Discourse on why I love Chinese Cleavers re-post

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WOW that really makes me wanan try and make one. Never seen someone cook with one but that just makes me wanna do it even more! lol
 
Sounds like Bishop needs to see Chen work on ICJ!
And welcome to the Knut House!
 
When I first saw one I was like thats way too big to be useful but after seeing a few youtube videos it makes sense.
 
Try one, I DARE you!!! When used properly they are the closest thing to an all-pupose knife IMHO.

Hax the Cook CLEAVERS RULE!!! :D
 
mpukas said:
No thread about cleavers is complete without a clip of Martin Yan. :biggrin:

[video=youtube;5-UUWWig-pU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-UUWWig-pU&feature=channel[/video]
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he is really good friends with one of my old chefs Bill Sy. one day they decided to see who could bone out a whole chicken with the cleaver the fastest. Martin won with 10 seconds and chef lost with 12 seconds. it was an amazing thing to watch.
 
i love martin yan, great television personality, would love to see more of him!
 
sachem allison said:
he is really good friends with one of my old chefs Bill Sy. one day they decided to see who could bone out a whole chicken with the cleaver the fastest. Martin won with 10 seconds and chef lost with 12 seconds. it was an amazing thing to watch.
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Wow that's fast! But honestly, how is the quality of the peices when they are cut up so fast? Is there much waste?
 
The owner of the BBQ restaurant that I work at spent two days cooking besides Martin Yan at the university he went to in Montana. Said he was really nice and funny around people and media but once in the kitchen alone with him he was a hellbender.

Also, I am in love with my andy777 rehandled Takeda Large. Kicks ass. I havent been picking up the guyoto or paring knife much even.
 
I think I just heard my old Dexter whimper a little... LOL
I've wanted to upgrade that to a Sugimoto for the longest but every time I decide to spend more it goes on something different. I used to buy lots of Dexters around ten bucks apiece and pass them out to my cooks. I've had a cleaver in my kit for years.

Dave
 
Duckfat said:
I think I just heard my old Dexter whimper a little... LOL
I've wanted to upgrade that to a Sugimoto for the longest but every time I decide to spend more it goes on something different. I used to buy lots of Dexters around ten bucks apiece and pass them out to my cooks. I've had a cleaver in my kit for years.

Dave
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I actually started with a dexter cleaver and a disposable paring knife as my only knives for well over 30 years. Still have that dexter too though Dave turned it into what I would describe as a duck knife or a Nakiri on steroids.
 
I was first introduced to Chukabochos with a Dexter cleaver in 1980 by a CIA instructor named Joe Amendola. It was all-carbon, cost $25.00, and gave me pause regarding my high-end set of Chro-Mo-Vanadium Wusthofs. I have been using a cleaver as a line knife ever since! While I am elated with my Saji Damascus claver that i just bought, I cannot say with a straight face that it works 14 times better than a Dexter I could get for $50.00 on Ebay. It does have a more durable scary-sharp edge than anything I have ever used; I suspect this is an effect of the hand-forging and heat treating but that is only conjecture. I believe the superior design viv-a'-vis the long, gradual taper on the tall blade pecipitates superior performance with average steel and outstanding with high-end versions. You constantly hear about someone using a cleaver and then using it to the exclusion of their other knives; this should tell you someting about this type of knife. (See below!)

Hax the Cook CLEAVERS RULE!!! :D
 
joec said:
I actually started with a dexter cleaver and a disposable paring knife as my only knives for well over 30 years. Still have that dexter too though Dave turned it into what I would describe as a duck knife or a Nakiri on steroids.
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Joe is there any chance you could post a photo of that? It sounds awesome!

Dave
 
I'm glad you have fully embraced the dark side. I have a Tadatsuna, the carbon version and love it. I know we've discussed your stainless Tadatsuna before. I'd like to hear more about it though. I can't remember, have you posted pics of it before? What are you waiting for???
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Here are some pics of the Tadatsuna INOX. It took me a while :O. Sorry for the quality though. I took some other photos that I´m uploading as well.

Regards

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/36/tadatsunainox001.jpg/
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/256/tadatsunainox002.jpg/
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/163/tadatsuna003.jpg/
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/715/tadatsunainoxspine.jpg/
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/839/cleavers.jpg/
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/526/mizunostainless.jpg/
 
I guess I've got a closet cheap cleaver fetish.

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Top is my newest addition F/ Pacific Ocean Marketplace
CCK 1301 f/ Mark
Cheap bone bone chopper f/ POM
Cheap Little Cook cleaver f/ POM
Henkles bone chopper I've had from my Mom for years and years...
 
My latest aquisition f/ Pacific Ocean Marketplace in Broomfield, CO - stain free high carbon cleaver for $17.99. This was a new shipment they got in, and surprisingly some of the better cleavers I've seen there. They also had a couple of other versions w/ different wood handles and different steels, but the steel was not described. They were $18.99 & $19.99. I got this one because of the stain free high carbon marking on the blade. Who knows what it is???

Surprisingly good cleaver. I really like the size in it's proportion of length to height. I like the size and proportion better than the 1301. This one was one of the straighter ones I found. The other models seemed to be staighter from the handle to the blade and better fit of the bolster. All in all, I've seen much worse on knives more expensive. There isn't much of an edge to speak of - there's a small edge bevel that's probably about 30d per side, Still it was sharp enough to cut a couple of arm hairs and chop some onions, garlic, peppers for a quick veggie stir fry.

Quite a bit of curve to the edge, with no flat areas. No taper at all. When I first looked at it, I thought it had just a flat grind f/ spine to edge. But surprisingly again, there's a large bevel ground into the face about 1/2 down from the spine to edge. The secopndary bevel on each side isn't symetrical though. I plan on thinning it trying to match the existing bevels but equalling them out on each side, and put a new primary bevel on it, and maybe flatten the edge geometry a bit. Practice project knife! mpp

(not sure why but some of the photos came in f/ photobucket rotated)
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For the last 2-3 months, I don't know what a gyuto is anymore. I have been using my Suien VC cleaver and Moritaka double bevel kiritsuke for most of what I use a gyuto for. The Suien is used for heavy duty veggie chopping and cutting of meats, even chopping up chicken/bones and the like. The Kiritsuke is used for more fine controlled push cutting. Mainly, I have been using the cleaver because most of my cooking has been Asian styled. I really like it. Also, I am quickly becoming a fan of carbon, and especially AS blue. Man, the sharpness of this steel lasts a long time.
 
chazmtb said:
For the last 2-3 months, I don't know what a gyuto is anymore. I have been using my Suien VC cleaver and Moritaka double bevel kiritsuke for most of what I use a gyuto for. The Suien is used for heavy duty veggie chopping and cutting of meats, even chopping up chicken/bones and the like. The Kiritsuke is used for more fine controlled push cutting. Mainly, I have been using the cleaver because most of my cooking has been Asian styled. I really like it. Also, I am quickly becoming a fan of carbon, and especially AS blue. Man, the sharpness of this steel lasts a long time.
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I also got the Suien cleaver a few months ago and have been loving it. It has not been babied and takes a pretty good patina. Overall I think my general knife skills have increased as a result of using a cleaver.

Here is a pic of mine, of course it had to get some new shoes.

IMG_1631.jpg
 
Yeah, it's a great store (btw, it's Broomfield, CO). One of the biggest and better asian grocery stores in CO. There's one in Denver too, off of Federal Street, but I think this one is better. I would have liked to have snagged one of each of cleavers just to compare, but as cheap as they were, I gotta draw the line somewhere these days...
 
I ment Broomfield, not sure why I said bloomfield. From what I read about that store it is the best one in the area.
 
I hope this is the right thread to post in. I'm looking to get myself a chinese cleaver and would like to go out and see how the knife feels in my hand before buying, as I've never had one before. My problem is that there are not that many manufacturers with a chinese cleaver model that are available in my country (Finland). A Japanese import store in Helsinki carries MAC, and I have heard people buying Victorinox so I assume some stores are carrying it as well. (If you happen to know of others, by all means let me know) I have understood these two are not the best possible options out there... but they seem to be the only ones. Or would it work if I tried either of these to get a feel for the type and then proceeded to order a cleaver online? :scratchhead: I am a complete noob though, so I don't know the differences between different makers' knives. Do you have any advice?
 
birdeye said:
I hope this is the right thread to post in. I'm looking to get myself a chinese cleaver and would like to go out and see how the knife feels in my hand before buying, as I've never had one before. My problem is that there are not that many manufacturers with a chinese cleaver model that are available in my country (Finland). A Japanese import store in Helsinki carries MAC, and I have heard people buying Victorinox so I assume some stores are carrying it as well. (If you happen to know of others, by all means let me know) I have understood these two are not the best possible options out there... but they seem to be the only ones. Or would it work if I tried either of these to get a feel for the type and then proceeded to order a cleaver online? :scratchhead: I am a complete noob though, so I don't know the differences between different makers' knives. Do you have any advice?
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Boy, thats a tough one. Many here never have the opportunity to try, or see it before we buy and often buy based off reccomendations here. I am going to go out on a limb and say there is no China town in Finland. I guess i would buy a cheap CCK to get a feel for it, then base future purchases of what you like and dislike about it.

Victorinox does have a chinese cleaver, but i have never seen a MAC cleaver.
 
Yep no Chinatown, only small import stores in some cities and those usually have foodstuffs only.

I found the MAC cleaver from a PDF info sheet (in Finnish) that was on the import store's site. It's number 120, labeled as "chinese cleaving knife": http://www.tokyokan.fi/mac_veitsiesite_netti.pdf
It has been there for a while though, I don't know how up-to date the information is.

I have been looking at the CCK cleavers, but they seem to be always out of stock. The only place I know of is chef knives to go, are there other suppliers that ship to Europe? Better yet would be a supplier within EU, but I have a feeling that's more wishful thinking than a reality.
 
Is there a difference in metal quality between the CCK and the Dexter cleavers?
 
MAC is out, there is no sight of a chinese cleaver on the import store's website. Victorinox is actually attainable, I'll have to get it online but at least I can get one. CCK is possible but the shipping fees are as much as the price of the knife, plus there is a disclaimer on the site that if the knife gets damaged in any way they cannot be held responsible.
I tried hunting down Dexter but it's only sold in North America it seems. Their official site doesn't list any suppliers in Europe, but I may have been looking at the wrong place. Amazon.com sells it, but they won't ship internationally except for a selected few categories and knives are not among them. The European amazon sites (.uk and .de) didn't have it.

The simplest solution seems to be moving to the US. :scratchhead: I didn't think Europe would ever seem so limited.

Is the Victorinox cleaver worth the 60€ the store is charging for it? There are also Wusthof cleavers on the internet at the same price. I haven't heard much of them though, for better or worse.

What do you think of this one? It's cheap and stainless, but what else? It says Japanese steel (日本鋼) on the blade, whatever that means. But it's cheap. :p
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B004PZ5E2U/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20
 
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I would just order something from Koki at www.japanesechefsknife.com, you will get something waaaay better than the Victorinox or Wusthof for not a ton more money.

There are several "less" expensive cleavers on this page http://www.japanesechefsknife.com/ChineseCleaver.html, while I haven't personally used those cheaper ones at the top I feel pretty confident in saying they would blow a Victorinox out of the water.
 
Andy777 said:
I would just order something from Koki at www.japanesechefsknife.com
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+1

I have bought stuff from him a couple of times from Europe (Spain) and I can´t recommend him enough. It´s always been superfast, with extremely cheap shipping fees and with no extra charges at customs. Really easy. Koki´s also always been very kind and helpful.
 
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