What’s anyone’s personal experience with ceramic kitchen knives? They claim to hold a sharp edge longer than ordinary knives. Are they worth the price, or should I just stick with regular knives?
Debating whether to ask for one for Christmas…
I love mine. I have two and use them all the time with no apparent dulling.
How do you plan on sharpening them?
If they don’t get dull, why would she need to sharpen them?
They do get dull, it just takes longer. There is also a greater risk of chipping a chunk out of the edge on hard objects so care has to be taken around meat with bones in it.
One option is to buy the cheap ones at Harbor Freight to start the collection and go from there.
I’m kind of “meh” about them myself, it’s not like it’s that hard to keep an edge on good quality steel knives and you don’t have to worry about them getting nicked/chipped. Maybe some people value the 3 minutes a year they have to spend sharpening steel knives more than I do…
…but they are kind of cool, my mom has one that’s PERFECT for slicing tomatoes. I’d advise against buying one for yourself, but would be in favor of asking Santa for one.
I think the smaller ones were like $6 at HF. They’re the white ceramic which isn’t as hard as darker colored ones. Slicing veggies is about the perfect task for them.
My husband has a few lovely Kyocera ceramic knives that he adores. You can send them to the manufacturer to resharpen, but he says you can gently touch up the edge yourself with home sharpening tools like the steel or a small hand-sharpener. I can attest that they’re brutally sharp - I accidentally pulled my finger back against the edge of one when feeling around in a drawer, and it bit quite smoothly into the skin.
Me, I drop knives at times, so I don’t dare use his knives. I stay with my good-quality metal knives instead.
I agree wholeheartedly…but they would be a toy I’d love to get for christmas.
I have no problem keeping a near-surgical edge* on my steel knives, so really don’t see the point. Yeah, ceramic stays sharp a long time, but sharpening them isn’t easy, and they cost a lot.
*A working edge shouldn’t be excessively sharp, or you risk ‘rolling’ the edge, and that’s a pain to deal with.
Never had one, are they expensive? If they’re more than steel I wouldn’t bother.
I also see no point in buying Whusthof or Henckles or some other expensive brand. I buy Russell International knives at Northwest Cutlery in Chicago and have them sharpened there twice a year. I don’t think I ever paid over $25 for a knife and they’re super sharp.
But everyone has their own preference. 
I’ve never used them. I’d be happy to give one a try, but I don’t see myself seeking one out.
Also, I like my Henckels set. I keep 'em sharp, but honestly, sometimes I favor my old-school Old Hickory knives. I know some gourmands here might find them jejune, but lordy, the carbon steel is so easy to lay a razor edge on. A couple of quick strokes, and you’re ready to carve anything.
I got one as a gift a couple months ago. I was surprised to read in the care instructions that it is for slicing only; do not chop – do not use on meat with bones – do not use on hard cheese – do not use on frozen food.
It is very sharp and it did slice a tomato very nicely. If I ever find a reason to take it out of the drawer again I suppose it will still slice nicely … but I don’t really foresee using it very much.
What does this mean?
If the edge is extremely sharp (and not beveled correctly), it can become so thin that it bends under pressure, and curls over. You then need to re-sharpen it.
We have a Kyocera ceramic knife that we use for vegetables and fruits. We don’t use it for meats due to the aforementioned bone issue plus this makes it easier to avoid cross contamination when we’re busy. The blade stays sharp and it’s very light and easy to use. We’ve had ours for about a year and a half now and haven’t needed to sharpen it, but I can imagine that sending it out to be sharpened will be a pain.
Compared to the Wusthof Classic that we usually use, it’s slightly less versatile for everyday use and significantly more of a hassle if we ever need to sharpen it. The cost differential between a nice quality forged knife and a ceramic knife isn’t very much, although the ceramic one is very pretty. It might be worth it if you have nice knives already and just want one for the sake of novelty, but if it’s between getting a ceramic knife or a high quality chef’s knife, I’d go for the second choice.
As was alluded to in an above post, I hope you never drop a ceramic knife. High carbon stainless all the way. Learn to sharpen your knives, it really isn’t that hard to do.
I don’t know how to sharpen my knives but I’d like to learn. Are those little hand sharpeners any good?
I’d like to know as well and was thinking of checking out these YouTube videos: http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=how+to+sharpen+a+knife+with+a+stone&aq=1
I did learn how to make a nice curry on YouTube.