Why ceramic knives are better than conventional knives

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

We will tell you about the advantages and disadvantages of ceramic knives, how to choose a high-quality ceramic knife, and also try to decide whether it is worth changing steel knives to ceramic ones.

What are ceramic knives made of?

Real ceramic knives are made from one material, one technical process. They differ only in quality, and even then a little.

All thanks to zirconium oxide - it is it that is used in the manufacture of these instruments. She is familiar to many from ceramic and metal-ceramic dentures. Sometimes the inner surfaces of space rockets nozzles are even made of zirconium oxide.

Ceramic knives can be black or white. Black ones are made from zirconium carbide. White - from oxide, or rather, zirconium dioxide (ZrO₂), nicknamed by the Chinese "the younger brother of the diamond."

Zirconium ceramics are distinguished from other materials by their colossal heat resistance and hardness, which is several times higher than the hardness of any steel - at least that which you can find in everyday life. In addition, zirconium oxide does not react at all with most acids, alkalis and other active substances.

How ceramic knives are made

It takes a long and difficult time to create such a blade. Raw materials in the form of zirconium oxide or carbide powder (which still needs to be mined and refined; more often ore from Australia is used), blank plates are pressed under a pressure of 300 tons to make blades. Then the resulting blades are sintered in molds at a temperature of 1,600 ° C for two days.

As a result, large crystals are destroyed and the material acquires a fine-crystalline uniform structure. After that, the blade is pressed into the handle and sharpened using a special technology using superhard diamond abrasives.

Advantages and disadvantages of ceramic knives

Ceramic blades have many benefits.

• they are harder, which means they cut better;
• stay sharp longer;
• scratches do not appear on them, the appearance lasts longer;
• they do not rust;
• they are easy to clean - due to their uniform structure, they are smoother than metal knives;
• they are lighter;
• leave no aftertaste and are environmentally friendly.

The disadvantages of such knives are as follows:

• special sharpeners are required for sharpening;
• the standard factory sharpening of ceramic knives is usually inferior to that of metal;
• they must be washed with care in the dishwasher;
• do not tolerate blows - do not cut on ceramic, glass and stone work surfaces, cut hard products (such as frozen meat or bones);
• do not tolerate fracture loads.

How not to make the wrong choice

Unfortunately, choosing a quality ceramic knife is quite difficult. Here's what to look out for.

Colour

The knife should be opaque and uniform in color. Transparency is only permissible for a finely sharpened blade. The blade should not have any visible streaks or blotches of other colors.

Texture

There should be no roughness. The surface of high-quality ceramics is smooth.

It is important that there are no scratches, chips, traces of blows: ceramics remembers falls and even with careful handling it can crack at one "perfect" moment, if it has already been subjected to blows once.

Price

A ceramic knife cannot be cheap. Unfortunately, both black and white ceramics, even in the form of raw materials, are quite expensive. This is due to the process of mining zirconium and its minerals. In addition, besides ceramics, this metal has many uses, so the market dictates its own.

Even the simplest zirconia ceramic knife cannot cost less than $ 20. Branded Japanese products reach 50–150 dollars apiece.

Cutting edge

On sale come across metal knives disguised as ceramics with a thick layer of enamel or the same ceramics. It is quite simple to distinguish them: they have a low-quality sharpening and a thicker cutting edge. These should be avoided. Despite the possible assurances of the sellers, they instantly lose their presentation, peel off, and are more difficult to sharpen. And the steel used in them is mostly of poor quality.

Why choose a ceramic knife

Of course, ceramic knives are primarily a fashionable kitchen accessory. They are beautiful, they are advertised. Unlike knives made of high-quality steel, they do not bring great practical benefits. They are not required to perform any unique tasks - any such knife is a copy of a metal one in shape.

However, working with ceramic knives is a pleasure. Ease, convenience, ease of cleaning - it's all about them.

Therefore, if you are not afraid of problems and are ready to use them correctly, it is worth giving it a try. I'm definitely going to take a new set to replace the current one, which I ruined after a couple of years of careless use.