It's still a home issue which is why it's somewhat OT.
Anyway, anyone purchase the newer ceramic knives which are on the market? Are they all what they claim to be? I'm having trouble determining the differences between all of them which I see advertised on many sites. The prices fluctuate from $10 to $100 for a set or individual knife. Therefore, what to look for? Brand?
Harbor Freight has them, so they can't be bad!
;-)
They break if dropped.
You may want to search on rec.food.cooking or rec.food.equipment They have been discussed a lot there in the past couple of years. I'd say it is about
50 -50 for and against.
I look and have others look too, for old knives at flea markets, goodwill, and where ever else. I tell them to first jump at it if it looks black and discolored, and even some rusty ones are good. I did recently get 2 that were chrome plated with rusty scratches. All of them are high carbon steel and they normally cost 50 cents to $2 I find them a better value. A good sharpening and a little swish swish thing to put an edge on them and damn they cut good.
I have heard too many negative things from people who have owned them to even try them. Just a decent knife with a diamond stone is adequate. I have bought Victorinox, Dexter/Russell Sani-Save, and Henckels knives at garage sales for a buck.
And oh, yes, I have seen many ceramic knives at yard sales, 99% of them with a divot in the edge.
Steve
I got two of them as a Christmas gift. Made by Kyocera, so they are the real deal. They are by far the sharpest knives I've ever used, including compared to brand new top quality steel kives like Henckel, Wuesthof, etc. Downside is that because they are brittle, they can only be used for certain things. For example, you don't want to be prying around bones, or forcing the knife through stuff. They are also very light and not sure how I feel about the way they feel in your hand. But for cutting quickly, cleanly and easily through the right stuff, they are great.
This is the correct answer.
I, too, have Kyoceras. They are very sharp. Because the edge is so smooth, they don't necessarily feel as sharp as a steel knife when you touch it with a finger. Although, as explained above, steel knives are still needed for certain things, I find that I usually use my Kyoceras.
Amen to that. I have been building up my batch of paring knives out of the local "Grandmother's shop". 25 cents each. Got two last week, few minutes with a stone and finish with the steel and wow!
Harry K
I've got the HF. Dead sharp, and cleans up super easy. Nothing sticks to it. It's my tomato knife.
Jeff
Although, as explained above, steel knives are still needed
Be careful with the cheaper ones.
Some of them are designed badly and most of them chip very easily. As with most things, you get what you pay for. "As seen on TV" should be considered a major clue.
I was at Mom's for the holidays and she had bought one of the $20 Yoshi knifes that came with the "free" ceramic peeler.
The knife was sharp enough to convince me that I want a couple of ceramic knifes, but a tiny piece of the tip had alreay broken off and there were a few chips out of the blade. She stores the knife in the cover it came with, so the chips are not due to abuse.
The other problem was the shape of the Knife. The handle is designed such that your knuckles are almost even with the bottom of the blade so that you have to avoid rapping them on the cutting board.
Look at the difference between the $20 Yoshi knife and a quality Kyocera and you'll see what Kyocrea means by "ergonomic".
I bought one from HF. What a joke. WW
I'd be interested in hearing the specifics of the "negative things" you have been hearing.
It would also be interesting to know the quality of the ceramic knifes that they had used. As per my other post, there is a huge difference in quality between a $20 Yoshiblade and a $100 Kyocera or other quality knife.
In addition, as with any tool, proper care is a huge factor in it's longevity and "likability". If a tool gets mistreated and then performs poorly, is it a problem with the tool or with the mis- treater?
I made a knife holder similar to this that I made out of a piece of 2 x 12:
On the other hand, I've been in kitchens where the owner hates their knifes - quality knifes - because their condition sucks due to years of abuse. When I ask for a knife, they rummage around in a drawer full of spatulas, serving spoons and vegetable peelers and eventually pull out a Henckel 10" carving knife, scraping the blade along every metal utensil in the drawer. No wonder they hate their knifes!
Maybe the reason every knife you have seen at garage sales are chipped due to improper care. After all, who would sell a knife that is in good shape if they liked it and took care of it?
If you were seeing ceramic knifes that were in good shape at garage sales, then that would say something different about whether people like the knifes or not.
All I'm saying is that we need to know about the quality of the knifes you've seen and the care of said knifes before we can condemn ceramic knifes in general.
From those links it looks like you're comparing the shapes of a paring knife and a chef's knife. Two different animals with different form factors. A chef's knife is almost always used with a cutting board. A paring knife is used mainly held in one hand, and what you're operating is held in the other, or you're slicing with the tip and the handle is elevated. A paring knife is more like a carving knife than a chef's knife, and with a paring/carving knife you need the blade edge and handle to be almost aligned so you can involve your thumb.
You can probably google better reviews than this:
Yes, they do chip when impacted, but properly treated a ceramic knife is sharper than a steel knife and will retain its edge for years, while steel knives need sharpening every month or two.
If you have steady hands and the right tools (basically sandpaper up to
2000 grit), you can sharpen a dull and chipped ceramic knife.
Serious question..... I've often wondered...
Do those ceramic knives show up in your carry on baggage when it's X-rayed by airport security?
Or when passing through a magnetometer?
Jeff
Yes, even cave men had sharp ceramic knives - they were made out of flint.
I touch my kitchen knives up with a steel when they need it and have an electric diamond wheel kitchen sharpener. My hunting knives, which you could shave with, are touched up with a ceramic rod sharpener.
The knives that appear easiest to sharpen are those that seem to dull fastest.
the blades no. the rivets or hafts maybe depending upon what they're made of.
Everything shows up on an X-ray, and they use broad spectrum and color- coding technology to differentiate between materials.
Nope. This is one of the major fallacies of the scanners. It's a dog and pony show to create the illusion that people are safer. The funny thing is that people weren't at more risk in the first place.
If you jump at every shadow, eventually, if you wait long enough, there will be something in the shadows so you'll have proven all the jumping to be worthwhile.
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