Ceramic vs. Calphalon vs. Good Old Fashioned

[Michelemarie]

There are some myths in this thread, namely that if you drop a ceramic knife, the odds are it will break.

I use ceramic knives almost exclusively. I have everything from a baseline run of the mill 70 dollar Kyocera santoku all the way up to a Damascus sashimi knife that literally cost more than a mortgage payment, 14 ceramic knives in all. My kitchen has marble floors and granite countertops. I've dropped all but a couple of them more than once, and don't have them shatter or chip. I wouldn't trade them for anything.

The only metal knives I keep in my house are technically sushi blades (Mac brand, Japanese style knives), and I only use them under 2 circumstances:

1) All my ceramic knives for a job are dirty (i.e. my pare knife is in the dishwasher and I've got something delicate to cut) or
2) I'm cutting through bone

Both are pretty rare events. Best type of knives available.

I second that emotion! I love love love the ceramic knives. I wish I had 14 to boast about, but I am building my collection!! Ceramic all the way!

 

[Poppinfresh]

You put your fancy knives in the dishwasher? lol

Of course. Unlike metal knives, you can put your ceramic knives in there without any worry of what will happen to them so long as you keep them separated from each other. And even then I'm sure they'd be fine. My only concern would be the 2 pieces of ceramic clanging against each other.

 

[Mylegsbig]

mate, the high end knives you are talking about have exquisite handles that a dishwasher will degrade, they are not supposed to be cleaned in a dishwasher... I seriously hope you are not putting a 1,000 damascus handmade blade into a dishwasher when it takes all of 30 seconds to clean it by hand.

 

[GB]

I agree with Mylegsbig. The dishwasher is a very hostile environment. While the ceramic blade might be OK (and I am not saying they will), you are going to ruin the handles at the very least.

 

[Poppinfresh]

Welp, most of my knives I've had for years, and there is absolutely no degradation on any of them. The sashimi knife I almost never use, so it doesn't really equate into this. It's sort of a specialty knife that is used for things I don't usually make.

 

[Katie H]

Never, oh, never, put knives in the dishwasher. As Mylegs said, it only takes a couple of seconds to clean a knife by hand.

I have a ceramic vegetable peeler and love it. It peels sweet potatoes like they're made of hot butter. Now I'm chompin' at the bit to get a ceramic knife.

Oh, so many toys! So little time!!

 

[foodguru74]

I <3 Kyocera.

I find the best knives to be Kyocera Ceramic. I've hardly had to sharpen them. They just last forever, and definitely sharper than anything I've used. I will never use another knife.

 

[Fisher's Mom]

I have a set of the Calphalon Katana series for the house and have NEVER been disappointed.

They hold a great edge and hone very well. I loved them for the price and the asthetics.

Ceramics are the top of the line in state of the art cuttlery, but the price point is discuraging when buying a few pieces.

I know this is an older thread but I just had to post. After reading this a while back, Tatt, I filed it away in some dark corner of my brain. Later I noticed so many folks on DC saying they considered their knives to be the most essential tool in their kitchen. Being very new to cooking, I actually thought that was crazy. A knife is a knife, right? But the longer I hung out here, the more I noticed just how smart ya'll are.

Sooooo, I was at TJMaxx and saw one of these Katana knives for $25. It's a 7" slicer. I didn't really know what a slicer was as compared to other knives but I did know this was a good price for these knives and I remembered your comments, Tatt. I bought it and OMG, I owe you a big "THANK YOU"!!

I have to peel and slice 15 lbs of potatoes when all the kids are home for supper. I have a little trouble with my hands so slicing that many spuds was something I just couldn't do anymore. Somebody else had to be recruited for this task each time. Well, sure enough, about 2 weeks after getting this knife, the kids were all here and I was cooking and no one was around to slice my spuds. I gritted my teeth and just accepted that I'd be unable to type or sew or anything for the next few days. But when I picked up my lovely knife and started slicing, I couldn't believe it! It was like cutting butter!!! It required almost no pressure and took half the time to slice up all those potatoes. And guess what - my hands were fine. Not even a twinge. I can't believe I've been using cheap, dreadful knives all my life and wrecking my hands because I didn't know any better!

Now I have 5 of these knives and I got rid of all the old crappy ones.

This post is way too long, but there may be a new cook on DC (like me) who doesn't know how really essential a good knife is. Here's my 2 cents: If it's a toss-up between a shiny new pot or a good knife - go for the knife!!!

 

[GB]

I know this is an older thread but I just had to post. After reading this a while back, Tatt, I filed it away in some dark corner of my brain. Later I noticed so many folks on DC saying they considered their knives to be the most essential tool in their kitchen. Being very new to cooking, I actually thought that was crazy. A knife is a knife, right? But the longer I hung out here, the more I noticed just how smart ya'll are.

Sooooo, I was at TJMaxx and saw one of these Katana knives for $25. It's a 7" slicer. I didn't really know what a slicer was as compared to other knives but I did know this was a good price for these knives and I remembered your comments, Tatt. I bought it and OMG, I owe you a big "THANK YOU"!!

I have to peel and slice 15 lbs of potatoes when all the kids are home for supper. I have a little trouble with my hands so slicing that many spuds was something I just couldn't do anymore. Somebody else had to be recruited for this task each time. Well, sure enough, about 2 weeks after getting this knife, the kids were all here and I was cooking and no one was around to slice my spuds. I gritted my teeth and just accepted that I'd be unable to type or sew or anything for the next few days. But when I picked up my lovely knife and started slicing, I couldn't believe it! It was like cutting butter!!! It required almost no pressure and took half the time to slice up all those potatoes. And guess what - my hands were fine. Not even a twinge. I can't believe I've been using cheap, dreadful knives all my life and wrecking my hands because I didn't know any better!

Now I have 5 of these knives and I got rid of all the old crappy ones.

This post is way too long, but there may be a new cook on DC (like me) who doesn't know how really essential a good knife is. Here's my 2 cents: If it's a toss-up between a shiny new pot or a good knife - go for the knife!!!

These are the posts I love to read on DC. Way to go Fisher's Mom!

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

GB, you took the words right out of my mouth. Anytime somebody's life gets easier from the info we try to share, it makes the time spent here well worth every minute. And besides, Fisher's Mom is such a great member.

Seeeeeeya; Goodweed of the North