Kyocera Knives

Years ago, Gene bought me two of these knives. I had never seen them before and knew nothing about them and did not read the instructions that came with them. In short order, I managed to break the tip off of one and put some nicks into the blade of the other. This Christmas, he provided me with a small French Chef version. I read the instructions and found out that if they chip, I can return them. Kyocera will resharpen and shape them.....so away the two broken ones went. We got a call from them today saying that they arrived, along with about 400 others last week. It seems other people had also gotten them for Christmas and promptly damaged them. It will be about a week before they can get to our knives and they were just letting us know this. Nice service.
I love these knives because they are so sharp and hold an edge...but they are rather delicate and must be kept away from bones! Mainly I use them for veggies, and they are especially wonderful for tomatoes. How about you, do you own any?

I bought a Ming Tsai Kyocera chef's knife about 10 or so years ago and still love it. Way past needing sent back for sharpening. They say diamond is the only thing harder than the ceramic and you can't sharpen with a conventional sharpener but I have recently tried a simple "V" type sharpener I bought at the hardware store and it helps a bit. One side has a V made of carbide steel you draw the blade through and the other side finishes the edge with a ceramic V to smooth the edge. Didn't take out the nicks but seemed to help.

I have been using my Wusthof Santoku for most things instead of the Kyocera for a few years now and prefer it for most things. The Kyocera, when properly sharpened, is better in my opinion because of size and weight for general veggie prep but the Santoku is my go-to blade for most things.

I have a little white ceramic paring knife that I like to use for tomatoes in the Summer.

The rest of the year, it stays in the little box it came in. You can't toss them in a drawer, gotta handle with care.

I've thought about getting a larger one but they are so expensive and so fragile...

Oh, the other ceramic blade I have is in my vegetable peeler. What a great idea!

Frank

Over Christmas at my parents I used their small Kyocera and mentioned how much I liked it. As it turns out, a family friend's neighbor works for Kyocera here in the states and makes frequent trips to HQ. Hopefully mine is on its way back to the states as you read this.