Watching influencers misuse kitchen equipment feels, to professional cooks, like hearing an American actor butcher a British accent: painful. That’s exactly how I felt when I saw Sebastien Andrade (aka @ayesebastien), a charismatic 23-year-old lifestyle influencer with nearly 11 million TikTok followers, make a chopped Italian sandwich using a serrated knife for everything.
A serrated knife, aka a “bread knife” or “toothed knife,” is designed for slicing through crusty bread and delicate foods without crushing them. Unlike a chef’s knife, it has a particular purpose, but it seems that Sebastien did not get the memo. And I wasn’t the only one to notice; fans held nothing back in their critiques of his knifework:
Sebastien started strong, using his serrated knife to slice a loaf of homemade ciabatta in half, as he does for many of his drool-worthy homemade sandwiches. No issues there; that’s exactly what a serrated blade is meant for. But then, he turned the knife sideways, making eye contact with the camera as he cut the loaf open. That move made me wince.
Even the most confident cooks should always keep their eyes on their cuts. Hubris is the underlying cause of many kitchen injuries (including the time I lost the tip of my middle finger in 2023).
Then came the part I’ve seen countless home cooks do: He started chopping with the serrated knife. With one hand on the handle and the other pressing down on the blade, he slammed it into prosciutto, lettuce, sliced tomato, and pepperoncini. Instead of slicing through the ingredients, the knife mostly punctured or smashed them.
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Next, he grabbed a ball of fresh mozzarella and — again, using the serrated knife — sliced it. The uneven edge wiggled through the soft cheese, making clumsy, ragged cuts.
But here’s the thing: it’s not his fault. Most people assume a knife is a knife — it chops, right? The reality is that a serrated knife is a niche tool, like a lemon squeezer or a Microplane. It’s not meant for everything.
Serrated knives are designed more like saws than standard chef’s knives. Their scalloped edges create concentrated points of pressure at each “tooth,” allowing them to grip and break through tough exteriors, like crusty bread or tomato skin, without crushing the soft interior. They work best when glided back and forth, not slammed straight down.
The uneven blade of a serrated knife is actually what makes it perfect for cutting delicate, textured ingredients like cooked chicken breast or a whole pineapple. However, using it the same way you’d use a standard chef’s knife, like slicing directly down through vegetables, can leave cooks frustrated, as the knife won’t perform effectively. In the video, Sebastien laughs as the sandwich fillings stick to the serrated blade, and instead of slicing cleanly, they end up being squished and torn in all the wrong ways.
At the end of the day, Sebastien’s video was undeniably entertaining, and it definitely made me crave a chopped Italian sub. But when I make mine, I’ll be using my trusty chef’s knife.
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