The amazing sharpness of this INNOVATION blade gave no variance in resistence incising out some indented blemishes on a raw parsnip despite significant variances in how much was in contact along the blade as I made each incision, yielding a feeling of effortless, precision control that was almost uncanny. Parsnips’ starchiness tends toward flaking with dull blades, but this paring knife kept everything _immaculate_. Likewise, dicing an onion rendered astonishingly little juice and was therefore scarcely at all taxing on my eyes.
It’s actually so sharp that even simple slicing happens so easily and with such consistent pressure that the “classic” rythm of slapping the knife against the cutting board as it clears the vegetable was largely silent because I never needed to exert enough force for clearing the vegetable to send my hand sailing downward with any extra force! Truly amazing sharpness!
One side of the blade has ridges but cleans just as easily as the smooth side. The ridges gave a pleasing subtle tactility to chopping, almost as a way to relish the ease with which it slid through its mark that otherwise might have been so perfectly smooth as to fail to register its passage.
One thing I did notice trying to get this paring knife to double as a utility knife is that it really is best for its purpose: such a short blade gives a sweet spot about 2/3rds toward the tip where the blade is thin enough to incise easily, whereas toward the hilt the back of the blade must thicken quickly to provide strength/stability and therefore catches in its own cuts once they become deep enough to reach the back of the blade. But again, that’s by design: the utility knife (see my review of that) solves this beautifully because of its longer blade.
I found the handle to be extremely comfortable and easy to clean, with a texture that I think will do a good job of providing grip even with slightly oily or wet hands (though I haven’t tested that and for safety reasons am not keen to try).
This was the 1st ceramic knife I ever used, and the sheer degree of sharpness I experienced boggled my mind. Every aspect oozes excellence. Kyocera’s reputation is well-deserved! Bravo!