ELI5: Why are tomato skins so good at resisting being cut by kitchen knives?

r/

Even a slightly dull blade has a hard time getting through that outside skin layer…

Comments

  1. A_Smart_Scholar Avatar

    They aren’t you just have dull knives you need to sharpen.

  2. likealocal14 Avatar

    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

  3. berael Avatar

    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. 

  4. theredmokah Avatar

    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.

  5. InvestInHappiness Avatar

    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.

  6. DTux5249 Avatar

    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.

  7. AnnoyedVelociraptor Avatar

    Because tomatoes now are bred for 1 purpose: withstanding mechanical harvesting.

    https://www.nature.com/articles/s41477-023-01522-w

    Edit: bred, not bread.

  8. Never-Get-Weary Avatar

    A Victorinox Swiss serrated tomato knife is what you need.

  9. Wise-Men-Tse Avatar

    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.

  10. volleybow Avatar

    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

  11. noctalla Avatar

    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.

  12. WillyDaC Avatar

    Dull knives and tough skins from too much heat.

  13. Peastoredintheballs Avatar

    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

  14. vyechney Avatar

    They’re not sharpen your damn knives. It’s dangerous to use dull kitchen knives.

  15. nhorvath Avatar

    because your knife is dull and the skins on commercial varieties are thicker so they don’t get damaged when being harvested.