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Leonard Lehew

On 23 Mar 2006 17:55:59 -0800, wrote:

>As an ex-pro chef, an avid home chef and a knife collector I've been
>wanting to get a ceramic knife for some time now. I want to get
>something reasonable in price that would be useful on a daily basis.
>The question now is: what's the difference between the all-ceramic
>blades and those that are metal with a ceramic coating?
>Is the latter just a marketing scam and no better than any other, good,
>kitchen knife? Should I focus on the former? Or what?
>
>Thanks,
>Eric G.
A ceramic coating on a blade may make the edge last a bit longer, but
it strikes me a useless gimmick. After you sharpen it a few times, the
coating will be gone from the cutting edge, and, of course, that's the
important part.

The "real" ceramic knives, like those form Kyocera are, at least,
interesting. I have a few, and they have good points and bad.

The main good point is that the ceramic knife keeps its edge for a
long time. Send them off to Kyocera every year or so, and they will
always be sharp. This is a real benefit for cooks that do not want to
spend any time caring for their knives. As an observation, most home
cooks fall into this category.

On the other hand, a properly sharpened steel knife can be noticably
sharper than a ceramic knife.

The main downside to me is the weight. Ceramic blades are lighter than
a similar-sized steel knife. I much prefer the "heft" of a steel
knife. On the other hand, my wife likes the light weight.

I have an absurdly large collection of kitchen knives, so we have lots
of choices when we want to reach for a knife. The knife my wife
reaches for most often is a Kyocera ceramic paring knife. If I need a
paring knife. The knife I reach for most often is a Shun Pro Nakiri. I
can't recall the last time either of us used the ceramic Santoku.

Leonard