StarFrit Gourmet 5.5" Santoku Chef Knife
The Starfrit Gourmet 5.5" Santoku Chef Knife is a great all purpose kitchen knife made of ceramic creating a corrosion resistant long wearing edge.
Ease of Use/Performance: 23/25
Convenience/Storage 24/25
Appearance/Design 23/25
How much I enjoy 23/25
Total: 93/100
The Starfrit Gourmet ceramic knife comes in several sizes and is made from ceramic for a long lasting edge for an excellent kitchen knife. The Starfrit ceramic blade makes cutting fruit, meat and vegetables for cooking easy and the ceramic edge is ultra sharp when brand new.
The ceramic blade means a long lasting edge because ceramic is harder than steel and will retain its razor sharp edge 10 times longer according to the company. I have also seen on other sites talking about ceramic knives and how they retain the sharp cutting edge much longer than steel or alloys will.
The ceramic blade will not rust or corrode due to water, acids or oils from food and is half the weight of steel blades. The Starfrit Santoku Knife comes with a plastic protective sheath to use when the knife is not in use and to protect the blade.
The use of ceramics in knives has been on the rise due to their corrosion resistance and ability to retain an edge much longer than steel. The blade does keep an edge better than steel but you will have to sharpen the blade eventually.
If your blade needs sharpening a good diamond stone or diamond sharpener will work and you can always call around to find a local knife sharpener that will sharpen ceramic knives. I found a local knife sharpener, Twin City Sharpening in Fargo ND, that will sharpen a ceramic knife for less than $2, not a bad deal.
I did not find on the Starfrit website where you could send the knife in for them to have sharpened so you may be out of luck that way but the company does offer a 5 year warranty. This warranty does not cover chips or sharpening so if you do need to touch up that Starfrit ceramic knife you will have to search locally or do it yourself.
Sharpening a ceramic knife is usually done with professional tools but you can get a decent edge using a diamond sharpener and some fine grit sandpaper. I now have a diamond steel from Smith's and some fine grit sand paper I use to get that fine edge almost like new but I do not get it as sharp as a professional with years of experience can.
The Starfrit Ceramic Santoku knife does keep its edge well and I have not had a problem with using the knife over the last few months. The knife still has that extremely sharp edge but I also wanted to see how easy it would be to sharpen the blade myself and I did get a good edge but not quite as sharp as new.
I will be taking this and a few other knives to that professional but for now the knife is sharp enough for kitchen use. I like to use the ceramic knife for everyday cooking for vegetables and fruit but especially for that smaller cutting on meat.
The Starfrit knife makes quick work on cutting meats like chicken to cube up for recipes like Chinese where you need smaller bite sized pieces. The ceramic blade cleans up easily and this is one major feature I like about the ceramic blade.
Ceramic blades are chemically inert meaning they will not react to food or chemicals in food like acids or alkali, think that brown color when cutting lettuce. The ceramic blade will not turn foods bad or even that brown color that lettuce gets quickly after cutting with a steel knife.
A ceramic knife is a bit more expensive than steel but the benefits of a blade that keeps its edge much longer and does not react to food makes the cost worth it. A ceramic blade does have some drawbacks like sharpening difficulty and a more brittle blade than steel which means you have a little extra cost for sharpening and you need to take care when using and storing it.
Care is important so that you don't chip the blade so Starfrit has included a protective sheath that fits the blade nicely. The sheath has a clip for carrying the knife on a belt or for hooking on a bar for quick and convenient storage on a wall.
The Starfrit Ceramic Santoku Knife is a fantastic kitchen knife that keeps its edge through regular everyday kitchen use and makes a great household kitchen knife. The Starfrit Gourmet knife will give you years of sharp cutting and will be a fine addition to any cooks tools.
I highly recommend the Starfrit Gourmet 5.5" Santoku Chef Knife for a fine kitchen cutting tool that raises the bar for your cooking. You can find the Starfrit gourmet knife at the Starfrit Gourmet website and Amazon in several different sizes.