How knives affect taste, texture and hygiene – With Science facts!
Using a sharp knife is not all about the cutting pleasure. There are other important reasons too.Taste and hygiene.
Let’s see the facts.
Vegetables stay alive and breathe after they are harvested. The simplest proof for that is that we can witness garlics sprout a green stem after some time, a potato growing eyes or celeries growing new leaves.
So, the cells of harvested vegetables grow until they’re cut for meal preparation. During cutting, the cells of the vegetables are wounded and develop injury-based responses – that is stress – that is similar to other forms of stress like extreme heat, extreme cold, dehydration and other physical conditions. Such stress leads to electrolyte leakage (like potassium and calcium) which degrades the overall nutrient value and taste of the ingredient as proven in a study published in the Journal of Food Science & Technology .
Using a sharp knife minimizes the damage on the cells, reduces the risk of bacterial growth and excessive softening.
Nevertheless, delicate ingredients like aromatic herbs will stay fresher for longer if you are using a sharp knife. A dull knife will damage much more the cells and fibers, leading to sagging and discoloration. Fresh herbs cut with a sharp knife, will release more aromatic oils. A tomato will not lose its juices and an onion cut with a sharp knife will brown better as the sharp cut will not cause them to dehydrate during mincing.
Another important factor is that different sizes in cuts leads to different times in cooking time. With a dull knife is impossible to create even cuts for all pieces of your ingredients, leading to uneven cooking times – some pieces will be overcooked while others undercooked – and that ultimately is affecting your food’s taste.
As a conclusion, cutting with a sharp knife with the proper way not only can affect just how our food looks, but also how it tastes.
But wait, there is more than that. Proteins are affected too!
Let us see what happens to fish and meat…Using a sharp knife, cutting sashimi with a single stroke will not damage the fish flesh structure. Not only the texture will be very different while you taste it, but also as you lightly dip it in soy sauce will not absorb much of it which will lead in drowning the taste of the fish. Using a blunt knife, will crush the fish flesh structure and make it more absorbent and will directly affect its texture while tasting it.
Another interesting fact is that an unevenly cut surface will lead to more contact with air, which means that is easier for germs to get in. A silky cut and surface will drastically reduce that risk and keep it fresher for longer. One of the main factors that helped Washoku (the traditional Japanese cuisine – registered as an intangible cultural heritage by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization in 2013), to develop, was that back in the days were refrigeration was hard to find, Japanese knives helped keeping the fish fresher for longer.
The same principles apply for the meat. Even though less sensitive than fish, using a sharp knife in cutting it, will create better surface and texture, will dehydrate it less by not losing its juices during the cuts before cooking, but also after cooking during serving. We all have witnessed how a dull knife is pushing the cooked meat causing it to lick its precious juices on the cutting board.
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