How sharp are ceramic blades?

H

HKG3A3

Joined
Apr 7, 2008
Messages
12
I once saw a demonstration on a cruise ship of all places, of a chef cutting up a watermelon into a fancy carving. When i ask'ed him just how sharp the knife was he proceded to cut into the plate, leaving a very impresive cut/scratch. Anyone with similar "superhero" tales of sharp knives?
 
In my admittedly limited experience, ceramic blades hold an edge for a long time (assuming you do not break or chip it, as they are very brittle), but they do not achieve the same level of sharpness as any high carbon steel. Several years ago I was seduced by the advertising hype, and bought a ceramic kitchen blade. I returned it, as I found it to be insufficiently sharp, and felt that it was un-sharpenable by normal methods.

Just one man's opinion........................Frank
 
My CB is extremely sharp. But, use it as instructed or you'll be disappointed. I don't like the fact that I have to send the knife back for sharpening or that I can't steel it or sharpen it myself.
 
The good ones from dependable brands are very sharp indeed, but their real utility is in their incredible hardness; being harder than just about everything else in the natural world, their edges last a long long time. They are effectively not able to be user sharpened, and must be sent in for warranty work.

Cutting into a plate is not necessarily a sign of super sharpness though, as your wife's dull diamond ring can do so also, because it is harder than well nigh everything else, including the plate. And yet, I doubt a half-way decently carved diamond ring would ever cut a person wearing it.

As the previous poster said though, they are brittle and can't take the same kinds of abuse that high carbon steel can; as they say, user experience may vary.
 
You would think so. But the company that sold me my knife said send it back. Also, any chef in-the-know, does not cut on a plate. I don't care what kind of knife it is.
 
A few years ago I read a story about maker Bob Terzuola. He was attending a show and several makers went to a restaurant together. Bob pulled out a ceramic knife he had made. A nearby busboy was watching and said something like 'is that knife made of plastic? That won't cut anything." Bob T. picked up his (metal) fork and began to whittle slivers from it w/ the ceramic blade as the doubtless now-wide-eyed busboy watched.

As far as I know Bob T. no longer offers ceramic blades.
 
Brut---Cutting boards. I was taught by my father, a chef, and at cooking school, one does not use a quality knife to cut on a plate. You will quickly destroy the edge. A flat-wear serrated knife is fine.
 
Lycosa said:
Brut---Cutting boards. I was taught by my father, a chef, and at cooking school, one does not use a quality knife to cut on a plate. You will quickly destroy the edge. A flat-wear serrated knife is fine.
Click to expand...

No, I know. I was making a joke if you can call it that.
 
So just a minute: I'm not supposed to use my chef's knives on high fire porcelain plates? That ruins my plans to julienne thirty plates this evening.:p
 
I've owned a set of ceramic knives (Kyocera) for well over a decade. They are more 'hard' than sharp. They are useful for slicing vegetables -like slicing tomatoes so thin that you can read newsprint thru it, but they are not efficient cutters of raw meat nor can they chop. They are neat for show but I use steel knives for real.

Ceramic is hard but it is brittle, I chipped a knife while cutting hard crust bread. Don't use a diamond sharpener -I tried and only succeeded in chipping the entire edge of the knife. Send it in if you ever need sharpening.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top