Steak knife

For other uses, see Steak knife (disambiguation).

Steak knife

Steak
Part of a series on

Main articles Steak Beefsteak Fish steak Pork steak List of steak dishes Steakhouse
Steak dishes Asado Beef Manhattan Beef Wellington Boiled beef Bulgogi Carpetbag steak Carne asada Chateaubriand steak Cheesesteak Chicken fried steak Bollito Misto Delmonico steak Fajita Finger steaks Hamburg steak London broil Mongolian beef Pepper steak Pot roast Prawn cocktail, steak and Black Forest gateau Roast beef Italian beef Salisbury steak Sha cha beef Standing rib roast Steak and eggs Steak and kidney pie Steak and kidney pudding Steak and oyster pie Steak au poivre Steak burger Steak de Burgo Steak Diane Steak frites Steak sandwich Steak tartare Suadero Surf and turf Swiss steak
Cuts Cuts of beef Forequarter cuts Hindquarter cuts
Preparation Barbecue Braising Meat chop Curing (food preservation) Frying Aging Marination Pickling Poaching (cooking) Roasting Salt-cured meat Smoked
Related topics List of beef dishes Meat on the bone Restructured steak Steak knife Steak sauce

A steak knife is a sharp table knife, used for cutting steak. These often feature serrated blades and wooden handles, and are the only sharp knife commonly found at the modern table.

Specialized steak knives emerged in America following World War II.^[1] Prior to World War I, all table knives were sharp, but required frequent upkeep – sharpening and polishing. With the decline in domestic workers (household servants), this upkeep became less feasible. Stainless steel became widespread following WWI, which did not require polishing, but did require sharpening due to manufacturing limits. Following WWII, serrated stainless steel steak knives were introduced which required neither polishing nor frequent sharpening, and proved an instant hit. In the 1950s heat treatment of stainless steel was introduced, allowing knives to remain sufficiently sharp without needing serrations, but by this point serrated steak knives had become well-established and continued to be used.

Origin

By way of further history, in medieval Europe, a portable sharp knife and hands were the only eating utensils, and portable sharp knives continue to be used to this day in rural Europe, as in the Laguiole knife in France. By contrast, in most of Asia and Africa (including East Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa), knives have long only been used in the kitchen (meat either being cut into pieces or cooked so that it could be pulled apart with the hands), with only hands, spoons, or chopsticks used at the table – sharp knives are distinctively European.

References

↑ (Bonamici 2006)

Bonamici, Kate (May 23, 2006), "The Good Life: Best steak knives", Fortune, retrieved 2010-03-25

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Friday, October 10, 2014. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.