Published on December 19th, 2012 | by Greg
0Christmas Cutlery: Inexpensive, Ceramic Kyocera Nakiri
Whether you're at home for the holidays or making your own traditions, you'll probably be spending some time in the kitchen. We plan on cooking up some Christmas favorites, and there's nothing like the big festival meal to show off some new tools, especially ones that are sharp and to the point. We've been testing out three knives recently and will cover each of them in turn- in the previous piece, we looked at the G2 6-inch Chef's Knife.
But at half the price of most competitive metal blades, Kyocera's ceramic composite knives offer a great value proposition. We've liked them before, and we've been trying out one of their other blades, the 6″ Nakiri Vegetable Cleaver. Here's what they say:
"Ideal for chopping piles of herbs, vegetables or meats with a larger, deeper blade. All Kyocera blades will stay sharp up to 15 times longer than metal-based knives. Contamination free and chemically inert, the blades will never rust or brown food. Totally impervious to acids, juices, oils, salts or other elements." Also, we should note a couple of interesting features of Kyocera cutlery, namely the lifetime warranty and the lifetime complimentary sharpening service ($10 shipping). We didn't try sharpening this knife, but they can require a bit of extra care.
Those are the upsides, and there is one other important advantage- lightweight. However, you won't be able to use those nice magnetic knife holders, and we found the plastic handles a little too flexible and cheap-feeling, and slick when wet. Plus, a disadvantage to ceramics is that they can shatter; dropping them will likely result in a break, unlike with metal knives. They also are labeled as hand-wash only. The Kyocera blade itself is great, extremely sharp and held an edge well even after some serious chopping. We diced tomatoes and cucumbers to pieces, and also sliced up some boneless chicken.
Perfect for the chef on a budget or who wants to avoid metallic blades, they offer a different sort of cutting experience, felt balanced in the hand, and were extremely consistent. And Kyocera offers a wide line of knives as well, including scissors and even pocket knives. The 6-inch Nakiri is available online and in stores now for a very reasonable $70.
Tags: cutlery, kitchen, knives, review
About the Author
Greg Greg dreamed up the idea for the Truly Network while living in Hawaii, which began with a single site called TrulyObscure. In 2010, when advertisers and readers were requesting coverage beyond the scope of that site, TrulyNet was launched, reaching a broader audience over a variety of niche sites. Formerly the head technology correspondent for the Des Moines Register at age 16, he has since lived and worked in five states and two countries, helping a list of organizations and companies that includes the United States Census Bureau, TripAdvisor, Events Photo Group, Berlitz, and Computer Geeks. He also served as the Content Strategy Manager for HearPlanet, a multi-platform app that has reached over a million users and has been featured in the New York Times, Hemispheres Magazine, National Geographic Adventure, Fox Business News, PC Magazine, and even Apple’s own iPhone ads. Greg has written as a restaurant critic and feature journalist for a number of national and international publications, including City Weekend Magazine, Red Egg Magazine, the Newton Daily News, Capital Change Magazine, and an arm of China Daily, Beijing Weekend. In addition, he has served as a consulting editor for the Foreign Language Press of Beijing, as well as a writer and editor for the George Washington University Hatchet, the school newspaper of his alma mater. Originally from Iowa, Greg is currently living in the West Village of Manhattan.
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