This is not to say the projection must be correct, but hope is positive.
" The Global Ceramic Knife Set market is anticipated to rise at a considerable rate during the forecast period, between 2022 and 2028. In 2021, the market is growing at a steady rate and with the rising adoption of strategies by key players, the market is expected to rise over the projected horizon."
Kyocera ceramic knife reviews on Amazon are generally very positive (around 4.5 stars), despite there are many photos of chipped knives. With so many positive reviews, it does make sense why there are room to grow for ceramic knives.
My resistance to acquire a ceramic knife is due to the two simple idea that (1) ceramic blades are brittle and easy to chip, (2) ceramic is hard, and not easy to sharpen against a hard ceramic {most sharpening stones are softer than the ceramic knives). An knife prone to chipping is already bad, and inability to fix it make it worse.
Here is a ceramic knife from my office. It is a shared knife by all office workers – so it is likely to encountered more abuse than a normal home kitchen
Yes. Years ago I bought a Kyocera utility knife, from what was then Professional Cutlery Direct.
I don’t know if it ever chipped. I’m sure it did … in the landfill. I threw it out (taped the blade, of course). It was a lousy performer. Never cut well, at all.
Sound like you don’t even think it is sharp. I thought the biggest selling point for the ceramic knives is that they stay sharp for a long time (assuming no chipping).
From
The “cleanliness, lightweight, precise, rust proof” do not really seem like strong selling points. Most stainless steel knives are fairly rust-proof and easy to clean, and I bet stainless steel and steel knives are at least as precise as ceramic knives.
I have a 4" ceramic knife that I bought on a lark at my local grocery store (it was something like 5.99 me thinks). It’s worked fine so far, no chipping, but then my expectations for it are VERY low.
I treat it like a disposable item. At the first sign of dulling (it is very sharp btw) or chipping as you inquire, it’s being tossed.
Well, I fell for the hype. And it wasn’t cheap back then - it was as much as a good quality brand steel knife. Definitely not in the price range of “disposable”. I would have been ok with it if that were the case. It was never sharp. Never. And I wasn’t going to send it out to be sharpened. Lesson learned.
2 Likes
CCE
(Keyrock the unfrozen caveman lawyer; your world frightens & confuses me)
6
Yowza - put that poor thing out of its misery!
Interesting here the different experiences, one says “very sharp” and one says “never sharp. Never”.
Different manufacturers I suppose? Or maybe just a lemon.
I don’t have one but my sister does - she bought one cheap and had been happy with the edge but it did chip up on her (well, her daughter was actually using it, or perhaps mis-using it, at the time).
What did your sister do after the chipping? Keep using the knife? Got a new one?
CCE
(Keyrock the unfrozen caveman lawyer; your world frightens & confuses me)
8
Last I visited it had gotten relegated to the garage for her husband’s use on ropes and what not, and she’d gone back to her stainless in the kitchen.
Chipping is the exact reason why I’ve never invested in one either, no matter how cool Ming Tsai made them look. I love the idea of one though; kind of hoping over the years that they would improve on that aspect.
A friend of mine, who’s a very good cook, is a fan of ceramic knives. So I bought a small paring at Ikea to see what the fuss was about. This was years ago. I remember it was sharp maybe even very sharp out of the box, not that fragile (in the sense that I let if fall a couple of times and it didn’t break) but some chipping occurred over time (minuscule, right on the edge but chipping nonetheless) and it lost its edge rather more quickly than expected (it would probably have lasted a bit longer if I had stored it with more care though).
If as @kobuta hopes the chipping problem is eliminated, I might then consider buying another ceramic knife…if in addition the sharpening gets easier…
Was it a ceramic Chef’s knife or a ceramic paring knife? Hitting the ceramic edge against a cutting board probably will induce chipping. I think that is probably why ceramic shorter/paring knives are selling better - as they usually do not hit hard materials.
Ceramic paring knife.
Aren’t shorter/paring knives also selling better than Chef’s knives when steel and not ceramic?
And don’t you ever use a paring knife on a cutting board or even, inadvertently of course, on a plate?
I think the chipping with ceramic knives are mostly endemic to those that are stamped (like mine, which are laughably cheap in price).
Ceramic knives that are forged (often in the 2 or 3 figures in price) are supposed to sturdier and less prone to chipping.
I will say that the one thing that I do not like with ceramic knives is their heft, or lack thereof. They’re almost too light. Or maybe it’s just me with my Luddite muscle memory in using steel blades. Who knows. But there you have it.
You are right. Most people have more paring knives than Chef’s knife (they may have 1-2 Chef’s knife and 2-4 paring knives). Yet, I feel that ceramic knives further lean into shorter knives. This market analysis does not even bother to look at ceramic knife longer than 6 inch.
I recently bought a mandoline with ceramic blade and thus far no complaints - it is very sharp and I expect it will stay that way since it won’t be hitting a cutting board. I don’t have ceramic knives for that very reason.
I suspect that is the problem with ceramic knives. I haven’t heard the same chipping complaint for ceramic mandoline or ceramic peeler (as a quick scan on Amazon)
I think they absolutely SUCK.
Yes…I’ve owned 2. One very early on, and the second, a paring knife when they got cheaper.
They both suck.
They are NOT sharp. The chip easily. And they are nigh impossible to sharpen at home.
Give me a carbon steel japanese knife any day. End of story.
I am far from being a Luddite, but technology has to be really revolutionary to replace a well seasoned cast iron skillet or a well made carbon steel Japanese knife.
