A Kyocera Knife Set by Ming Knives basically consists of two of the best selling Kyocera ceramic knives which are similarly popular due to its beauty and practicality. It essentially contains a Santoku 5.5 inch knife and a three-inch paring knife. A Kyocera ceramic knife set is ideal for home cooking. It could also be used day after day and is quickly becoming everyone’s favorite partner in the kitchen. Believe it or not, a Kyocera ceramic cutlery set is included in Oprah’s Favorite Things 2010.

To compare prices, click here.

This knife set is essentially great for vegetables, fruits as well as boneless meats. You can easily use the knife for convenient mincing, dicing, julienning and slicing. Meanwhile, the paring knife is also best for trimming, cutting, peeling and seeding. Take note that Oprah uses only these knives in her kitchen.  These also make perfect and thoughtful presents for a hostess or the home cook. Currently, a Kyocera knife set can be had in either black or white blades.

The ceramic blade of the Kyocera knife set is ground to precise microscopic details using diamond wheels to achieve rock-like edginess and premier sharpness retention. It is also resistant to juices, acids, salts, oil and does not rust. Plus, it is light and is perfectly balanced when held. Its ergonomic handle decreases fatigue during repeated cutting. Be aware that it should only be hand-washed and sharpened solely by a Kyocera electric sharpener. Kyocera does offer free sharpening services, but the knive must be mailed in. Besides these benefits, be aware of a few disadvantages of a Kyocera knife set. For one, its blade has the tendency to become brittle and  it can only be sharpened by sending it back to the manufacturer. Remember though, that the Kyocera knife set stays extremely sharp up to ten times longer than standard blades.

Those who have actually purchased and used the knives have varying opinions on the product. A first-time user found it quite difficult to get used to the knives at first since the Kyocera ceramic knife set felt “different” compared to high-end knives made of steel, such as the Shun Classic. Also, some claim to have found the way the knife  glides easily through tomatoes to make such thin slices you could practically see through them to be a bit creepy as well as amazing. Be extremely careful though as these knives are very sharp. Anyone can make cuts as thin as you like with a consistency that is unparalleled with Kyocera knives. Plus, these knives are very easy to clean.

For some, the price of such a knife set could be a bit costly. But do not forget though that an investment such as this will essentially last a whole lifetime. All in all, if you have ever attempted to cut a vegetable using a blunt knife, you practically know the value of possessing decent quality cutlery. Also, having a Kyocera knife set in your kitchen makes a relevant difference not just in prep time but also in the final appearance of the food. While excellent knives could cost thousands of dollars, the Kyocera Ceramic knife set does not cost as much.  You can basically have it for less than $100.  To compare prices, click here.

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Kyocera’s 2-Piece Revolution Gift Set

December is upon us and minds are wandering toward gingerbread, mistletoe, and of course, holiday gifts!  With so many high-performance kitchen tools to choose, why not give the gift of Kyocera Advanced Ceramics?  This December, the Kyocera Gift Guide makes your holiday shopping easy by introducing some of Kyocera’s most popular gifts.

The first great gift from Kyocera: the Revolution series two-piece gift set—selected as one of Oprah’s favorite things for 2010!  Kyocera’s Revolution series two-piece gift set features a 5.5-inch Santoku knife—perfect for working with vegetables, fruits, and boneless meats—and a 3-inch ergonomic paring knife.  This sleek gift set can be ordered with white or black blades.  An ideal cutlery starter set, these versatile knives make a thoughtful holiday present, hostess gift, or special treat for yourself.  Oprah received her Kyocera Advanced Ceramics knife as a present from renowned chef Ming Tsai.  Now it’s the only knife she uses in the kitchen!

What makes Kyocera ceramic knives so great?  For one, they’re ultra sharp.  Micro-grain ceramic creates a denser knife with a sharper cutting edge, which is why a Kyocera knife stays sharper ten times longer than a stainless steel knife.  If the knife ever stops cutting to the desired satisfaction, Kyocera offers complimentary blade-sharpening services for the life of the knife.  Kyocera ceramics offer a health-conscious alternative to stainless steel because it’s nonstick and less porous, which means metal ions, dirt, and bacteria won’t transfer to food.  Kyocera ceramic knives are also easy to use.  They’re lightweight and balanced, which makes for more even cuts and less muscle fatigue with prolonged use.  All this, in a rustproof knife that’s 50-percent harder and more durable than stainless steel!

If you like Kyocera’s two-piece gift set, you’ll love the other items in the Revolution series!  Featuring a slicing knife, a vegetable cleaver, and even a sushi knife, Kyocera cutlery is a true culinary treasure.  Just ask Oprah!

Clipper blades are scissors that are used to cut hair. People keep these clipper blades at home to trim the hair of their pets as it is a part of the grooming process of the pets. Not only hair, the pet owners also use clipper blades for cutting the nails of the pets. With continuous use, the blades of these clippers become blunt or dull which poses trouble as there are chances of the pet getting injured in the grooming process. Hence it becomes necessary to keep the clipper blades in top working condition all the time. Clipper Blade Sharpening is an art that comes through practice; you become adept after a few trials. There are many Clipper Blade Sharpening services available in major cities, but if you learn how to do it on your own, you will be spared from botheration of going out to the shop and wait for the sharpening of your clipper blades.

The nails of dogs are especially coarse, and if the clipper blades are not sharp, you may have a lot of trouble in cutting its nails. It is better to clip its nails periodically to avoid getting injured from its nails. Not clipping hair of your pet also poses a threat for the safety and well being of your children as they come in close contact of the pets at home. Clipper Blade Sharpening is an easy job, and if you know it, you can do it easily within minutes.

Keeping the clipper blades in your right hand, take the sharpening stone in your other hand. Rub; or rather slide the stone up and down on the first blade for a few minutes. Turn the scissor and repeat the process to sharpen the other edge of the blade. Once you have rubbed the sharpening stone on both the blades and feel that they have been sharpened, open and close the clipper blades in quick motion to remove the burrs that may have been formed in the process of sharpening.

Keeping pets at home has become costly, so sharpening the clipper blades on your own is a prudent idea as getting you pets groomed by a professional may prove very expensive.

Bench grinding wheels for sharpening
You must have seen these grinding wheels when you were a kid as those who sharpened scissors and knives used to keep these grinding wheels on their bicycles and by pedaling their cycle they increased the speed of these wheels and sharpened the scissors by pressing knives and scissors to these moving wheels. These wheels have an abrasive surface and it is possible to have them fixed at any place in your house. The most common substance used to make these grinding wheels is aluminum oxide as it is hard and grinds away blunt material from the clippers and makes them sharp again.

Grinding wheels are available in many grits, which indicates how coarse or fine the material is. By using these grinding wheels, it is very easy to sharpen your clipper blades.

image from istockphoto.com

While I’m away on my imaginary vacation, I’m leaving the pantry stocked with posts from Exit 51 that would have been part of the Flashback Friday series. The following originally appeared on 7/29/09 at Exit 51.

Sharp

We have accumulated an odd assortment of knives here in our kitchen.  Some were wedding gifts.  Others were random purchases.  We’ve even inherited a couple that are probably almost as old as I am.  My grandfather was a meat cutter and every so often some of his A&P work knives would find their way home with him.    After he passed away, two of those work horses found their way to our house.  Funny how that happens.

I wouldn’t say that I have any one favorite knife.  They are all good for different things.  The 10 inch chef’s knife is the only thing I’ll use to cut up sweet potatoes.  But the paring knife is the best tool I have for finely dicing shallots.   Knowing how important it is to take care of your tools, I decided that it was time to have them properly sharpened.  Sure, we have a home sharpener but it’s just not the same.  Somehow, I even managed to knock a chip or two into (or out of) the blade of the 10 incher.  My home sharpener isn’t going to fix that.  No, a professional was definitely in order.

Do you know how hard it is to find someone who sharpens knives?  Even more, do you know how hard it is to find someone who sharpens knives while you wait?  I scoured the internet and there were plenty of service providers but they all involved me sending my knives to them.  I don’t know about you but I tend to use my knives almost daily so shipping them off to Arizona to be sharpened wasn’t really an option.

The topic of knife sharpening comes up fairly regularly on the Washington Post’s Home Chat.  They often recommend Stronsider’s Hardware, which is a lot closer than Arizona.  But when I called to ask about sharpening services, I was told that it takes two to three days to get the knives back.  So in addition to being without a knife, I’d have to make two round trips from Baltimore to Silver Spring.  There had to be a better solution.

And there was - Frank’s Cutlery Service.  Located in a small shop in Baltimore,  Frank does his thing for many restaurants in the area.  He’s got boxes for his commercial customers stacked by his grinding wheel.  Of the dozens of boxes, the one that caught my eye was labeled Andy Nelson.  Yeah, that Andy Nelson.  So I figured that if the folks I trust for my pulled pork bbq trust their knives to Mr. Frank, then I was in pretty good hands.

Depending on where you are, he might be a little out of the way over in Hamilton.  And his shop hours are only Tuesday and Thursday afternoons and it’s advisable to call before you head over just to make sure he’s there.  But seeing him transform my beaten up knives back into precision cutting tools was worth it.  His grinding wheel alone was impressive.  I didn’t ask but it must have been at least two feet in diameter and two inches thick.  Of solid stone.

Best of all, I got to see a skilled craftsman in action.  It was the best $14 dollars I could have spent.

Frank’s Cutlery Service

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