Buy WINCO Chinese Cleaver with Stainless Steel Handle Set of 6

CUSTOMER REVIEW



Contra an earlier one star review, I give five stars. The earlier one-star reviewer was apparently unaware of the differences in the various kinds of Chinese "cleavers" and was expecting this knife to be suitable for a job for which it was never intended.



Chinese cleavers come in at least two varieties* which include one for slicing, dicing and general kitchen work (sometimes called a vegetable cleaver) and one for heavier work up to and including hacking through dense pork and beef bones (which would be the meat cleaver.) The principles differences are in thickness and taper of the blade as well as weight. The vegetable cleavers will have a thinner blade and a much more gradual taper to a fine edge. The meat cleavers which are designed to hack through bone will be thicker and have less taper and a much less fine edge that can stand up to heavy work.



These generic metal handled Chinese cleavers are more properly thought of as a Chinese knife. Properly sharpened, they will shave the hair off your arm. They are still quite heavy duty when compared to the typical kitchen knife, but in practiced hands are capable of the most amazing and delicate work. I've had mine for years, and if I had to be limited to one knife to use for everything from slicing and dicing to smashing garlic to boning chicken to scraping pastry dough, this (style of) knife would be it.



*I say "at least two" because there are in fact more when you get into specialized uses. For example, there's the duck cleaver (with a less tall blade that is longer and thinner and used for delicate slicing of crispy duck and other fowl) and more besides. Having married into a Chinese family (natives of Hong Kong) who ran a Chinese restaurant, I know more about authentic Chinese cooking (which is not what you get in the typical Chinese restaurant with a menu that has been "Americanized" to suit American tastes) and kitchen utensils/cutlery than I ever thought possible.