Is My Restaurant Knife Magnetic: Find Out Fast & Easy
As a chef myself I often wonder if this kitchen knife is magnetic or was it the other because I cant’ say how many times I have tried to place a non-magnetic knife to a magnetic strip in a hurry and it just fell to the ground immediately after letting go. Not the best use for knifes that’s for sure.
In this article, I will teach you how to know if your kitchen knife is magnetic, and some additional aspects about magnetic knives and metals.
Easies way to test if a restaurant knife is magnetic is to hold another magnet close to it. If you feel traction and the magnet attaches to the knife, then it is magnetic. You can also try it with a compass by placing the compass close to the knife. If the needle turns towards the knife, it is magnetic.
However, when you are at work, it is probably easier to see with a magnet than a compass if you’re not a chef on a camping trip.
Let’s take a look why are some restaurant knives magnetic and if it does affect anything that you should know about!
Contents
Why are restaurant knives magnetic
There are various reasons why restaurant knives are magnetic which some of the causes are made on purpose, and some of the causes might accidentally happen without you even knowing it. Let’s take a look at why knives are made magnetic on purpose.
Why knives are magnetic on purpose
Many restaurant knives are magnetic due to the reason that they are compatible with magnetic strips and magnetic boards. The reason why someone would like to have a magnetic knife set is that when you don’t need to constantly place and take the knife out of the knife block, it will save the blade especially if the knives are used in a commercial kitchen and the would-be in use dozens of times per day. However, there are also sharpening knife blocks where this doesn’t really apply.
In addition, magnetic knives are often made so because they can enhance the corrosion resistance properties of the knife, therefore it may give the blade a longer lifespan.
Why do knives get magnetic by accident
For example, the blade can get magnetized after sharpening the knife because if a ferromagnetic material (that your knife probably is in this case) is rubbed against other metals which are sharpening, the magnetic properties of the knife will line up creating a magnetic element to your knife.
If this bothers you, you can try to bang the blade with something that doesn’t hurt the knife in order to disorder the magnetic properties so it will get demagnetized, therefore it would get back to normal.
Cutlery can get magnetized as well if they experience a lot of clanking and clatter in the dishwasher. In fact, they can get so magnetized that you can actually pick up another piece of cutlery with the magnetic one.
You don’t need to worry about this kind of magnetic features because there is no real harm done.
Will a magnet pick up stainless steel
Magnets will pick up certain types of stainless steel such as ferritic, martensitic, and duplex stainless steel. This is because these types contain enough iron for the magnet to be effective. However, there are stainless steel types that aren’t magnetic, therefore they wouldn’t get picked up by a magnet.
Such stainless steel types are 316 & 304 which are usually mistaken as magnetic stainless steels because they contain 60% – 70% of iron, however, this is not the case.
Do ceramic knives stick to magnets
Even when ceramic knives do have some great features such as unbelievably long sharp edge and extreme durability, however, ceramic knives do not stick to magnets. Ceramic knives are made of a material called zirconium oxide which is not magnetic, therefore it doesn’t have any magnetic features.
What metal is attracted to magnets
There are various metal types that are attracted to magnets and the most known are Iron, Nickle, and Cobalt. However, there are many more metals that are attracted to magnets such as some types of Stainless Steel and some lesser-known rare earth metals such as Gadolinium and Neodymium.
Metals That Don’t Attract Magnets
There are so many metals that don’t attract magnets but the most known types are certainly Gold, Silver, Copper, and Aluminum.
This is because these metals have so weak paramagnetic features so they don’t react to magnetic fields noticeably, however, the atmos might get reorganized within the metal’s structure, but it looks like nothing is happening to the naked eye.
Conclusion
As we can see there are easy ways to see if the restaurant knife is magnetic because most restaurants do have a magnet lying down somewhere. In addition, we went through many important aspects about magnetism and the metals that may or may not be affected by one.
I sincerely hope that this article gave you value and you can rest easy knowing that even if the knife gets accidentally magnetized, it doesn’t harm your work and you can give your complete focus on the job.