Chef Knives are divided into four main categories by the types of material used to make them.
The prices of a cooks knife are usually consistent with the amount of work put in to produce the blade, and the material value.
Now I say usually because there are many brand names that will ad a significant amount of money to the cost of the knife.
The chef knife materials are:
1. Carbon Steel
2. Stainless Steel
3. Laminated
4. Ceramic
There are also two main ways for making the blade for the knife:
1. Forged
2. Pressed
Carbon Steel Chef Knife Blade:
Carbon Steel is an alloy of Iron and approximately 1% Carbon.
It will produce a very sharp edge that will hold for a longer time.
Most "Super Steel" Knife Blades that are forged in the far east (mostly Japan) are made of Carbon Steel alloys which may include Chrome, Vanadium, Cobalt, Molybdenum and other elements.
Some names of the "Super Steel" blade materials are VG-10 which is a compound of iron, carbon, Cobalt, Vanadium, Molybdenum that is only available in Japan or ZDP-189 which is made by Hitachi Japan.
The best Chef Knives are made of Carbon Steel which is folded over itself several time, it can be from just 2 folds and up to 800 folds.
What comes out of these folded blades are what we call today "Damascus Steel" which is a chef knife that shows the layers of steel and carbon on the blade.
Most knife blades use 16 or 33 folds, the better and more expensive ones can use 67 folds and up.
What each fold does is give the chef knife more steel fibers and that gives it flexibility and durability that no other material can give.
Some brand names that use this type of chef knife blade technique are Spyderco,
Kershaw, Sakura, Kyocera, and more.
The next segment will be about Stainless Steel Chef Knife Blades.
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