Sunday, August 20, 2006
Ceramic Kitchen Knives Primer
Perhaps you've handled them. Thin, light, almost fragile yet often even more expensive than the Henckels and Globals. Ceramic knives have been showing up in kitchenware shops and cooking shows like Ming Tsai for the last few years. So what are ceramic kitchen knives and why are they useful?
Typically the knives are made of zirconium oxide. Zirconium oxide is second in hardness only to diamond, meaning the blades keep their edge much longer than steel.
Kyocera, one of the manufacturers of ceramic knives claim the blades last up to ten times longer than regular steel blades and can go for months or years without sharpening. It would seem honing is still required.
How are these knives made?
The blades are molded under extreme high pressure before being fired for several days under high temperatures (in excess of 1000° C). The blade is then ground and polished using a diamond wheel to form the cutting edge and mounted to the knife handle.
Benefits of Ceramic Blades
- Blade edges remain sharper, longer than steel
- No steel, no rust or staining issues
- foods less prone to sticking on it's surface
- they are chemically inert and will not interact with food; won't alter taste of food
-lighter than steel edges
Problems with Ceramic Knives
-brittle and prone to chipping and cracking; cannot be used to chop bones frozen foods or for prying
-difficult to sharpen as regular knife sharpeners cannot be used; may require sending knife back to manufacturer for sharpening
Two major manufacturers of ceramic knives are Kyocera Ceramics and Kasumi, both make quality blades for the kitchen.
Tips for Using a Ceramic Kitchen Knife
-These tools work best for slicing boneless meats, fruits and vegetables. Avoid flexing or prying or carving into bones.
-Use with a plastic or wood cutting board. Avoid cutting on marble or stone or inappropriate surfaces like plates or kitchen tile.
-Hand wash with water and liquid dish detergent. A mild bleach solution or acetone will remove any discoloration not removed by normal washing.
Kyocera also makes several additional kitchen utensils using ceramic cutting edges. Kitchen slicers, several wide blade vegetable peelers and kitchen graters are available if you go ceramic crazy.
Page 1 of 1 pages