Customer Reviews

Kyocera Revolution Series Paring and Santoku Knife Set, Black Blade

5 star:		(72)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Summary
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Advantages:
1) The sharpest commercial knife you can purchase
2) Will hold its edge much longer than carbon or stainless steel knives
3) Great ergonomics (nice handle and beautiful appearance)

Disadvantages:
1) Brittle blade
2) Can only be sharpened by the manufacturer

Overall:
Buy this set

Detailed information and advice:
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A bit of background information if you are unfamiliar with ceramic knives. There are basically three types of knives you can purchase:

1) High stainless steel knives - Fairly sharp, hold their edge well, somewhat difficult to sharpen. These are the knives that you are most likely to purchase at a store. Prices range from very cheap to very expensive (I own a Wusthof set, so I know how expensive they can get).

2) High carbon steel knives - Very sharp, dull easily, easy to sharpen. These are the cheapest, easiest to sharpen, and lose their edge the fastest. These also tend to be used by professionals (I managed over 80 "knife hands" early in my career and this is all we used - people would dull on average 6 per day).

3) Ceramic knives - Supremely sharp, hold their edge practically forever, impossible to sharpen. Expensive, and prone to breaking if not used properly.

Most people purchase high stainless steel knife sets, and these are adequate for general utility. But it's not the best strategy for a well prepared chef to follow. The best approach is to have multiple knives and use them for specialized purposes.

Here's what you should do:

1) Buy this ceramic set. Use it for everything except boning, prying, and crushing. Under no circumstance should you ever use it for boning, as you will likely chip the blade (i.e no knife work that requires any prying or side-to-side motion). Hand wash, and don't drop on your tile floor. They will last you forever and you will wonder why you ever used anything else. (I've owned a 5" ceramic utility for almost 10 years and it still hasn't required sharpening).

2) Go to your local restaurant supply store and buy at several 6" high carbon steel boning knives. They are generally very cheap, and very cheap looking. Use these knives for general cutting and boning. Sharpen them frequently (a quick run over a steel after every use is best).

If you follow this strategy you will be amazed at what you can do with the ceramics, and you will also have the best (and cheapest) boning knives to decrease the chance that you'll ever chip one of your ceramics.

Hope this helps anyone who has stumbled onto this backwater Amazon page in their pursuit of the ultimate knife!

These knives took a little getting used to at first. They just have a different "feel" than my high-end steel knives. At first I thought I might cut myself but you get used to them quickly. It's almost spooky how easily they glide through food. You can make tomato slices so thin you can almost see through them! They are almost all I use - I'll wash and re-use my ceramic knives before going to the rack for a steel one. My only problem is my wife and squabble over who gets them when we are cooking together...

Be very, very careful. These are the sharpest knives I have ever dealt with. I have used it for fish, vegetables, boneless meats, and cheeses. You can make cuts as thin as you want, and the consistency of the cut is amazing. This set is a good introduction, and I am so happy with it that I plan on getting some of the other knives over time. The knives cut well and are very easy to clean...what else could you want?

I have one of these and I must admit that they are heaven to cut with. Really, you have never used a sharper knife I can assure you. The blade is VERY brittle. no matter how careful you are you will chip and nick the blade. I must admit that even though my blade is chipped like crazy, after a year of use, this knife is still sharper than anything thing I have used. I have to maintain the edge on my Henckel Pro-s knives on a regular basis. At their best they are not as sharp as this damaged knife.

I bought this set and the chef's knife. All three cut like a dream. I still am a little too cautious of the ceramic blades. And I don't leave them out due to my fear that someone will carelessly use them on my granite counter tops or use them to pry, twist, or in some other way use and destroy them. When I cook and have friends over they will be conversation items as some of my fiends are equally adept in the kitchen. So why the four star rating. The blades are great, but the light weight, plastic molded handles with an obvious mold seam, look and feel cheap. For the price and the blade quality why are the handles pieces of poorly molded/trimmed plastic? Love the blades, but really hate the handles

Wow, these ceramic knives really are different and very useful. I bought this set in July, and to tell the truth I've only used the paring knife, as I learn about where I like to use them. My other Santoku knives are pretty good and I didn't do much prep in the kitchen over the summer.

OK so as they recommend these knives are somewhat restrained to straight cuts, but that is most of the food prep activity anyway. They take special care, and I am worried about what I'm going to do when they need sharpening, I'm so lazy when it come to sending stuff away for service.

While they are sharp though I have found the blade to be PERFECT for tomatoes and other vegetables, tomatoes are a high spot though. Another unexpected use is bread; slicing into a roll with these is nicer and easier than a serrated knife and creates a much nicer cut. Love it!

I have not been so excited about it with raw meat, but I need to experiment here a bit more. The one place I found it really didn't work that well was with cheese, especially the soft cheddar. It has no problem cutting, but the cheese sticks hard to the blade so it's difficult to complete the slice.

I really do like the ceramic knife, and the fact that they work different than the metal blades on some material is a bonus. If you have visitors or people who don't really appreciate kitchen tools, it's best to tell them these are off limits to them.

Happy Slicing!

I am very impressed. These knives are sharper out-of-the box than my German steel knives, and have a lighter feel. Don't hesitate to buy these as a gift! The "gift set" presentation is great and the product is high quality. I will be buying more Kyocera knives in the future.

My assistant at the Inn, trained in culinary school in Paris, told me about these ceramic knives. I have a wonderful namebrand set of steel knives that she ribbed me about not being very sharp and that ceramic knives were better. I was curious, so ordered these to find out if they are as sharp and easy to use as she said. And now I can say first hand, that they are! I love cutting tomato slices that thin! Still need my steel knives for boned meat and bread cutting, but so glad that I ordered these for the fruits and veggies that we use so much of at the Inn.

I got this today for christmas & it is one of the best presents I have ever gotten. It cuts like nothing I have ever had, is lightweight and so easy to clean (it is ceramic & so doesn't absorb food like metal). The only thing I have any problem with & it is a nothing complaint, is that I have the classic series & it is a white blade, it just doesn't look like a knife to me, but man it cuts better than any "real-looking" knife I have ever used. I have used a lot of knives when I used to work as a cook & I have been cooking for over 20 years now.

A definite 5 star item!

(See my ONE YEAR UPDATE at the bottom of this review.)

First let me make it clear I do not own THESE ceramic knives, but I own some that are similar. I am writing this to help people to understand ceramic knives better. After looking around, I bought the Tachi three knife set (with black blades), mostly because I wanted more than 2 knives. I am not disappointed. In fact, these knives have become my preferred knives for almost everything.

Ceramic Knives are an up and coming thing, but they have advantages and disadvantages. I also bought some Stafford Worldwide Ceramic Paring Knives and I compared all of these very closely to the Kyocera Ceramic Knives, and I find them to be fairly similar. The Tachi knives are sharper than the cheaper Stafford Worldwide knives, but the Stafford knives are still quite sharp.

Advantages of Ceramic Knives:

1. They retain their sharpness for many years, far longer than any steel knife.

2. They are quite inert and do not rust or react to food and chemicals.

3. The blade, at least, can withstand very high temperatures, up to 1,400 Degrees F., and it doesn't hurt the blade. Whether the handle can withstand these temperatures is another matter.

4. The blades are lighter weight than steel.

5. Because of their lack of reactivity, these knives clean up fast and easily.

Disadvantages:

1. Though the blades are sharp and retain their sharpness, I cannot say they are sharper than steel blades. Certainly razor blades are sharper, as are surgical scalpels. A good, sharp carbon steel blade would also be sharper, so don't get confused or expect too much. The advantage is not that they are super sharp, but that they are quite sharp and they RETAIN their sharpness. A carbon steel knife will stay sharp for about a day of hard use. Stainless steel knives will stay sharp for weeks to months. These knives will stay sharp for years.

2. The blades are not STRONG. They are made out of Zirconium, the same thing that is in Cubic Zirconium, and Cubic Zirconium is a very hard substance, second only to Diamonds. But they lack the crystalline structure of the Cubic Zirconium. On a molecular level they are instead an amorphous ceramic, almost like glass, and though they don't dull easily, they will break VERY easily if put under any kind of twisting motion, side to side motion, or similar bending stress, or if they are struck against a hard object such as stone or bone. They also might break if dropped on a tile or cement floor.

I strongly recommend you ONLY use it to cut on plastic or wooden surfaces. Vegetables and boneless meat are the premier uses for these knives. Buy yourself a nice counter top butcher block knife holder to keep these knives in, and always hand wash the knives and put them back into the block. Don't leave them in the sink where they might get broken by heavy kettles or plates being placed on them.

Having said all of the above, if you want a sharp knife that will stay sharp and last for many years with proper care, then this certainly is something with which you could be happy. These actually are now the sharpest knives in my drawer, including sharper than several (older) sets of Cutco knives. I rate it four stars ONLY because of the general lack of toughness that ALL ceramic knives have, NOT because of any inherent defect in this product.

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ONE YEAR UPDATE. I have now (as of April 23, 2011) had my ceramic knives for over a year. They seem 'almost' as sharp as ever (probably 90 to 95% as sharp as they were at the beginning). However, despite excellent care, washing by hand, and NEVER using them to cut against bone or hard materials, my knives have developed some small nicks and 'divots' in the cutting edges. This is especially prominent in the largest knife. I have no idea how these nicks and divots occurred. I think they are just something that you need to expect with these knives. The 'defects' are quite small and seem to have minimal effect on the sharpness and cutting ability, but there is no question that they are there. Just be aware that this probably something you just need to expect with these knives. Sharp they are, but 'strong' they are not.