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Posted by hipstomp | 17 Mar 2009
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Comments (5)
We are not at all sure what this photo is supposed to signify--that sharp kitchen knives can cut paint?--but Silicone Zone's new ceramic knife is, if the hype is to be believed, the wave of the future. Whereas all kitchen knives were once made with metal blades and wooden handles, this one's got a ceramic blade and silicone handle. The former is supposed to stay sharp for 10 times longer than a metal one, and the latter is supposed to be more comfortable.
In addition to the strange product photography, the knife line is peculiarly named the Rock-N-Hold series. It's not coming out 'til later this year, but the Red Dot jury saw fit to give it an award for "High design quality."
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Comments
I bought a ceramic knife from Japan a year ago just to find out what the hype is all about. It is very expensive (about USD $120), but the salelady assure me that it will last me a decade. NOT!!
The ceramic blade really was much sharper than metal, but I haven't tried out metal knife of the same price range so it's not fair to judge by my experience.
I've been using it everyday for the past 14 months, it has small chips all over it. And there is no way I can sharpen it again. But still, it is still working well - slicing tomatoes without crushing them.
Metal ones don't stay sharp as long, but it is easy to sharpen it at home.
Final verdict - buy cheap Ikea knives and replace them often.
There's a reason ceramic tools are not super common.
Now instead of resharpening my knife at home with a $5 sharpener, I send it off to a specialty shop or toss it out. Nice. Oh, and rather than harmlessly bending it chips when you drop it. And it won't stick to my magnetic knife block.
Several years ago, my wife brought back five ceramic kitchen knives for me from a trip to Japan. They're made by Kyocera. Four of them are all black, and one has a white blade with a yellow handle. They are extremely sharp, have not lost their edges in all this time even though they are all I use in the kitchen, and because they are ceramic they are very lightweight - much lighter than steel knives.I shot a set of photos of two of them and put them up on Flickr two years ago.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/paulworthington/tags/knives
Pros don't use ceramic knives for a reason.
I suppose I agree with the posters above. Ceramic knives are beautiful and extremely sharp. They are, however, much more brittle than conventional metal knives. Unless your floors and cutting surfaces are also made of silicone, they are going to chip. I would never choose a ceramic knife for a knife i use every day, but they are great as gifts, and certainly can have a place in the kitchen. They're just not going to take over.