Close your eyes and imagine a generous helping of warm, decadent pat of butter slathered on a delicious piece of fresh baked bread. You take a bite and revel in the heavenly mix of salty, savory flavor while the aroma of your hot dinner awaits.
You’re ready to dig in.
With fork in hand, you pick up your knife and prepare yourself for a feast.
If you’re like most people, you’ve probably given very little thought to which knife you’re using at the table and why.
But, have you ever stopped to think about why there are so many knives for different purposes?
After all, when it comes to flatware, there’s a lot to keep track of. Not including forks and spoons, with just knives alone, there are several you might see at a formal occasion. In fact, there are specialty knives for everything from the first course to that tasty dessert.
But back to our delectable meal for a moment…
Do you remember which knife you used to spread the butter or cut that first bite of beef?
No, you say?
Why should you?
A knife is a knife, right?
Well, not exactly, and that’s definitely the case when we’re talking about butter knives and dinner knives.
So what makes each one unique?
The difference between a butter knife and a dinner knife is that the butter knife is a smaller knife with a duller edge but semi-pointed tip that is used exclusively for slicing butter whereas a dinner knife is a sharper (slightly serrated), all-purpose knife with a pointed end that is used for slicing meat, poultry, vegetables or other items consumed during a meal.
Most modern flatware sets will include butter knives and dinner knives so it’s unlikely you don’t have any familiarity with them.
That said, they serve different functions which we’ll discuss in more detail below.
What Is a Butter Knife?
Butter knives are usually shared amongst people during a meal. Its primary function is to provide a shared utensil specifically for slicing butter so that diners aren’t forced to use a dinner or steak knife to cut butter.
Usually the butter knife is replaced once the butter has been transferred from the butter plate to the diner’s bread plate but for informal gatherings, it can also be used to spread butter on the bread (or other foods). In formal settings, a butter spreader is used for this function.
| Description | Usage |
|---|---|
| A utensil used for slicing and spreading butter | Shared among diners during a meal to slice butter, transferred to bread plate after use, can also be used to spread butter in informal settings but a butter spreader is used in formal settings |
What Is a Dinner Knife?
In contrast to a butter knife (or butter spreader), the typical dinner knife can serve multiple functions.
Obviously, you don’t need to use it to slice or spread butter!
Dinner knives are almost always the longest knives in a flatware set. As mentioned earlier, it is used for cutting food or moving around on the plate. Modern dinner knives come in two sizes – place size or continental size. Place size is the term used in the United States, whereas continental size is the term used in Europe.
The size of the American (place sized) dinner knives is 9 1/4″ in length. The size of the European (continental sized) is 9 3/4″ in length.
| Description | Usage | Size |
|---|---|---|
| Utensil used for cutting food and moving it around on the plate | Not used to slice or spread butter, longest knife in a flatware set | American (place size): 9 1/4″ in length, European (continental size): 9 3/4″ in length |
Dinner Knife Uses
Practically speaking, it would be impossible to eat most foods without the help of a dinner knife unless, of course, you don’t mind using your hands!
The dinner knife’s slightly serrated edge makes it perfect for slicing most cooked foods with the possible exception of thicker cuts of meat or roasts. It slices easily through fish, poultry, leaner cuts of meat and virtually all vegetables.
As an all-round, multipurpose knife, the dinner knife is hard to beat.
In formal settings, it’s possible to find knives that are specially suited for certain foods or courses – such as salad knives or fish knives. However, in most restaurants and most homes, the humble dinner knife is more than enough to get the job done.
| Description | Usage |
|---|---|
| Utensil used to cut most cooked foods with a slightly serrated edge | Used to slice most cooked food except thicker cuts of meat or roasts, perfect for slicing fish, poultry, leaner cuts of meat and vegetables. Multipurpose knife and mostly used in formal settings |
What Is the Difference Between a Butter Knife and a Butter Spreader?
Butter knives and butter spreaders are not the same thing, but unless you are attending a formal event, you might not know it. However, strictly speaking, the knives each serve a different function.
Butter knives have pointed ends so that they can slice through butter and are used to transfer the butter to your bread plate.
Butter spreaders are rounded at the end so that they won’t puncture bread and are used to spread the butter on bread once it’s on the bread plate.
| Description | Butter Knife | Butter Spreader |
|---|---|---|
| Shape of the end | Pointed | Rounded |
| Function | Slicing butter, transferring butter to bread plate | Spreading butter on bread |
I’m Griffin and I make my living as a freelance writer and wannabe sci fi author. Besides my obsession with words, I have a few others which may or may not include craft beer, backcountry hikes and spending time with loved ones – preferably in that order. Thanks for checking out my work and I hope you enjoy it!
