Ceramic Kitchen Knives?

[Mike V]

What are Kyocera ceramic kitchen knives like?

How long do they stay sharp for?

They claim 10 time normal than steel knives, but I sharpen my steel knives every few days.

It's not easy to sharpen the ceramic knives is it?

 

[leukos]

I have never tried them, but it seems like a poor application for ceramic. Kitchen blades take a lot of abuse, especially if there are kids using them occasionally. Ceramic is probably too brittle a substance for a kitchen knife. I would invest money in a good quality sharpener and stick with stainless.

 

[cdosrun]

I don't have them, although there are people on here who have, but I can tell you about what I have read. I think they are best used as an adjunct to a decent set of steel kitchen knives (stainless or oterhwise depending on taste), so for cutting lettuce or something else that browns easily, you have a non-steel knife that is pretty sharp. For any tough tasks in the kitchen you should have tougher, steel knives. I don't know for instance what a ceramic knife would do in a butternut squash, but I invisage that it could break quite easily.

Someone on here has mentioned sharpening them using a diamond hone so I think it is possible to do at home. Although, from memory, Kyocera recommend sending them back to them to be sharpened.

How do you sharpen your knives at the moment, or are you just steeling them (every couple of days seems pretty frequenctly unless you are cooking all the time)?

Andrew

 

[smokinbasser]

Boker has several sizes of ceramic kitchen knives and two or three pocket folders. In the kitchen they should never need resharpening as long as you don't try chopping bones in two. Don't even think about checking the sharpness by shaving hair, one person tried it and where he shaved a patch of hair was now little dots of blood where he took the 1st layer if epidermis off.

 

[chmsam]

They are good knives, although I prefer my Wusthof cutlery. Not too brittle for kitchen use and the structure of the ceramic supposedly is so fine that it will need sharpening very, very rarely. Just don't drop one. Sharpen on diamond hones only. I have no proof of my own but they are said to be very sanitary (simply wipe off with hot, soapy water or a sanitizing solution -- but, I think I'd prefer normal cleaning for them myself). Kyocera is one of the top brands for ceramic cutlery.

 

[karlthev]

I have to agree with the statement that ceramic knives may be too brittle for regular kitchen use. I don't have any mainly due to the fact that they are supposed to be sharpened by the factory when they eventually dull. Now mind you, dulling may take months (years?) depending on extent of use (and presuming they aren't dropped!) but, having to send a knife back to the factory for sharpening I believe is akin to a bit of a major tune up for a car. I sharpen all of my knives when needed, at home and, I use my knives daily and, occasionaly do drop them. No damage after 25+ years of using them. What do I use? Wustof Trident but, there are many other name brands as good.


Karl

 

[DaveG]

I have a Kyocera,paring knife and use it only on soft veg/fruit.Still sharp after about 10 yrs or sne of my best knife buys,got it new at a thrift store for $1.I do tend to baby it,to avoid braking it.

 

[James S]

very expensive and brittle, dont even try just throwing them in the sink with your steal knives when you're done and tossing them in the dishwasher.

I recently spent some serious money on a few new kitchen knives and I did look at a couple of really expensive ceramic ones. They were REALLY sharp and I did want them But I know how to take care of steel knives and it's not so hard to hone them regularly and sharpen them once in a while. I was just too afraid I'd forget and crush garlic with the side of it and break it in half or something like that Drop it in the sink or something.

When the price comes down I'll experiment with one, but I just dont think they are that much better to warrant the extra careful handling and extra price.

 

[B@rt]

If you want something with ceramic but still sturdy, check out the Ceratitan line by Boker.

 

[Sigman]

I picked up a couple ceramic kitchen knives off of QVC. They are indeed sharp and cut well - but after thinking about the possibility of chipping them etc...I sent them back.

I also picked up a couple ceramic vegetable peelers from QVC as well. I kept them and store them in their original box. They peel GREAT!!

However, I'll agree that I'm more comfortable with steel knives at this point in time.

 

[Mike V]

When I say sharpen, I just mean steeling them.
Plus every few months or so I get the machinist at work to sharpen them.

Thanks for info guys.

I think I might get a ceramic paring knife or something small for the novelty factor and stick to steel for all the grunt work.

 

[B@rt]

You should try the tips here on an old paringknife, maybe you'll like the result. :thumbsup:

 

[LEDoutlet]

Good Choice Mike V.

I have a ceramic paring knife by Kyocera, imported it from japan. VERY sharp, but i can already see small chips on the cutting edge after a few weeks of use so i don't think the reliability will be there plus, where did all of these small slivers of razor sharp ceramic go?

 

[Mike V]

The more I look, the more I realise I really know nothing about knives.

 

[NoFair]

I think high quality steel is more than good enough for kitchen use.
Cutting softer foods lets the edge stay very sharp a long time.

I can't see how they should be sharper than a high quality steel knife either; most of my kitchen knives split hairs easily and only needs touching up once in a while.

IMHO Ceramic knives offer very few advantages while suffering from many drawbacks.

 

[Topper]

I have two, one is a Kyocera the other a el cheapo from e-Bay. The Kyocera was (and still is) very sharp. The el cheapo was not very sharp so I pulled out a el cheapo diamond hone (the 6 dollar EZ-lap sold at wally world very well used on steel blades first so it "feels" smooth) and yes indeed you can sharpen one. My cheap one is actually sharper than the more costly one that I have not sharpened. I have one chip in the Kyocera (no one knows how it got there) but no problems with them. You should just run hot water on them and wipe off. Don't put them in the sink don't chop or cut bones or frozen foods. YMMV
Topper

 

[guntotin_fool]

Alot depends on the qualityof your cutting board, as well. One of the sites i look at was just panning the plastic and synthetic cutting boards as they seem to just be a magnet for grains of sand,little metal slivers etc. which then are held tight for the edge of the knife to smash into.

They all concurred that a wood cutting board was the way to go.

a good friend of mine has a 300 dollar japanese ceramic and under a loupe it is already full of micro chips, making it cut more like a serrated blade than a supersharp slicer. My good sabatiers cut better when touched up on the steel .

 

[Handlobraesing]

Factory sharpening isn't much of a drawback in my opinion. It's only $10 for one or two knives and $5 for each additional and they suggest you can also take them to a knife shop equipped with diamond sharpening tools, but good luck getting it done for <$10.