Yoshiblade™ Ceramic Knife

[Note:  This is not a paid post.  The opinions expressed with respect to this product are mine based on my personal experience.]

I mentioned earlier that while our house was on the market and before moving that I pared down any food spending to the bare minimum, eating from the pantry and freezers rather than buying food.  The money that would have been spent on food was tucked away to re-stock after our move.  Some of that money is being used to buy a few cooking goodies.  I have really lucked out between Home Hardware and Canadian Tire, both of which have been running sales on kitchen items of up to 70% off!  The next couple of posts will share those great finds.

A few days ago, I had to take one of our vehicles to Canadian Tire for an emission test so did a bit of shopping while I waited.  One of my purchases was a Yoshiblade™ ceramic knife with bonus ceramic vegetable peeler and protective cover.  There are warnings to keep the protective cover on the knife when not in use and to use extreme caution as the knife is very sharp. 

I've seen these knives before but would never pay full price for one simply because I have good knives to begin with.  The Yoshiblade is made of natural eco-friendly ceramic materials that stay sharp 10x longer than stainless steel blades.  It won't rust or peel but then good quality stainless steel won't either.  The santoku design is ideal for precision cutting and thin slicing but is not designed for chopping.  I have to tell you when I first saw these knives on television, I was skeptical.  The price has gone down considerably since they were first introduced.  They can be purchased for about $20 regular price but Canadian Tire had them on for $8.73 so I bought one.

The blade really does not look like it would cut anything but don't let that fool you.  I was pleasantly surprised at how well the Yoshiblade™ performs.  It cut through Ciabatta bread nicely creating thin, even slices without a problem.  I was able to slice a potato very thinly, suitable for potato chips and it sliced through a tomato with ease.  As a specialty slicing knife, the Yoshiblade™ performs much better than expected.  The knife has a nice handle feel, fitting my hand perfectly but substantial enough to fit my husband's larger hands nicely as well.  The Yoshiblade™ is a nice addition to our chef's knives.  It will be great for cutting a few thin slices of meats, vegetables and breads without getting out the food processor or KitchenAid attachments and it is a bit more versatile than the mandolin or box grater. 

The bonus vegetable peeler is just that, a bonus and one that will not see much use.  I have a nice commercial grade stainless steel vegetable peeler but I have to be honest in that I don't peel fruits or vegetables unless absolutely necessary.  I basically use a vegetable peeler for carrots, parsnips, potatoes that will be home canned and apples for apple pie filling.  That's about it.  The reason being, removing the peel lowers both nutrients and fiber.  Even apples that are being made into applesauce are cooked with skins on to extract the nutrients and natural pectin that helps to thicken the sauce then they are put though the KitchenAid food strainer attachment.  I simply use a knife to remove the skins of melons, squashes, and some varieties of cucumbers.

In my opinion, there are two problems with the Yoshiblade™.  First, the blade itself is rather short at 4½ - inches long, a good ½ - inch shorter than my smallest serrated knife that slices nicely as well.  The second problem is the blade almost looks like a white plastic.  Our kids and now are grandkids have been taught knife safety but my fear is with the blade looking like plastic, younger kids may think it is a toy knife unlikely to harm.  For that reason, this knife like my heavy cleaver will be stored well out of reach of younger kids.  The grandkids know they are not to touch the knives in the knife block and only the forks and spoons in the cutlery drawer but I'd rather be safe than sorry.