Every time I try to spread butter or jam over a slice of toasted bread using a steak knife instead of a butter knife, I never seem to be able to spread the topping that evenly.
I know I could figure this out if I just used my brain or paid slightly more attention while buttering the toast. But if I went to that effort, I could have just as easily gotten out a proper butter knife and made the whole issue moot, and I’m definitely too lazy to do that, so here we are.
Slight caveat: the steak knife in question is non-serrated, if that makes any difference.
Could it be the steak knife shape? Spreading the butter by the base, but not the edge.
Truly a important question, a lot at stake here.
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I mean if you wanna get into semantics, technically any knife could be called a butter knife once it’s used to spread butter, couldn’t it? But some knives are better at spreading butter than others. So maybe a more precise question would be: What makes a good butter knife? But this isn’t c/precisequestions now is it
As far as how I end up in this situation: sometimes I cut my fruit before I go to butter my toast
The main thing is the blunt edge. You want to deform the butter, rather than separate it. A steak knife will more easily cut through the butter, meaning the rest of it sticks to the side of the knife, rather than continuing to get pulled along the bread.
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Maybe the knife is too sharp and there’s some weird fluid dynamics thing happening at the surface of the toast? Butter knifes are typically pretty smooth and aren’t great for cutting, but do well to spread.
Another factor is the temperature of the butter. I leave mine out (in a purpose made container) at room temp and it spreads great, but refrigerated butter is much more difficult to spread no matter the utensil.
