Is it counter-intuitive to you that the sharpest kitchen knives are the safest knives?

Nah, it makes sense when you consider how differently people will use a sharp vs. dull knife. If your knife is dull, you might find yourself having to use a lot of force to cut through something, and when it finally breaks through, or if you slip, your hand will go flying.

It did until I took a small chunk out of my right thumb with a very sharp knife. It never hurt! Unlike when I’ve cut myself in the past with not-so-sharp knives. And what @Mariah said.

A dull knife is much more likely to hang up, then suddenly, and unexpectedly, slice through.

If you are an adult I woud agree sharper is safer. For young children not so much.

If it is sharp it takes no effort to cut through a piece of food and so even if you slip there is not much force cutting into your skin. You are less likely to slip in the first place with a sharp knife. If you are pushing hard on the knife if you miss you are probably going deeper into your body and the tear will be more jagged and messy.

That is absolutely NOT true. We got Henckel knives (a really top notch brand of super sharp knives) and I’ve been cut by them more than by any other knife.. while cutting AND while washing them. Cutting may not be so much of an issue as washing them, because when that razor end latches onto a flap of skin you’re done.

Absolutely a myth. Not true.

And about cutting with a dull knife being more dangerous or ‘messy’ somehow.. a dull knife isn’t as likely to enter as deeply into the skin.

I’ve only cut myself with two knives. One was a surprisingly sharp bread knife and one was a crazy dull kitchen knife with which I was trying to cut a lemon. They both hurt. We now have a pretty sharp set of knives and I have yet to slice myself open.

I agree that this may be true for adults, but not where children are concerned.

@sparrowfeed How in the world do you manage to cut yourself washing a knife?

I say a dull knife is more dangerous because you have less control over it.

This Q makes me realize it mostly matters how you use a knife. Sometimes I cut towards myself holding something not difficult to cut through. Basically cutting into my hand. In that case a slightly dulled knife is better. A very sharp knife if it reaches my skin will slice my skin, while the slightly dull one does not cut me.

Cutting on a cutting board the sharper knife is better. Knowing cutting techiniques makes it even safer, but even though I know how to cut in a safer way using my knuckle as a guide, I often don’t utilize the skill.

I’m reminded of a time I was cutting up potatoes with a friend at her house. I’ve always held the potato in one hand and cut it most of the way through in two direction (+) then sliced across, from the top down. It’s very quick. As we started she said, “Watch! Val’s going to use a big giant knife to cut potatoes!” (It wasn’t a “big” knife, not like a butcher knife, just a long slender one.)
I glanced over at her, cutting a potatoe on a cutting board with a paring knife and said, “Well, I just don’t want to be here, in your kitchen cutting potatoes for the next 30 years!”
I knocked off 2.5 potatoes before she finished her first one.
At one point she said, “Aren’t you afraid of cutting yourself?”
I said, “No. Aren’t you afraid of cutting your self?”

I think I’ve cut myself one time in my life.

She used a paring knife to cut a potato? She seriously needs a knife lesson. A big baking potato? It doesn’t make any sense. I use my “steak” knives for a lot of cutting, so it isn’t like I use a specufic knife for a specific task each time I cut something, but a paring knife is so small. I can’t imagine using it for slicing anything really, unless I just had no other option.

I agree! A paring knife is for “paring,” that is, cutting off slivers or small sections of something!

I’m cutting up onions and potato for stir fried rice. They need to be practically minced. I get them cut initially, then I whip out my big old rocker knife to do the final mince. I don’t do this very often, but when I do I can NOT resist trying to do the Ginsu Knife Guy thing and “whack whack whack whack!” really fast, at the speed of light! And every time food just flies all over the kitchen! So then I have to sigh and stop and simply use one hand on each end of the knife and kind of walk it on through.

I agree with @sparrowfeed – it’s mostly not true. Those ultra sharp knives are more dangerous because they slice flesh with little or no effort. If you are using a knife correctly, then the dull knife is more dangerous because you have to apply more pressure and in the end use it in a way that is not correct. But overall, any little mistake and the sharp knife will hurt you in a way a dull knife won’t. My husband dropped a sharp knife on me and it cut me – our old dull knife wouldn’t have done that.

I’ve cut myself more than at any other times in my life when we received the Henckel knives! Those things are weapons. Albeit, they are wonderful to have.

More dangerous does not equal shouldn’t have it.

I don’t get all this “I cut my self washing / cutting / etc.” I’ve cut myself maybe 6 times in my whole life! four of them were with a potato peeler!

If you’re cutting yourself with any knife, you may want to re-learn how to chop, slice, etc. correctly. Every time I have cut myself, it was my own carelessness. As for washing knives and getting cut, that can be solved by getting a scrub brush with a handle and using that on the blade. I assume everyone knows to not put their knives into a sink full of hot soapy water.

@tedibear Perfect opening! Yes, I put my knives in soapy water. I’m not dumb enough to thrash around in the water, blindly and violently when there are knives in there though.
When my daughter was about 9 she came up with this brilliant idea…she’d take a clear glass, insert it bottom down through the soap and into the clear water beneath. It was like a periscope, that allowed her to clearly see what was in there, knives and all!

I don’t use a scrub brush on my knives. I use a wash cloth, and I run the wash cloth down the blade from the dull side, not from the sharp side.

Seriously. A little common sense can go a long way.