Ceramic kitchen knives?

Col_M · 18 Dec 2009 at 18:45

Does anyone have any experiences with ceramic kitchen knives?

I'm moving into my own place in the new year and although I have a Global G-4 I don't really have a small utility/paring knife or serrated knife and am looking to get some. I looked around the shops here and the Kyocera ceramic knives seem to be great, deadly sharp and will apparently keep their edge for approx. 10 years in a home kitchen. The only thing I was concerned about was their lack of toughness and ease of shattering but then I saw this video and that's more than what I'd ever do to it and it survived.
If you've owned and used a ceramic knife or knives is there anything I should know about?

Bigsy · 18 Dec 2009 at 18:56

I have a couple and you have to be so delicate with them that there not worth it, both have tiny chips out of them on the very edge of the blade and this in with about 6 months use.

A decent steel blade regularly sharpened would last longer overall imo.

Col_M · 18 Dec 2009 at 19:50

Bigsy said:
I have a couple and you have to be so delicate with them that there not worth it, both have tiny chips out of them on the very edge of the blade and this in with about 6 months use.

A decent steel blade regularly sharpened would last longer overall imo.

Thanks for replying, that's interesting to hear, do you know how the chips happened or was it just a case of noticing them one day? and are they the Kyocera ones or another brand?

Bigsy · 18 Dec 2009 at 20:42

Just noticed them one day, it could have easily been my girlfriend as I would guess she wouldn't take as much care as me. Still the chips are so small they don't really effect the knife, still I wouldn't buy another.

These were both no-name knifes mind, would Kyocera be any better? I suspect not personally, ceramic is just brittle and that's the way it is.

A decent high carbon steel knife (440C something like that) would be better, it'll will hold a decent edge for quite a while and hold up to wear and tear much better. I have a great aus8 steel knife that takes a great edge, like razor sharp, but it is a bit on the soft side, I kinda like sharpening though, feels quite manly.

kylew · 18 Dec 2009 at 20:58

Bigsy said:
Just noticed them one day, it could have easily been my girlfriend as I would guess she wouldn't take as much care as me. Still the chips are so small they don't really effect the knife, still I wouldn't buy another.

These were both no-name knifes mind, would Kyocera be any better? I suspect not personally, ceramic is just brittle and that's the way it is.

A decent high carbon steel knife (440C something like that) would be better, it'll will hold a decent edge for quite a while and hold up to wear and tear much better. I have a great aus8 steel knife that takes a great edge, like razor sharp, but it is a bit on the soft side, I kinda like sharpening though, feels quite manly.

Kyocera ones don't seem to be brittle at all, go look at that youtube video.

The ones you bought were just el-cheapo ones.

Would you not buy steel ones again if you bought some cheap steel knives that were crap?

Bigsy · 18 Dec 2009 at 21:07

My knife has fallen on our stone floor a few times just like in the video, and I'm confident the knife wouldn't shatter under those situations, the problem is with the thinnest and weakest part of the blade. It's pretty difficult not to catch it on a ceramic pot/piece of bone etc and when you do you always risk damaging a ceramic knife.

I took a quick camera phone picture of blade on mine, sorry about the quality but you can still see the pitting all along the blade edge: http://sites.google.com/site/billhedworth/home/091218_205456.jpg

Facts are ceramic is just not that well suited to a knife blade, I personally don't think that a branded knife (and tbh the price difference between a Kyocera and mine is minimal) is going to be markedly different. But hay that's my opinion, on the plus side it is still usable and as sharp as the day I bought it.

Col_M · 18 Dec 2009 at 21:15

Hmmm I'm still undecided. I may just get a paring knife as a starter rather than getting both, it's only £30 so not much lost.

yermum · 18 Dec 2009 at 22:16

We have had 1 small ceramic knife for years and love it. It is the best knife for tomatoes.

Dureth · 18 Dec 2009 at 22:38

As hinted at above a ceramic knife can be great but only when used for certain things. Different knives have different uses and ceramic is great for soft spongy material where a razor keen edge that wont compress the subject is needed. A small paring knife seems particularly suited to ceramics as they are generally used in high prescision cuts and with a shorter blade are less prone to damage as the handle is more likely to strike a surface before the blade.

The key with any knife is to always have a selection and use the correct blade for the correct situation.

robbiemc · 19 Dec 2009 at 09:43

I've got a Kyocera ceramic knife and can indeed agree that it chips - in fact it looks like a strip of coast line (the tip has even been chipped off).
Saying that, it's easy to send away to get re-ground, so don't let that put you off, but it's worth being aware that you're not supposed to use them for things like bones and other 'hard' things.