Plain, serrated, and hollow edge blades: what's the difference?

A different type of blade for every need

Depending on the type of food that you need to cut, you might need a knife with a specific type of blade to be able to make easy and effective cuts. That is why kitchen knives can have blades with different types of edges. The team of MyChefKnives explains you in this page which are the 3 most common types of blades' edges that you can find in kitchen knives:

Plain blades

These are the most common blades. Odds are that most of the knives (if not all) in your kitchen have blades with plain edges. This type of blades can be used to cut both hard and soft food ingredients such as fruits, vegetables, and meats. When you need to peel a food ingredient, you will most likely need to use a plain edge blade, and that is why most vegetable peelers have blades with plain edges. The cuts that you make with plain edge blades are straight and clean without creating any fraying in your foods.

Serrated or toothed blades

This type of blades has serrated edges that resemble those of a saw. Not all serrated edges are the same as the space between each "tooth" or serration can be longer or shorter depending on the knife. In fact, some knives can even have serrate blades with micro-serrations in betwee each bigger serration. The blades with serrated edges are mostly used to cut foods that have a thick or hard skin/crust. That is why bread knives and tomato knives are equipped with serrated blades.

Hollow edge or Granton edge blades

This is probably the least common of the 3 types of blades described in this article. To be honest, the main characteristic of this type of blades is not exactly the edge itself but the indentations just above it. Those indentations serve to create micro air bubbles that reduces the stickiness of the blade's surface. Therefore, when you cut a slice of any food with a hollow edge blade, the slice will be less likely to remain sticked to the blade, and thus you'll be able to perform cleaner cuts. This type of blade is very useful for when you cut thin slices of fish or ham. Hollow edge blades are mostly seen in santoku knives.

If you are still not sure about which is the right type of blade that you need for your kitchen, you can always give us a call on +44 20 3445 5205 or simply send us a message using our Contact page. We'll be glad to help you with any enquiry than you might have :)

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