Depending on whom you talk to the steel choice when buying kitchen knives is the single most important thing you must determine before buying any kitchen knife. There is a myriad of choices and even more opinions as to the “right” knife steel choice. There are stainless knives, carbon knives, laminate knives, ceramic knives, titanium knives, and yes even plastic knives. Before you go shopping for your new kitchen knives lets talk about all of these blade steel choices so that you can be better informed when taking the plunge into the world of kitchen knives.

I guess the best place to start would be with the carbon steel. Carbon steel is first and foremost not rust resistant. These knives contain little to none of the element Chromium which is what gives stainless steels their rust resistant property. Kitchen knives made of carbon steel typically are easy to sharpen but as stated earlier can rust or stain. Extra care must be used with carbon knives, they must be dried soon after washing and oil applied to them to avoid rusting. Acidic foods such as tomatoes will over time darken the blade. This darkening is called “Patina” and for people who like carbon steel knives is often a look that they prefer. The plus to Carbon steel knives is that they tend to be less expensive than other choices. Carbon steel is a common choice for custom handmade kitchen knives.

By far the most common steel category to consider when buying kitchen knives is Stainless Steel. Be aware though that not all stainless steels are considered equal. Truth be told both stainless and carbon knives have enormous variation but going into the chemical makeup of each one of the steel choices is beyond the scope of this discussion. Any knife considered stainless must have a certain amount of Chromium, how much exactly is debatable. Generally speaking steel with at least 12% Chromium is considered to be a stainless steel. When considering Stainless steel kitchen knives two sub-categories of steel are key to your decision making, namely: Stainless Steel, and High Carbon Stainless Steel. Regular Stainless steel does not hold an edge long and needs frequent sharpening, it is often used in flatware or kitchen knives that are serrated. High carbon stainless steel knives are much higher quality. As the name suggests they have a certain amount of carbon but also the needed Chromium to fend off rust. High carbon stainless steels hold an edge much better than regular stainless steels do and are generally a stronger knife.

Laminate steels are generally reserved for very high end (read expensive) kitchen knives. Laminate steels typically are made up of alternating layers of steel that are fused and sometimes folded together. Generally the steel choices are a mix of hard but brittle steel and softer more flexible ones. This creates a combination that has both good edge holding but is not likely to chip or break during hard use. This category is also sometimes called Damascus. Make no mistake these are going to be very expensive but for some laminate steels are the only choice.

Ceramic, Titanium, and even Plastic are choices typically left to specialized knives. Ceramic is very light and hard meaning it holds an extremely good edge but is very brittle and will chip or break easily. Titanium on the other hand does not hold an edge very well as it cannot be hardened but is quite flexible. Both of these choices are very expensive and not your best choice for an entire set of kitchen knives. Lastly we come to Plastic knives, believe it or not but there really are plastic kitchen knives used for more than buttering toast. They are usually small knives used for cutting soft vegetables, they of course do not hold an edge well but hey they are cheap!

All of these steel choices do have their place in the kitchen. In the end it comes to a mix of personal preference and budget.