How is a razorsharp kitchen knife safer than a duller one?
In: Physics
I love this question!
When a knife is not so sharp, it struggles to cut through produce/ things easily on a microscopic level.
Luckily for your skin however, it will still cut as easy as a sharp knife, if anything, it’ll leave a rougher cut (microscopic) and probably leave a nasty scar, we’re as a sharp knife, albeit able to cut you even more effectively but it will leave a clean edge cut, which should heal a bit neater.
So, if you are having to rub and press against, let’s say a tomato, there is a higher chance of it rolling or slipping and catching you!
A knife, doesn’t matter the cost of it, should do most of the work when slicing, chopping, dicing, paring and whatever.
Be careful!
Think of carrots. With a dull knife, slam, slam, slam, as you’re chopping the carrot with your fingers right there on it, guiding it. You’re putting your force into force, not control. Any slight mistake and you slip, and you’re slamming that knife down on your finger. With a very sharp knife you don’t really need any pressure to cut a carrot, just a nice easy slice, slide, slice.
My dad worked as a butcher my whole life. I’m pretty sure as kids he said it’s not that the sharp knife is SAFER, it’s that the cut is smoother/cleaner. Pretend we are all tomatoes. When you cut a tomato with a sharp knife, it cuts. Clean lines, slices right through. Try a butter knife…you might be able to get a slice off the tomatoe, but it will be a “hack job” (his fav words). The tomatoe will be torn and smushed. Same concept. Both can cut you, but a clean slice is safer and easier to repair than mangled torn skin.
The idea sounds believable, but if I’m choosing which I had to let my child attempt to cut with, I’m def not choosing a razor sharp butchers knife lol. But prob a duller knife that will still cut with pressure. So he can learn without one mistake costing us $2,000 and an evening doesn’t in the Emergency Room. Even if that cut to his hand is pristine, straight and clean as a cut can be…no thanks.
Alright so you clickin’ own heads, you a top tier insta of a gamer, no filter, right?
When you playin’, you want a stiff stick on the joycon? No way, right?
Dem dull knives is sus, bro.
(I guess I don’t know how 5 year olds talk)
A sharp knife will cut what you want it to cut without you having to use a lot of force. When you don’t have ot use a lot of force, you run less of a risk of cutting yourself instead of what you want to cut.
Dull knives usually require more pressure to cut something, and when you need to use more force you tend to brace yourself, the knive, or whatever you’re trying to cut to make the cutting easier. And emergency rooms are full of people who have done so, and when the blade finally cuts through whatever they’re trying to cut all of that extra force you’ve been applying is still there, resulting in a mostly outof control knife. People slice their hands, stab themselves, or somebody else all the time because they don’t take care of their knives. I’ve cut myself twice, and I know what I’m doing (most of the time *shrug*).
a sharp knife is easier to control and wont face much resistance while cutting. not much force is required and the knowledge that its sharp usually means the wielder will respect the danger it has.
a dull knife while it still cuts it might need more force behind it, this alone makes it more dangerous due to slippage and the user being complacent in the fact that the knife is dull.
result: you are far more likely to injure yourself with a dull knife than a sharp one.
Unpopular opinion. I think this is kinda BS. If I am cutting something with a dull knife and while handling the blade I accidentally touch my hand I have some margin of error before I cut myself. With an extremely sharp knife I have no margin for error…
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A sharp knife will cut through your skin. A dull knife will rip your skin open. This “ripping” will cause more pain, damage, and fill be harder to heal properly.
From extensive personal experience I have always found this to be BS. I have done a knife skills course and my adult life I have probably cut myself with a knife eight times, and seven of those have been with blisteringly sharp knives because they’re so damn sharp that you can’t react in time when you mishandle the knife.
I think the whole “a sharper knife is a safer knife” rule only applies to those with way above average knife handling skill / professional kitchen experience. Of course if the knife is extraordinarily dull I can understand how a user might use it more dangerously, but I think this principle is widely misunderstood.
There’s 2 factors, and both revolve around cutting vs. tearing.
1) A wound from a clean cut will have a simple flat surface with no flaps or dangly bits to trap air and debris so it’s less likely to get infected. A bandage and/or disinfecting ointment can thoroughly cover the wound to promote healing.
2) A dull knife causes you to use more pressure. You’re compressing whatever you’re trying to cut and that stored energy could release at any moment (tearing), which causes you to lose control. Loss of control leads to 1).
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