We received Cutco knives as a wedding gift 9 1/2 years ago, and to this day, they have not needed to be sharpened. They get used constantly. I absolutely love them.

But let me tell you what I DON’T love….the hoops you have to jump through to buy them, and the expense. While I think the price is ultimately justified by the quality, it really stinks having to fork over so much money for a knife. I don’t even dare to dream about owning a full set of those bad boys. But what is worse than the price is the fact that Cutco knives are difficult to buy. There is NO option for buying directly online. You MUST contact a local sales rep and work through that person.

And I’ve already explained how ambivalent (at best) I feel about working with direct sales reps. The pressure to buy more always feels like it is there, and that just makes me uncomfortable. And then you get asked to consider hosting a party, which can be tempting because it would be nice to get a hefty discount on your own purchase. But then you’d have to host a party. When all you want to do is buy a knife. Sheesh.

I recently had the opportunity to try out some high quality knives that are very easy to buy and that are much more affordable than Cutco. They are called Shenzhen, and they are ceramic knives. I’d never heard of ceramic knives until learning about this company, but I was really intrigued to try them out.

1. Ceramic knives’ hardness means that the ceramic blade will resist wear and remain sharper than a steel blade.

2. non-stick surface makes the ceramic blade easy to clean.

3. No metallic taste or smell. The ceramic blade will not interact with your food’s taste, as metal can do.

I have used our chef’s knife to cut through butternut squash, and it slices with complete ease. I’ve been very impressed! Right now you can buy a 3 piece ceramic knife set which includes a 6″ ceramic chef’s knife, a 4.8″ ceramic slicing knife and a 3.2″ ceramic paring knife (exactly the knives you need the most when starting a collection), all for $64.98 which includes free shipping. That’s a great price for high quality knives that will go a long time without needing to be

sharpened!

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