# Grantons on meat slicing knives



## angrybob (Feb 28, 2007)

Do Grantons or kullens make any real world difference when using a meat slicing knife for things like roasts or hams?  If in fact they do make a difference would the brand of knife make any difference?  I've seen the argument made that they shorten the usable life span of the knife, but and please correct me if I'm wrong, as I recall  on a Granton Brand knife the grantons go all the way to the edge, and does that  enhance it's performance?


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## boar_d_laze (Feb 13, 2008)

It's been a long time since I evaluated dimples, and things may have changed -- but I don't think so. A couple of brands' "grantons" really do work pretty well -- Granton and Glestain. Kullens on other knives don't really seem to help nearly as much as decent skills -- although you might want to place MAC's and Wusthof's efforts in the "not bad" category.

Kullens (or kullenschiffen, if you will) can be an obstacle to sharpen and shorten the useful life of the knife. Kullen construction can also add weight.

Granton makes relatively inexpensive knives which are still good enough to be worth sharpening when they (quickly) dull. Worth a try. Despite the association of kullenschiffen with the brand, they can be hard to find.

Glestains were one of the first "flavor of the month" knives back when Japanese knives first started getting popular in professional US kitchens and while they're not nearly as popular any longer, you can still find people who swear by them. Personally, I hate Glestains. They're overpriced, very heavy (for a Japanese knife), the "Acuto" steel has been superceded by much better alloys, the handles are awful, they're very right handed, etc., etc.

The Knife Merchant carries both brands online. They have a lot of interesting stuff, not just knives, and very competitive pricing. Worth browsing.

BDL


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## cheflayne (Aug 21, 2004)

I have had my scallop edged slicer for 28 years now. If they shorten the life of the knife, then so be it, because I will probably expire before my slicer.


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## angrybob (Feb 28, 2007)

Thank you for the replies BDL and Cheflayne. I am leaning toward something in the Granton or Forschner price range for this particular item. I think that a fairly rigid  12 inch knife with a narrow (as compared to a chef's knife) thin blade and a bit of earnest practice should do the trick.   I'm not so concerned with the life span of the knife as I was curious about the performance difference of the design.  If I was to move upscale at all I'd abandon the idea of dimpled blade favor of other performace considerations.


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## boar_d_laze (Feb 13, 2008)

cheflayne said:


> I have had my scallop edged slicer for 28 years now. If they shorten the life of the knife, then so be it, because I will probably expire before my slicer.


Kullens (aka) dimples are different things from scallops, and are not serrations of any sort. A scallop edged knife (bread knife, for instance) is something like a saw. The teeth themselves don't need much sharpening, as long as the bevel in the scallop is occasionally maintained. It's accepted and expected that the knife will make a much rougher cut than a sharp, fine edged knife. Because they don't need much sharpening to cut acceptably they can last a very long time.

On a Granton, Glestain or other knife with kullens, the dimples aren't part of the edge. Rather they're pockets which hold air and prevent the moisture on what's being cut forming a vacuum and/or "stiction" on the surface of the knife The knife itself is fine edged, and needs sharpening as the edge wears. Once you've sharpened away enough metal to get into the kullens, the knife is no longer fine edged and pretty much worthless.

How quickly that happens depends on how and how often you sharpen.

BDL


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## capsaicin (Jan 16, 2011)

In my experience the dimples have made no difference whatsoever in he vast majority of foods I have cut, and only a small difference in soft, moist proteins that I am trying to slice very thin by hand, such as gravlox.  Even then it would only be an issue when you are making slices that are narrower than the blade of the knife.

Generally speaking, I would just go with a plain unadorned straight edge flat sided knife.


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## waynes3 (Feb 28, 2017)

Looking to buy a 11" or 12" granton blade knife. Looking at icel, Mercer, Victorinox and Wusthof. Will be using it for brisket, ribs, shoulder, hats and etc. which holds a great edge and is easy to sharpen.


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