Nakiri and Cleaver Question

Is there a lot of carryover between fans of the nakiri and Chinese cleaver?

Are you a fan of one, not the other, both, etc?

I have only used a couple nakiri and know I'm not much of a fan of them aside from aesthetics. However, I am interested in trying some Chinese cleavers. I'm not sure I would like the raised edges you see in a lot of "choppers" and worried I would find the "slicers" more like tall nakiri.

Just looking for some input and discussion.

I tend to think they are somewhat different beasts

Definitely different beasts...I prefer a full size cleaver. With a nakiri, it always seems like someone cut off half my knife. A full size cleaver seems like a chef's knife in that it can do it all.

I love my TF 195 nakiri. I too felt nakiris were too short. This one is just right with great blade height.

Different for me, I find nakiri's too light. I can't use the weight of the blade like a cleaver.

turbochef422 said:

I love my TF 195 nakiri. I too felt nakiris were too short. This one is just right with great blade height.

Click to expand...

What's the height?

I love chopping with a good nakiri. With a little practice they're pretty versatile. The Fujiwara and a couple others are on my to do list actually. Love my carbon Konosuke. A lot of people made the simple mistake of trying a cheap nakiri. They never leave a good impression.

I'm interested in adding a carbon cleaver to my arsenal (possibly stainless clad). Haven't figured out which one is for me yet but there's lots of time for that.

I like both types. For me a cleaver is a chopper and a nakiri is a slicer. Cleavers tend to have weight/thickness for chopping and nakiris are thin and light.