Are cemamic knives really sharp?

[micky]

Are cemamic knives really sharp?

Are some sharper than steel knives, like this ad says?

"The sharpness of our ceramic knife is 10 times than ordinary kitchen knives,"?

[Scott Lurndal]

Well, you can buy one and see for yourself.

Careful you don't cut yourself.

[Ed Pawlowski]

I've had a couple and yes, they are sharp and hold it for a long time.

[micky]

Thanks. Good to know.

And I'll try not to cut myself. :=)

[Meanie]

It's not mainly about being sharper, a steel blade can be sharpened the same as a ceramic blade and vice versa, the issue with ceramic is they hold their sharpness much much longer than a traditional steel.

[Ralph Mowery]

Can the ceramic knife be sharpened at home without any special equipment when it does become dull ?

[Ed Pawlowski]

There are sharpeners but I have no idea how well they work.

[gregz]

Diamond sharpened I guess. I use the ceramic rods to sharpen steel knifes.

Greg

[Jeff Mauro]

Use a Dewalt reciprocating saw with a smooth/knife blade.

[badgolferman]

I really don't know or have any experience with ceramic knives, but I wonder if they are so good why don't we see butchers and other food professionals using them?

[invalid unparseable]

I guess if you drop it on a hard surface it is going to break. A good knife can last many years and sharpening is not that difficult. Apparently ceramic knives stay sharp much longer but to restore a good edge might require sending them off to be resharpened.

[Ed Pawlowski]

Correct on breaking. Many butchers us knives from a service that comes in and sharpens them, replaces them, etc. They get a lot of hard use. While great for home use, I don't see them working as well for a butcher that does more than the typical straight cut.

[Shadow]

"Ordinary kitchen knives" are not sharp at all, unless you sharpen them. If I left sharpening to the wife they'd barely cut through a banana, and I'd be forced into a life of decadent vegetarianism. []'s

[trader_4]

Brittle and easy to break would be one good reason.

[Bod F]

Some people destroy their knives within minutes of taking them out of the box.

The proper way to cut with a knife is with light downward pressure and a back and forth sawing action.

If you slam it into the cutting board (like the TV chefs), you'll distort or roll the cutting edge. Then you have to resharpen.

[rbowman]

They are brittle. That's something to remember when sharpening them too. When sharpening conventional knives many people introduce a bending force to the blade. What you don't even notice when sharpening a steel blade with snap a ceramic. Diamond stones aren't 100% necessary if you don't mind taking hours to wear down the edge.

Another thing from the conventional technique; feeling for a slight burr on the off side edge won't work with ceramic.

Steel, preferably carbon and not stainless, has sliced anything I've needed to slice.

[Cindy Hamilton]

I prefer a sharp knife for vegetables (for everything, really). It's much safer.

Cindy Hamilton

[hubops]

Google & read-up ...

Never use a normal sharpening steel on a folded-steel knife.

John T.

[gfretwell]

Probably the best reason to avoid them. If you drop your trendy ceramic knife on your trendy granite counter top you will have trendy Picasso art.

[micky]

Maybe there is some difference in how we interpret "ordinary kitchen knife".

I'm sure those knife sets that are sold are already sharpened.

I bought 3 large knives at a yard sale 10 or 20 years ago. I don't even take care of them and they're still sharp.

Every few years I buy a paring knife at the supermarket. They're still sharp, just not quite as sharp, when I buy a new one.

I