This 20cm serrated bread knife is distinguished by grooves that run perpendicular to the blade tip, allowing cutting without exerting undue force. Great for slicing through hard crusts on bread loaves, baguettes, and bagels, as well as soft things like tomatoes and fluffy textures in cakes; mainly for most foods with a hard exterior yet soft interior. Normally, these 20cm bread knives do not need to be sharpened. Sharpening a bread knife involves the use of a ceramic rod known as a "crock-stick," which allows the serrated grooves segments on the knife's blade to be sharpened. The serrated "teeth" or grooves of the blade are intended to saw through the surface exterior of most pieces of bread, and they serve a simple function. When cutting bread into slices, the general rule is to cut inwards in a curve rather than straight down towards the cutting board.