Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Summary ------- 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: -------------------------------- 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!