Ceramic knives - anyone use them?

[Nooknookmom]

I want to give ceramic knives a try. Just wondering the pro's / con's of daily use!

Thx.

[hellokitty]

We have a kyocera one, like the kind Ming Tsai uses. My DH lusted over one of these for a long time and as luck would have it, my parents got one for us as a gift when they visited japan. He used it a lot when we first got it, but now it just sits in the drawer. The biggest drawback is that you cannot, "wiggle" the blade at all or it might break. It makes cutting meats kind of tricky and limits what you can use it for. Even my DH has admitted that due to how delicate the knife is, he still prefers our henkels to the ceramic.

[ged]

I have 2 kyocera ones. I love them. They are so light. And sharp! I reach for them all the time and hardly ever pick up my wusthofs.

that being side, like the PP mentioned, they are delicate. I got a knick in one of mine somehow, not sure how, but kept using the knife anyway. I sent my two back to the company for them to be sharpened, and they fixed the one that was broken (for free!). So, now I have 2 newly sharpened knives.

so, another con is that as i understand it, you cannot sharpen them at home with your knife sharpener. i had to pay to send them back to kyocera, then they sharpen it for "free" and mail it back to me.

[BeachBum]

I bought a Yoshi off TV. It was cheap. I had no idea about ceramic knives being delicate! We don't baby ours.

I actually love mine. :) It came in a three pack. We throw them in the dishwasher even. I think it has stayed sharp much longer than my traditional knives. I'm happy with the quality of the cheap one and I wouldn't spend a ton on a more expensive type.

[Nooknookmom]

The breakage-factor was one of my worries, I drop everything so maybe not so practical for me. I have Henkels and love them. Macy's had some Kyocera's on sale and that prompted my curiosity, maybe if I score a good deal, I'll still give them a shot. I swear all I do is chop things in the kitchen. I should be a sous chef, lol.

Thanks guys!

[smiles33]

DH does all the cooking but he abandoned his Kyocera. The first cermaic one he had was a Boker we purchased from a high-end knife shop on our honeymoon. The tip broke off! It was better than the Wusthof set we registered for, but maintenance/delicacy was a turn-off.

Now, DH uses fancy Japanese knives (see http://korin.com/Shop/Japanese-Style-Knives).