The higher the hardness, the longer the knife will be sharp and more delicate. The hardness of a knife is indicated by HRC values. Read below what the differences between these values are to help you make the right choice.
This hardness is too soft to make a quality kitchen knife.
This hardness is also still quite soft and offers reasonable quality. This is still optional for a small paring knife, for larger kitchen knives it is not good enough quality.
This hardness is often found on French kitchen knives and is certainly hard enough for kitchen use. Knives with this hardness require more maintenance and will need to be sharpened more often with a sharpening steel to keep the knife sharp.
This hardness is often found in German kitchen knives. These knives are suitable for many kitchen tasks and can take a lot. They are easy to keep sharp with a sharpening steel.
This hardness is mainly found in kitchen knives from Japan. These knives have a thinner blade, which makes them lighter in weight, and they have been shown to stay sharp longer. These types of knives are sharpened at a sharper angle, making self sharpening a lot more difficult.
This hardness is also found in Japanese kitchen knives. The rule is: the harder, the longer sharp. It also increases the risk of breakage and makes them difficult to sharpen. This can be prevented by processing the steel in a certain way. The price of these knives is a lot higher.
