How is a razorsharp kitchen knife safer than a duller one?
In: Physics
A sharp knife just…cuts things.
With a dull knife, you need to push a lot harder, or saw back and forth, or keep hacking away for a lot longer, etc. All of those things are increasing the chances of an accidental slip.
razor sharp knife cuts where you want it to cut also with no exess presure needed, with a dull knife you need to force it with a lot of force and it wont cut where you want it to, using a lot of force there is a lot of dangerou it will slip and hurt you, always keep your knifes sharp.
As a former meat cutter, I can tell you that a cut from a dull blade is far more painful than a cut from a sharp one. Dull blade cuts also seem to get infected more easily. And sharp blade cuts heal faster.
When you cut into meat with a dull blade the edges are shredded rather than smooth. It seems to rip rather than cut. I would love to examine a wound with a microscope to see if the same were true.
But anyhow all this is of course anecdotal. YMMV but I wouldn’t handle a dull blade other than to sharpen it.
Along with the common wisdom that you need to exert less pressure, you are also generally more careful with a very sharp knife.
Also if you accidentally do cut yourself, a sharp nice will leave a clean cut, a dull knife will leave more of a gash which will be harder to heal.
Force, with a sharp knife you apply minimum force to cut so you can place the knife where you want and it will cut what you want. A duller knife and it can bounce or slide off what you were hoping to cut and cut part of you instead.
A sharp knife cuts what you want. A dull knife doesn’t, so you apply more pressure, then it slips and digs into your hand.
The accepted wisdom is that you have greater control over a sharp knife since it cuts more reliably and consistently, and you have to apply less force to cut, so you’re less likely to lose control and cut yourself.
It makes you use less pressure to cut things. Also, if it does cut you, a sharp knife will make a clean cut and a blunt knife will make a jagged and more serious cut.
Also LPT, never put knives in diswasher. It dulls the blade.
My personaly experience:
Cut a red onion in half, and then into slices.
Your knife is dull, so now that youre on the last half of the half, the knife hits the membrane, which slips down alond the onion. So now you havent cut the onion and the knife is firmly in your finger because it wasnt sharp.
If it was sharp however, the knife wouldnt slip and it would have sliced exactly where you tried to.
It maybe a bit scarier than a duller knife, but its so much safer.
As a bonus, cooking with proper equipment is such a joy compared to shoddy stuff.
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