Dimpled Blades Vs. Smooth Blades

By Tim McQuade

Many varieties of cooking knives are on the market, for use with different foods and for different cutting techniques. Dimpled and smooth blades allow a cook to attain varied cuts.

Function

Some cooking knives have dimples, also known as a granton edge, to assist the chef. The dimples are small, shallow indentations across the knife face near the cutting edge. These are intended to reduce suction when the blade is cut into a food item and to make it easier to pull the blade out again. Dimples are also intended to diminish the number of food pieces sticking to the blade while you cut.

Benefits

Dimples are usually put on knives that cut meat or large vegetables. When you are slicing into deep, juicy food items such as those, a smooth blade can become suctioned in; this makes it difficult to cut the food and pull out the knife. Larger dimples should reduce this problem and make a blade easier to remove.

Considerations

Smooth blade knives can work to cut meats, but a dimpled knife may be a better choice for thicker meats. A beveled knife is smooth, but the blade is indented near the cutting edge. The bevel, like dimples, assists the chef with easier cutting. Because the blade is so thin at the cutting edge, it allows for very thin cuts.

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