Try using a serrated blade like a bread knife – I sharpen my knives every few months, and I’m still never going back to using a smooth blade for tomatoes
The skins are very smooth and the tomato will squash if you push hard. So you can only cut lightly, and a dull knife will just slide without cutting as you move it gently.
Because the flesh is soft and mushy underneath. So there isn’t a hard surface underneath for the blade to make contact. You’re just pressing it into mush.
This is of course only because your knife is dull/shit. Sharpen your knife and this won’t be an issue. Dull knife and you’re essentially using the side of a fork to smush your tomato.
Because they are squishy underneath and don’t push back against the knife. It’s like trying to cut tissue paper while your only holding it by one corner, it just moves with the knife.
While tomatoes can be cut with a chef’s knife, your knives aren’t likely as sharp as you think.
This is what serrated knives are for. They’re literally made for cutting things with waxy exteriors like tomatoes and watermelon that can be difficult for a regular blade to catch on to.
Tomatoes are soft with relatively tough skin. If your knife is dull, the flesh will give way from the pressure before the blade cuts into the skin, making it harder to slice and more likely to crush instead.
The real problem is that a lot of people buy knives and never sharpen them. A honing steel doesn’t actually make a knife sharper, which is a common misconception that contributes to people having dull knives.
If you can’t sharpen your blade or use a bread knife as others have suggested, use the tip of the blade to puncture the skin first before slicing. A lot easier.
Doesn’t answer your question but if you ever have a full knife and don’t want to squash the tomato, then poke a small hole with the tip of the blade first, and then transition into a normal cut through this hole, it will act as a pilot hole to start the cut smoothly without crushing the tomato
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They aren’t you just have dull knives you need to sharpen.
Try using a serrated blade like a bread knife – I sharpen my knives every few months, and I’m still never going back to using a smooth blade for tomatoes
The skins are very smooth and the tomato will squash if you push hard. So you can only cut lightly, and a dull knife will just slide without cutting as you move it gently.
Because the flesh is soft and mushy underneath. So there isn’t a hard surface underneath for the blade to make contact. You’re just pressing it into mush.
This is of course only because your knife is dull/shit. Sharpen your knife and this won’t be an issue. Dull knife and you’re essentially using the side of a fork to smush your tomato.
Because they are squishy underneath and don’t push back against the knife. It’s like trying to cut tissue paper while your only holding it by one corner, it just moves with the knife.
While tomatoes can be cut with a chef’s knife, your knives aren’t likely as sharp as you think.
This is what serrated knives are for. They’re literally made for cutting things with waxy exteriors like tomatoes and watermelon that can be difficult for a regular blade to catch on to.
Because tomatoes now are bred for 1 purpose: withstanding mechanical harvesting.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41477-023-01522-w
Edit: bred, not bread.
A Victorinox Swiss serrated tomato knife is what you need.
Tomatoes are soft with relatively tough skin. If your knife is dull, the flesh will give way from the pressure before the blade cuts into the skin, making it harder to slice and more likely to crush instead.
The real problem is that a lot of people buy knives and never sharpen them. A honing steel doesn’t actually make a knife sharper, which is a common misconception that contributes to people having dull knives.
If you’re looking for a scientific answer to explain how tomato skins resist being cut on a microscopic level, I actually have no idea
If you can’t sharpen your blade or use a bread knife as others have suggested, use the tip of the blade to puncture the skin first before slicing. A lot easier.
Dull knives and tough skins from too much heat.
Doesn’t answer your question but if you ever have a full knife and don’t want to squash the tomato, then poke a small hole with the tip of the blade first, and then transition into a normal cut through this hole, it will act as a pilot hole to start the cut smoothly without crushing the tomato
They’re not sharpen your damn knives. It’s dangerous to use dull kitchen knives.
because your knife is dull and the skins on commercial varieties are thicker so they don’t get damaged when being harvested.