Using a Ceramic versus a Steel

Using a ceramic in place of a steel is much gentler on the delicate knife’s edge.

Traditionally a steel was the choice of tools to “touch-up” the knife edge between professional sharpenings. But a new tool called a Ceramic is fast replacing a steel because it is gentler on a just-sharpened blades delicate edge than even a fine steel.

A ceramic is built like a steel and is used in the same manner as a steel. After a few uses a chef gives a knife six or eight strokes on a 1500 grit ceramic and without removing any metal, the knife’s edge is “brought back up” to its maximum cutting potential by pushing the very thin edge back to the center of the knife.

Without the use of a ceramic it might be necessary to have your knives sharpened every three to six months where, using a ceramic fairly frequently, you can actually extend a sharpening to as much as six to 12 months, determined partially by how much your knives are used and what they are used on.

Having caught a glimpse of a chef using a ceramic doesn’t tell you much about how to use it. A simple guideline can help you use a ceramic properly, though, and it is a matter of estimating the angle at which you are holding the knife in relation to the ceramic.

In the accompanying illustrations, the user is holding the ceramic in his left hand horizontal to the floor. Hold a knife in your right hand so that the knife’s edge is touching the ceramic at a 90° angle. Now, lean the knife blade to the right to half that or 45°. Next, lean the knife blade further to the right to half that or 22 ½ °. This is the approximate angle needed as you pull the knife blade straight toward you, first on one side, then the other side. Match as nearly as you can the 20° on both sides of the knife as you lightly stroke it against the ceramic. Use very little pressure against the ceramic, stroking each side of the knife six to eight times. That’s how you use a ceramic.

In this photo the user has positioned the knife’s edge against the ceramic
at a 90° angle.

In this photo the user has leaned the knife blade to the right to approximately half
the 90° angle, now at 45°.

Finally, the user has leaned the knife blade to the right to approximately 22 ½°
which is the approximate angle needed as you stroke the knife’s edge against the ceramic. Try to maintain this angle on each side of the knife with each stroke
where you will lightly pull the knife’s blade straight toward you against the ceramic.