When I got the new one I put a bunch of wear on it with hard pressure against the platen with a steel bar.  When those belts are new the blobs of abrasive impregnated adhesive are quite aggressive and too rough on the edge.  After some use or breaking in the blobs of adhesive break down, the belt gets nice and soft, and it’s perfect for deburring.  

Here is a microscope image I took of the surface of an SB belt.  It shows what I mean by blobs of abrasive impregnated adhesive.
http://bessex.com/forum/showthread.php?t...otch+brite

Personally, I’ve found that regardless of the type of steel toothy just cuts better.  But that’s just me.  Some people like it polished.  Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like bananas better.   For the most part I think it is a matter of personal preference.  

I find it hard to fathom how a sharp toothy edge would have much effect on the smoothness of the surface of a slice of something.  After all, the “teeth” we are talking about are microscopic in size.  That said, I have done no testing so I could be wrong.  

Anyway good to see you back again Mr. Max!