Should You Buy A Ceramic Knife?
There are many positive reasons why to buy a ceramic knife since the hardness of the ceramic material is harder than steel. What most people don’t understand are the problems that go along with ceramic knives. It’s the essential iceberg that follows the frustration of many owners who now have a collection of knives that are damaged, chipped, and even no better than they were after they lose their edge.
Caring for this specific style of knives will not be as difficult if you follow these rules that can extend their life and not make your life feel like you wasted your money. The attractive part of ceramic knives is lucrative and very competitive with steel brands, but the material is going to require you to purchase additions that will support their maintenance to keep them in top shape.
How Do I Know My Knife Is Ceramic?
There are some very sneaky brands out there that sell ceramic-coated knives. These knives are not the same and will start to have many problems when the blade edge starts to come off. The worst part is that the constant flexing of the blade and cleaning underwater will start to loosen and crack off the ceramic coating. There are easy ways to tell if you have a ceramic-coated knife.
The first is the overall weight that you can feel right away. Stainless steel is still significantly heavier than ceramic and coated knives will have weight to them. Ceramic knives are often colored white and will show light through the blade when you hold them up to a light source. Even colored knives will still allow small amounts of light to pass right through. This is why dentists use zirconium oxide to make realistic dental crowns and implants for their patients.
Metal does not allow light to pass through it, so if you have a ceramic-coated blade, you’ll certainly see no light coming through. Another problem with ceramic-coated blades is the issue of rusting steel that reacts with water. This will ultimately cause the coating to fall off sooner due to the corrosion of poorly and cheaply made ceramic-coated blades.
Are Ceramic Knives Safer Than Metal?
Some problems with ceramic can be downright horrifying if you aren’t being careful. Since the blades on ceramic knives are sharp, there is always the risk of cutting yourself. You have to be careful around any sharp knife for that matter. The risk of using ceramic knives is always stemming from poorly made ceramic knives that can chip on hard surfaces that are just as resilient.
If you’re cutting a stiff pizza crust on a ceramic plate, the resulting contact from your knife hitting the plate is enough to make your plate crack! It can also cause your knife to chip if you aren’t being too careful. You don’t want to drop your knife onto a hard floor since this can result in damage to your knife or hard floor likewise. Ceramic knives are considered safer than metal with just as much caution to use them as you would a steel knife…
Do Ceramic Knives Sharpen On A Standard Knife Sharpener?
This is yet a curious fact about ceramic knives, and trying to use standard sharpeners you already have at home is completely useless. They don’t ever tell you that you’ll need a diamond ceramic stone to sharpen it. There are many products that you can buy that have proven to be effective but the best home versions include an electric sharpener that has two types of stones to help refine the blade’s edge.
Ceramic cutting edges are very different than steel knives because you aren’t aligning the micro-edge along the edge of the steel. If you look at a standard steel knife-edge under a microscope, it will hold a sharp peak where the two sides are sharpened at an angle. This is why a standard honing rod is enough to realign the steel on regular steel blades after a few swipes. Ceramic blades, however, have problems with keeping their angle due to micro-fractures that easily chip off the leading edge.
The first step to sharpen a ceramic knife is sharpening the blade using a diamond ceramic stone and then polishing it using a special polishing paste. An excellent example is by using this type of sharpening device. Of course, there are more professional diamond sanders that are more expensive, but for home usage, you can’t get too picky about having precision sharpness for a ceramic blade when it comes to routine sharpening.
Will Ceramic Knives Stick To Magnets?
The downside to ceramic is that these aren’t metal and won’t be able to stick to magnetic knife holders. There is an alternative that is worth looking into which is simply to have a knife block to store your ceramic knives inside. These are wiped clean with a damp towel and dried. Afterward, they can go right into the knife block without worrying if they will rust. Since ceramic knives are easy to clean, simple hand washing and drying are enough.
Any little speckles of water left on a ceramic knife will not cause your knife to corrode like steel is capable of doing. Germs also don’t have any chance of surviving on a ceramic knife that is washed off with simple water too. Finding a knife block that’s dedicated to your ceramic knives is better than using a magnet block just so you don’t need to remove a plastic protector sleeve all the time.
How Do You Care For A Ceramic Knife Over Metal Knives?
Tarnishing and rusting is out of the question for ceramic knives, but as you might expect, don’t ever put your ceramic knife in the washing machine. Treat these knives just like any other expensive knife and treat them with respect. If your knife gets dull then you’ll certainly need to sharpen accordingly. If it gets chipped, well these knives are cheap enough to replace due to the dramatic price difference between steel knives.
Just go figure that you can afford 3 sets of ceramic knives for the price of an expensive steel name brand. With that being said, it’s better to buy a second set of ceramic knives to replace the wear and tear that will eventually happen years down the road.
