Japanese Kitchen Ceramic Knives

For many centuries, mankind used metal knives, and suddenly at the beginning of the 21st century, ceramics appeared. They are light, effective, do not oxidize products and are generally capable of much, the main thing is to choose a quality and lasting assistant who will not break down and dull during your culinary efforts. Ceramic knives were invented in Japan 20 years ago, but they reached the world market only 15 years later, and in our country appeared quite recently.

Snow-white and blue-black, unusually light and elegant, they like the housewives externally, but cause a lot of questions, the main one of which is: "From what miracle material is the knife blade made?" Naturally, we should not compare it with ceramics for vases , toilet bowls and tiles in the bathroom. They are united only by a similar manufacturing process - baking in the oven. The raw material for the blades is zirconium powder, which melts at a very high temperature (about + 160 ° C) and turns into an ultra-strong zirconium dioxide material (its hardness is 8.0-8.6 units, and the diamond has 10 units). Due to the incredible durability of the blade, the blade is almost not dull, so you can use a ceramic knife for many years and not think that it's time to sharpen it (although sharpening is sold, and sometimes you can correct the blade). By the way, Japanese kitchen ceramic knives are the best and the best.

Perfect ceramics

Knowingly ceramic knives have become popular all over the world. They look so effective that the housewives do not put them away in the back box, but put them in the most prominent place in the kitchen - the devices fit perfectly into the modern minimalist design. Working with stylish knives is also a pleasure. Both from the aesthetic and from the practical point of view. They are sharp, they cut perfectly, they are perfectly cleaned with a sponge, do not rust, do not leave any odor, do not oxidize the products, do not react with them and do not change their taste. It turns out that you can forget the warnings of dietitians that green salads must necessarily be torn! Now they can be cut with a knife, the main thing is to make it a ceramic assistant. He will also cope with any fruits, vegetables, fish fillets, meat or poultry. Despite the fact that this is not a specialized bread making device, it also cuts baking perfectly: it does not crumple it and does not crumble.

Japan or China?

Ceramic assistants come in different sizes and purposes - from a small frutonozhik for cleaning vegetables and fruits to a large chef. Therefore, going for a purchase, first of all decide for what purposes you need a device. Then check the ergonomics of the handle of the knife - see how comfortable it lies in the palm of your hand. It is desirable that the handle is made of plastic, covered with rubber, then it will not slide even when wet. Also, do not forget to check the severity of the blade. To do this, try to cut the paper with a knife. If the blade easily separates the sheet, then the sharpening is good: if it starts to tear the paper, it is not worth buying such a device. However, even sharp ceramic assistants are not always perfectly durable. For example, in China, similar copies are made using accelerated technology: they spend less time in the oven, so they are more fragile than their counterparts from the Land of the Rising Sun. The color of light knives from the Celestial Empire also differs: if the Japanese have snow white, then the Chinese have a greyish-yellowish color, which indicates a lower quality of the raw material.

Do not touch the bones and freezing!

High-tech devices are very durable, but this does not mean that they can play with knives, drop them on the tile floor or use as an ax for cutting lamb carcass. If you want a fashionable assistant to serve you for many years, apply it according to the rules. First, not my ceramic knife in the dishwasher. Secondly, take away the glass and china cutting boards away. Thirdly, do not try to cut them bones and frozen meat - a hard, but rather fragile material with them simply can not cope. In general, do not abandon steel knives, completely replacing them with high-tech beginners - let ceramics do what it can do superbly: shred greens, peel fruit, cut vegetables or meat fillets. Ceramic knives come in white and black. The color of the instruments depends not only on the presence of the dye, but also on the features of the production technology. Dark knives spend more time in the stove, so their hardness and wear resistance are higher than that of light ones. Naturally, they cost a bit more: if a black knife with a length of about 30 cm (a blade -17.5 cm) will cost you 3300 rubles, then an identical size of white zirconium ceramics will cost 2900 rubles.