Kyocera Revolution Series 7 Inch Professional Chef's Knife, Black Blade

My parents have a version of this knife, and I love using it, and always miss it when I go back to my normal knives. It's too expensive to buy for myself, but I decided to buy this knife for my boyfriend, and he loves it, too! He's worked in restaurants and is a serious cooking hobbyist. He has excellent steel knives, but they don't hold a candle to this. I bought him a tomato and gave it to him when I gave him this knife, and he cut it into slices so thin he could read through them, and the gooey inards didn't get squished out. This knife is super sharp, comfortable grip, and just fabulous. He was sold on first slice. You will be, too. And the black blade is super cool. For $75, this knife is a steal. Be warned, it's hard to go back to your normal knives after you've used this bad boy.

I have been curious about these knives since I first heard of them, but I had never tried them before. I had some birthday money burning a hole in my pocket and decided to get one. It is amazingly sharp. I have never been able to cut paper thin slices of vegetables so easily. It just glides through the food. I have only had it for about a month, so I can't comment on how long it stays so sharp, but I am enjoying it very much so far.

Kyocera ceramic knives are very different than steel. They are unbelievably sharp and hold their edge for years of use. BUT there are two enormous drawbacks. When they finally become dull, you cannot sharpen them yourself but must sent them to factory service in Los Angeles. And the ceramic is brittle and fragile so the edge chips easily. Overall it is much more practical to use good quality steel knives you can sharpen easily for everyday. I do recommend having one ceramic knife in your collection for items like tomatoes.

A dull knife is the most dangerous tool in the kitchen. I've always owned very good knives -- including Henckels (not the ones made in China), Wustof, Shun, etc. -- and have always sharpened my own knives with steels and with my Chef's Choice electric sharpeners. But these ceramic knives by Kyocera truly are great because they don't need sharpening and are extremely sharp. I can pull these knives out each time and know they are ready for use. I make my own gravlax and am impressed with the paper-thin slices of the raw fish that I can get from using the ceramic knives.

These knives are extremely sharp and seem to hold an edge but the blade is thicker than steel and consequently the blade tends to get stuck in food that doesn't just fall away. Other than that these knives are great. They slice a ripe tomato without crushing and raw meat with ease. I use these knives as often as I can.