All about material

What does 18/10 stainless steel mean?

The pure figures mean that the steel contains 18% chrome and 10% nickel.

This is not a chrome-plated material, so there is no coating. The chromium is part of the steel composition.

These two elements are also called alloying elements and make the pure steel resistant to rust and acids.

Nickel is a high-quality, expensive raw material and makes the cutlery dishwasher safe and more resistant to external influences.

The surface of the steel alloy, which is softer due to the nickel, can be polished to a particularly high polish.

18/10 stainless steel is the highest quality stainless steel material that can be used in cutlery production.

What does 18/0 stainless steel mean?

This stainless steel contains 18% chrome and 0%, i.e. none, nickel.

This material is magnetic and is therefore particularly popular in mass catering and modular gastronomy (magnetic clearing systems).

PVD coating

Physical Vapour Deposition, or PVD in short, is a special vacuum-based coating process in which metal particles are applied to our stainless steel cutlery by vaporization.

At bestecke.de you can get cutlery in the colors black, gold, champagne and copper.

Silver plating

In the past, silverware was reserved for aristocrats and wealthy families. Even today, silver cutlery is still something special: the precious metal charms with its brilliant white sparkle.

The material has the characteristics of being particularly heat conductive and antiseptic.

The silver-plated cutlery at bestecke.de is provided with a silver plating degree of 100g. The finishing is applied by a dipping process and is an additional layer on the cutlery pieces.

Here we show you how to keep your silver cutlery always in top condition at home.

13/0 stainless steel cutlery blades

Soft material, such as 18/10 stainless steel, cannot be hardened properly and therefore cannot be sharpened. Therefore, 13/0 stainless steel is used for table knives, which contains 13% chrome and no nickel.

If discolorations occur after rinsing, they can be removed quickly and easily. You can read about this here.

The difference between monoblock and hollow handle knife?

There are two main differences - material and workmanship.

The table knife consists of the blade and the handle.

In the monoblock knife, the blade and handle are made of one piece and the same material.

Thus, the blade and handle are classically made of 13/0 stainless steel (see also cutlery blades made of 13/0 stainless steel).

In contrast, the blade and handle of the hollow-handle knife are manufactured separately. This means that the blade and handle are made of two different materials (e.g. blade of stainless steel 13/0 and handle of stainless steel 18-10).

As the name suggests, the hollow handle knife has a hollow handle. It is therefore comfortably lightweight in the hands.

Damask steel

At first sight, the decorative steel layers on the blades are certainly obvious. This pattern results from the use of different types of steel that are processed in the blade.

The inner core of the blade is very hard with a hardness of 60 HRC and consists of a high alloy carbon steel. This makes it wonderfully sharpenable and keeps it sharp for a long time, even when used daily. This core is protected by the outer layers of stainless steel, which are applied to both outer sides. The outer layers are more elastic and more corrosion resistant than the core.

Cerasteel

Aerospace research has created a material called cermet, a composite material of ceramic (CER) and metal (MET).

This material is now also used for knife blades, as it combines two essential material properties desired for knife blades:

1. Ceramic is extremely hard. Therefore ceramic knives do not need to be resharpened.
2. Steel is flexible and elastic, so it does not break

Cerasteel is both: elastic and permanently sharp.

Chrome Vanadium Steel

Because knives made of chrome steel are only conditionally rust-proof, further alloying elements are added to the steel to protect it from acids and rust. This is achieved by adding vanadium, for example. This alloying element is stable against acids and bases due to its thin oxide layer.

This steel is more resistant to acids and rust. In addition, greater hardness can be achieved without the blades becoming brittle and breaking quickly. The higher the degree of hardness, the longer it will be necessary to re-sharpen the blades.

Chrome-Molybdenum-Vanadium Steel

Besides vanadium, molybdenum is another element of alloying to increase resistance to acids and rust. Higher degrees of hardness can be achieved in production - this makes the knife blades resistant to rust and gives them a longer sharp edge. They therefore need to be re-sharpened less frequently.

Ceramics

Rust? Not a chance! This is not an issue for ceramic blades, because this material is absolutely resistant to food acids or dishwasher detergents.

With a hardness of about 70 HRC, the blades remain sharp for a very long time and very rarely need to be re-sharpened. Very hard in this case also means inflexible - so ceramic knives are unfortunately also likely to break.

Sandwich bottom for pots

The bottom of our Quick Clack Pro series is a thermo-sandwich bottom. It conducts heat very well so that the pot is quickly hot and ready for use.

The sandwich bottom is made of 0.5mm stainless steel, a 5mm thick aluminum core which is applied to the bottom of the pot under high pressure without pores.

Coating of the pans

For the coated pans of the Quick Clack Pro series, a high-quality, multi-layer Whitford Eterna coating is used.

The coating is durable and has very good non-stick characteristics - nothing sticks here.