Ceramic Knives Pros and Cons

 

ceramic knife pros and cons

Have you considered buying a ceramic knife? Ceramic knives are relatively new compared to metallic ones, but are becoming popular because of their superior sharpness. A sharper knife means less effort for you, resulting in quicker cooking.

How can a ceramic material be harder than steel? Well, it’s not just any ceramic, but an extremely hard material called zirconia. In fact, this advanced ceramic is second only to diamond in hardness.

I find ceramic knives wonderful, but they do have their disadvantages, so it’s up to you to decide whether a ceramic knife is right for you. I compiled the following list to help you out:

Pros

  • The ceramic blade has an outstanding sharpness due to the hardness of the material. Not only are they sharp, but they retain their sharpness for 10 times longer than metallic knives! A sharp knife is safer than a dull one, because when the edge is dull you are more likely to apply force in order to compensate.  Hence, you risk losing control of the blade.
  • Did you know that stainless steel can still rust? You won’t have that problem with ceramic knives because they are not metallic. Ceramic is also impervious to acids, oils and salts.
  • Ceramic knives are light. About half the weight of a metallic knife.
  • The last factor is purity. No metal ions means no metallic taste. Having very few pores means that odors won’t be carried as quickly in the blade, and cleaning is also a breeze. Just rinse and wipe with a kitchen towel.


Cons

  • Unfortunately, very hard materials tend to be brittle. A ceramic knife sacrifices malleability for hardness in order to attain its high sharpness. You can chip the edge of a ceramic blade if you drop it or try to cut through a hard thing such as bone or frozen food.
  • Metallic knives, unless they are high end, have a lower cost.
  • Due to the hardness of the ceramic blade, it’s difficult to sharpen. You must either buy a special sharpener, or send your knife to the manufacturer and it will be sharpened for you. Kyocera will resharpen it for free, you just need to pay the shipping cost.

Personally, I think that ceramic knives as a great addition to the kitchen. Use them for slicing soft foods and leave the boning, cleaving, prying and cutting frozen foods to the steel knives.

What do you think?

 

Picture by Ambro / FreeDigitalPhotos.net