A steak knife with a straight blade may lack the raw animal appeal of a serrated one, but it has its moments. It's much more ...

Layer cakes. I don’t use anything else when I need to divide a cake for stacking and frosting. A serrated knife will cut, not tear, the cake, and it’s long enough to reach all the way through it.

Serrated blades excel in saw-like, back-and-forth motions rather than push cuts. The secret is in the physics – jagged teeth concentrate pressure on small points, slicing fibrous or tough ...