Sold on ceramic

For my birthday, I was given a lovely Kyocera knife and peeler set. I am over the moon with them!

Steve brought his Chicago Cutlery to our marriage, and has been faithfully sharpening them with a steel now for over 30 years. Kyocera ceramic knives are second only to diamonds in hardness, so they hardly ever need to be sharpened! This is a big plus for me, as I do not dare ruin the metal blades by trying to sharpen them, so I am always depending on Steve to wield the steel.

According to one source,

The hardness of the blades is measured on a scale called Mohs hardness scale. Kyocera blades are 8.2 on the Mohs hardness scale compared to steel that is 5-6 Mohs, and diamond is 10 Mohs. Under normal household circumstances, your Kyocera may take 3-5 years or more before it needs sharpening.

My ceramic knife is extremely lightweight--it's like cutting a tomato with a feather. It also allows me to shear tomatoes so that they are impossibly thin! Another plus: because it is so sharp, it does not "crush" the cells of the onion, and so it doesn't elicit the tears! This was a delight to discover, as I have suffered from onionitis for years using metal knives.

Finally, here is a most remarkable feature: you can cut an apple with a ceramic knife, and it will not brown! I know, it's hard to believe, but it's true.

Ceramic knives are not meant to replace metal knives, because they can chip, break, or shatter if twisted, pressed, or dropped. You must always use a wood cutting surface; you can't use them to cut bones or frozen foods or anything that might require flexibility from the blade. They must be carefully stored, so that their edges are protected from chipping against other utensils.

But consider how knights treated their swords. My Kyocera is my weapon of choice as I do battle daily in the kitchen!