The process of hardening the ceramic knives makes them more likely to break if they are used too hard. Stainless steel is a much better choice in this case. When it comes to heavy tasks like chopping, hacking, prying, and cleaving, stainless steel knives are better than ceramic ones.
Ceramic knives have become very popular and can be bought for a very low cost. Ceramic knives are great for fine slicing and decorative cutting, but they are not made for heavy-duty kitchen tasks like chopping thick fish bones and frozen meat.
Flakes of obsidian nuclei, which are made of volcanic glass and were used by our ancestors a few hundred thousand years ago, are the first tools that look like knives. After making a lot of progress in metallurgy, we went back to using ceramics at the end of the 20th century.
Over time, stainless steel knives have earned a good reputation for cutting a wide range of foods. But there was no doubt that these blades could be a little hard to take care of. With this in mind, knives started being made out of ceramic around 1985.
Ceramic knives were made with the best technology available at the time. These knives were made with the most advanced technology available at the time. Since then, they have become very popular and can be bought for very low prices.
Continue reading this article to learn more about ceramic blades, how they are different from the stainless steel and Japanese steel blades that are commonly used, and much more.
How are ceramic knives made?
At first, ceramic might sound like an odd material for a knife. What is a ceramic knife, and how is it made? Ceramic knives are usually made from zirconium dioxide, which starts out as a white powder. This powder is then pressed under 30 tons of pressure and heated very hot to keep the shape of the blade.
This process makes it one of the most rigid and hardest materials for knives. On the Mohs scale, which is used to measure how hard a mineral is, ceramic gets an 8.5, while regular steel gets a 4.5 and hardened steel gets a 7.5. Basically, this means that ceramic is much harder than steel, but it isn’t strong enough to break under the kind of side pressure that steel knives can handle like pros.
Benefits of Ceramic Knives
- Keeps its edge much longer than most other blades.
- The blade is usually very thin, which makes it easy to make small cuts.
- Not going to rust or get old.
- Doesn’t transfer ions that can cause fruits and vegetables to go bad.
- Ceramic knife is light and easy to use.
The best thing about a ceramic knife is that it will keep its edge for a very long time. Even compared to high-carbon steel, a ceramic knife is likely to keep its edge ten times longer than other knives. So, you won’t have to sharpen ceramic knives as often.
In other ways, the ceramic blade is also interesting. They are thin, and because of the way the chemicals are made, they don’t let ions move from the surface as metals do. This keeps some foods from going bad. Because the blades are made of ceramic, it is a great tool for cutting up fruits and vegetables.
The blades won’t rust or turn black, either. They are naturally open to the air, water, and even acid from the outside. This feature of ceramic knives stops bacteria from growing, which makes cleaning a lot easier. Also, ceramic knives are light and easy to use, even for people who have never used knives before.
Drawbacks of ceramic knives
- Ceramic knives can be easily chipped or broken
- Not an all-purpose knife because it can’t cut through tough foods like meat with bones or foods that have been frozen.
- The shape of the blade is very fragile and can break completely if it is dropped, bent, or twisted.
- Sharpening is a nightmare, and regular sharpening tools won’t work.
Ceramic knives have a lot of good points, but they also have some bad ones. The main problem is that they can’t be used for everything. Cutting through hard ingredients like meat with bones or frozen foods is not a good idea because they are brittle and likely to break.
The blade could break because of more than just hard foods. If you twist or bend the blade enough, it can chip or even break into pieces. Some ceramic knives come with a cover to protect the blade from things like other tools in the drawer that could break it. In general, they are much less sturdy than other kitchen knives.
The sharp edge of a ceramic knife will definitely last longer, but it will be hard to sharpen once it gets dull. They have to be sharpened with a diamond sharpener and it takes a lot of work, unlike a steel blade. When the blade is dull, it’s best to have a professional do the sharpening. Read our article on how to sharpen a ceramic knife if you’re up for a challenge.
Let’s Talk About Steel Knives
Steel is one of the oldest materials used to make blades, and it is still the most common material used in kitchen knives today. Steel is the main material for chef’s knives from the West to Japan. No matter where you buy a knife, most of the blades will be made of steel.
When it comes to steel knives, though, there isn’t a single one. Kitchen knives are made from different kinds of steel. Some knives have a mix of these coatings on the blade, which makes them much more useful than ceramic knives.
Benefits of steel knives
- It has been shown to be one of, if not the best, materials for making knives.
- It is stainless because it has a certain amount of chromium.
- Keeps its edge very well and is simple to sharpen.
- A material for kitchen knives that can be used for everything.
Steel is a strong material that can also have other qualities. For example, adding chromium oxide to steel makes it resistant to rust, while adding more carbon to steel makes it harder but more likely to rust.
When the blade is made of stainless steel, oxidation and rust don’t happen very often. Even though you should take care of your knife and let it dry out after each use, these worries are not as important.
High carbon stainless steel is a type of steel that keeps its edge very well, but not as well as ceramic blades. They can be sharpened faster than any other steel and keep their edge for longer.
Even though some knives are made for a specific job, most steel knives can be used for everything. Isn’t that what a chef’s knife is for?
Drawbacks of steel knives
- Except for stainless steel, it can rust and turn black if it’s not taken care of properly.
- Most of the time, the blade is thicker, but this is more common in western knives. Both the knives from Japan and the ones in our store are very thin.
- Heavy blade, which makes it hard to work for long periods.
The most worrying thing about owning a steel knife is that it will oxidize and rust. You can’t just put it back in the sink after using it. Taking care of a steel knife will take more time, but stainless steel can help with this.
The blade of a steel knife is often not as thin as the blade of a ceramic knife, which is another problem with having a steel knife. If you need to make small cuts and thin slices, you will want to look for different types. Steel knives are usually heavier as well. Even though you can get rid of the weight by switching to a lighter handle, the blade will still be heavy.
But the bad things about having a steel knife are easy to fix. Don’t have enough time to take care of the knife or don’t want to? Get a knife made of steel. Does the blade seem too big? Take a look at a Japanese knife.
Some of the problems that come with a steel knife are easy to fix by trying out different kinds, of which there are many. Check out our hand-made kitchen knives to find the one that works best for you.
Ceramic Knife vs Steel Knife – Key Differences
Here is the most thorough comparison you can find between ceramic and steel knives. It looks at every aspect you can think of.
Edge Retention
Edge retention means how well the knife can keep its sharp edge. If you want a knife or any other material to stay sharp for a long time, it needs to be hard. As was already said, the average hardness of ceramic is higher than that of steel. So, ceramic is stronger than steel and won’t lose its sharpness as quickly as steel.
This doesn’t mean that steel can’t be just as sharp. Using a honing rod every two or three times will keep the edge of a steel knife very sharp.
Ease of Sharpening
Sharpening ceramic knives is an interesting topic. Because ceramic is so hard, using a whetstone or honing rod to sharpen it won’t do any good. To make the edge better, you will need a special tool.
With steel knives, this is a very different story. You can sharpen them quickly, and if you do it often, they’ll stay as sharp as the day you bought them. There are many ways to sharpen steel knives that fit every budget, but the best way is to use a whetstone. Read about how to sharpen knives with whetstones.
Weight
There is no standard weight for kitchen knives that everyone agrees on. Some people like their kitchen knives to be heavy, while others like them to be light. It depends on the person, but most people like their knives to be light so they can easily make small cuts.
The only thing we can say is that ceramic knives are a lot lighter than steel knives. Because of this, it’s a better choice if you want a light knife. If weight doesn’t matter to you, think about the other differences between these two different knife blades.
Durability
Maybe the most important thing to think about when buying a knife or anything else is how long it will last. Ceramic knives are very strong, but they are also fragile and easy to break. Ceramic knives have trouble with any food that is too hard. For example, if you cut up a whole chicken or a fruit with seeds, like an avocado or a peach, the blade might get chipped.
Some things would never happen to a steel knife, like the ones listed above. You can bend and drop them as much as you want, and you don’t have to worry about them breaking when they cut through hard foods. This doesn’t mean, though, that a steel knife will never chip. Chips can happen if you don’t take care of certain things. Even when not in use, rust and oxidation can cause this. That’s why it’s important to take care of your knives and store them in the right way.
Maintenance
To keep a steel knife in good shape, you need to sharpen and hone it as often as it needs. Whether the knife is made of stainless steel or not, it should be dried off after every use to make it last longer. If you have a ceramic knife, you don’t need any of these.
The only thing you need to do to take care of a ceramic knife is to keep it away from other things so it doesn’t get broken. You don’t need to keep a ceramic knife dry or coat the blade with mineral oil because it won’t rust or oxidize.
Since sharpening is part of maintenance, you may need to send your ceramic knives to a professional to be sharpened. Even though it won’t need to be sharpened as often as a steel knife, you should still think about it.
Price
You can get a good knife made of stainless steel for $50 to $75 that will last for many years. You can get a high-quality ceramic knife that can also last a long time for the same price. But it can be expensive and not a good idea to replace all of your kitchen knives with ceramic ones.
Even though you can buy a new ceramic knife for about $20, steel knives are a better value in the long run if you take care of them.
Versatility
There are different kinds of both ceramic and steel knives. You can get them in different lengths, widths, thicknesses, shapes, handles, and so on. There are a lot of different kinds, but if you want to see the whole world of knives, ceramic falls short.
When you look at the food of a country, you are likely to see different knives that are used for specific tasks. For example, the Japanese have knives made of different steels like santoku, gyuto, sujihiki, and others. Ceramic knives can look and feel the same, but they won’t work as well because ceramic isn’t a good material for all kinds of knives.
Should you buy a ceramic knife?
Ceramic knives aren’t something that every kitchen needs, but it can be nice to have one on hand. Using ceramic knives to cut up meat without bones, fruits, and vegetables can help your other knives last longer.
If the main knife you use in the kitchen is not stainless steel, like a high-carbon steel knife, we strongly suggest that you also have a ceramic knife or another type of stainless knife.
Having a ceramic knife will save you time and work because you don’t have to clean and care for it as much as you do with a steel knife. All you have to do is give it a quick rinse and put it back where it belongs. For example, if you want a late-night snack and use a carbon steel knife to cut some fruit, you will have to clean it more. With a ceramic knife, you can just wipe the blade clean and be done.
In the end, you don’t have to have both, but having a ceramic knife that you can use at any time will help a lot.
Things to consider when buying a ceramic knife
There are many different shapes and sizes of ceramic knives. They usually range in length from 6 to 9 inches and are sold in sets. Before you buy a whole set of ceramic knives, you might want to order just one to see if you like it.
When switching from a steel knife to a ceramic knife, it can be easy if you know the length of the blade you’re comfortable with and order the knife accordingly. Like other knives, ceramic knives are made in different ways. Even though ceramic blades don’t come in as many styles, most home cooks should be able to find what they need.
Since ceramic knives are hard to sharpen, some companies, like Kyocera, which made the first ceramic knife, offer free sharpening for their products. As long as you pay to ship the knives, you can get them sharpened for free by trustworthy people. Check to see if the company that makes the knives has a deal like that. It would save you a lot of trouble.
Things to consider when buying a steel knife
Before you go shopping for a new steel knife, think about how you like your knives to look and what kind of steel you like best. Carbon steel, for example, is much better at keeping its edge, but it can rust. If you don’t want the challenge of taking care of a knife, it’s clear that it’s not the best choice.
If you want a knife that is extra hard and durable, don’t get one made of carbon stainless steel. It is definitely worth the extra cost. It’s also important to know what kind of knife you want. Are you looking for a knife that can do one thing or something that can do everything?
A chef’s knife is a good choice if you’re looking for a knife that can do most things. In a previous article, we went over all the things you should think about when buying a chef’s knife. You should read it!
Verdict – are ceramic knives better than steel?
In some ways, yes, but not in others. There are no rules about what makes a good knife for cooking. It comes down to what works best for the person using them. Neither is better than the other.
Let’s say that you only use a knife to cut fruits, vegetables, chicken breasts, and other soft foods into small pieces. In that case, you would be better off with a ceramic knife. If you want a kitchen knife that can be used for everything, you should get one made of steel.
Now that you know every difference between ceramic and steel knives, you can get a good idea of whether or not to get one. A ceramic knife will help you prepare some foods and make it easier to make late-night snacks, but you still need a steel knife for all other uses and tougher foods.
