First CCK Cleaver - large vs small

Hey guys,

It's that time of year! A friend of mine is visiting Hong Kong and she'd like to bring me back a knife or two. I've been having trouble locating sources in China (HK) for the Japanese cutlery I'm currently after. To make things easier on her (& my wallet) I'd like a classic cleaver from the Chan Chi Kee store, cause hey, why not?

This will be my first cleaver, and I'm definitely going carbon steel. This will be a vegetable cleaver.

I'm leaning towards the CCK 1303 which is on the small side.

I'd like to know if anyone uses the CCK 1102 and has a choil shot?

My main question remains though. Is it best to start small?

Cheers

Not a great shot, but see if this helps. I believe it looks thinner in person.



I didn't care so much for the dead flat tip and heel so I relieved them a bit.



Anyway, it's thin...weighs in at 363g.

As to what to start with, pretty much personal. I have a few different shapes and sizes of cleavers but as long as it's not too heavy I don's see a problem learning on a big boy. I always felt like nakiris are too small so full size cleaver seems fine:laugh:

Thanks for the shots Cat!

That's about an 85g difference. You're right on the money though, it's personally preference. Too bad I couldn't handle both first. I'm going to try the 1303, I think it's well suited for me. I'm confident it has enough weight to perform well without straining my wrist.

I have had the 1303 and the 1301. Don't remember which was which. The larger of the two handled awkwardly for me. The smaller was much better suited. Eventually settled on a Suein (sp?) as my keeper veg cleaver.

Maybe yr friend could inquire about availability of a saya while she's at the store?

The 1303 is a good first cleaver. No hard stuff or it will chip. You should check out the price in Hong Kong. They have more than doubled in price since I first bought CCK veg cleaver. They are still reasonable in Chinatown here about 45.00.

If you can get them for that or cheaper in Hong Kong might consider a medium cleaver too. I used the KF1922 Caidao quite a bit, very capable blade for the harder stuff like smaller bones, lobster etc.

The KF 1102 I have never used seems to be a larger heavier vegetable cleaver.

Yeah Japanese knives are almost non existent in Hk besides the odd masamoto and shuns. I say buy both if they can carry it (really hard to say if you like big or small until you try it). I have been to the store many times and the price there is quite reasonable. Can your friend speak Cantonese? You can just ask the old guy behind the counter ( no idea if he can speak English). He might be able to tell you what's better I guess

I tried looking for J-knives in HK, and it was a waste of time. This was ten years ago though, but I doesn't seem super likely to me that things have changed significantly...

I recently purchased a 1303 and love it. Prior, I had a larger #6 that was a fantastic cutter, but just too large for me to handle comfortably. I'll probably revisit a larger cleaver someday(regrettably just sold it) when I improve my knife skills. To answer your question, I'd start with the smaller size.

In my experience, I tend to usually like the middle size, in this case the 1302, of each CCK cleaver pattern best. But I have a 1303 and it is a very useful veg cleaver.

Appreciate everyone's replies. That's added comfort Matt, I think my preference will be similar.

Good idea Dave! I mentioned the saya to her, hopefully they stock these.

I thought about buying two Keith! I bet the prices will be very reasonable. I just scored some honduran rosewood burl though so I'm going to hold back for my wallet's sake. Besides, I think my second cleaver should be a chopper rather than a slicer. Reasonable suggestion though!

To whom was wondering, she is fluent in Cantonese. I was under the impression Masamoto was one of the only Japanese brands that were readily available, thus why I'm going with the CCK. I did ask her to watch for a KS gyuto but no stress!