Discourse on why I love Chinese Cleavers re-post

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I've been eyeing that cleaver for a while. I wonder if its as thin as the 1303. I would hate to pay 100 and it be as thick as a Winco
 
JoeGeorge said:
I'm not familiar with CCK....Who is the manufacturer of CCK? what is the price range?
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Chan Chi Kee here:

http://www.chanchikee.com/ChineseKnives.html

One of the largest/dominant suppliers of 'value' priced kitchen equipment, both commercially and for retail? There is a restaurant supply house in the middle of the main Asian community here is L.A., this place probably has 1000 woks OVER 26" on the showroom floor, and in their clever area there are 2 brands - CCK and Dexter Russell. Interestingly, the DR filled out the "#6" style - the main meat & veggie thin slicer in SS sized about 220x110. All the rest, all the med. and heavy choppers, the duck slicers, etc., were all CCK
 
JoeGeorge said:
I was on a web site the other day and saw a Chinese Cleaver by Pro-Balance and one by Ultra-Chef. Have you used either of these? Which one would you recommend?
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Really? Does no one else see the spam attempt here...
 
Really wish I could have found this when i was first learning to use cleavers - I looked everywhere for info like this. In any case I did learn how to use it and forgot I had any other knives. It really surprised me how easy it is to perform very delicate work with it - to date I've supreme'd oranges, used it as a zester (mostly for the sake of doing so), peeled root vegetables, and have been trying to practice katsura-muki with it...and mine is just a $7 punched out piece of carbon steel I got from wokshop.com. I'm actually surprised I didn't see these brought up before now, I've always seen them recommended as a trial cleaver in threads like this.
 
I would love to hear Andy's assessment of Zhen knives -- in particular, their Chinese Cleavers, especially the Damascus.

About 15 months ago I purchased the Zhen Damascus slicer. I'm pretty happy with it, but I have never owned one of the premium Japanese-made Chinese cleavers, so I don't have a good basis to compare. My own view is: (1) I really like the ergonomics, including the balance and shape of the handle, which is unusual; (2) I think it's a good value -- about $130; but (3) I don't think the metallurgy is up to first-rate Japanese standards; (4) it's very light for its size -- perhaps a bit too light -- to the point where I feel it may be fragile.

I reviewed the knife on Amazon, in 2012, after I bought it: http://www.amazon.com/ZHEN-Japanese-67-Layer-Damascus-Chopping/dp/B00E0EF9CQ
 
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I was walking by a kitchen outfit shop not too far from my place to see what kind of cheap knives they had. There was some normal expected junk, and I didn't come across any CCKs or the like, but I did find a few Chinese knives that were better than expected. One, a 永利 (Yong Li) branded one caught my eye with "V特" (http://www.e-tokko.com/vspe_1_2.htm) blade sandwiched in stainless cladding. No idea how the heat treat is, but it's not a super alloy and should be relatively simple to harden/temper like Hitachi blue series. Still, I don't randomly buy knives because they're made of interesting steel. Of all the knives at the shop, this one was the best in terms of grind geometry. It's not a big cleaver; I opted for the smallest they had, which has a length of just over 20cm. Still, the spine at the tip is a bit over 1mm, and it seems to have a pretty fine edge...much finer than my Maestro Wu cleaver. No idea how it compares to CCK or Sugimoto or any other, but I was pretty impressed for the price (US$23). Only problem seems to be that there's more belly than I'm used to.

Didn't have time for good pics, but hope these can convey how it looks:
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WZ459vO.jpg
 
That cleaver looks pretty darn good, and for the price, it looks fantastic.
I don't think that the belly looks bad, but for the price you can afford to experiment with shaping it and not worry too much.

I'm sure people would be interested to hear your thoughts on it after some use and experimentation.
 
$23 for stainless-clad V2 and what looks like a nice grind?. That's an incredible bargain.
 
Nice looking Cleaver XooMG.Never had much luck wt. stainless chinese cleavers,stuck to carbons.It would be good to find a nice stainless.I buy all my cleavers in chinatown here,large selection.I think I will check to see if they carry the Yong Li clad blade.

For some things it is a advantage to live in Taiwan
 
Hi, I'm a pizza maker, I'm so busy in the prep, and my old ZWILLING satoku Motion needs to be sharped each time who I chop vegetables with a hard skin. I'm looking for a new knife and a new steel\stone sharpener. I could buy a victorinox fibrox 8 inches for less than 30 ponds (now I'm working in UK) but I like too the cleaver knife.

1st dilemma) :eyebrow:I don't know is a cleaver knife is better than a classic european cook knife about these 3 topics:
1a) slow chopping of high stuff with very hard skin; for example, if with a cleaver I chop aubergines (who maybe there are high more than 5 cm) could the weight be a problem?
1b) fast chopping of high stuff; for example, if with a cleaver I chop mushrooms in a fast way, isn't it like hit a hummer on the chopping board?
1c) cut long stuff, like the cylinders of fiordilatte (a kind of mozzarella with less liquid) who are long 20cm

2nd dilemma) :scratchhead:
I live in Europe, and I can spend less than 70 pounds for cleaver knife + sharper stone. what could I buy?

thank you, and I'm sorry if there are any mistake, my English is not perfect :thumbsup:
 
i think jck has some options that may be in you price range.http://japanesechefsknife.com
im not quite sure what youre trying to say exactly, but i find cleavers to be good all around prep knives and can handle veg prep of all sizes and shapes. there is an adjustment period going from using a chef knife to cleaver but i wouldnt worry too much about it.
 
Assuming you get a fairly thin-beveled cleaver and keep it sharp, you shouldn't have any problems using a cleaver on the products you mentioned. With all that steel to work with, it's easy to assume that the cleaver works as a full bore chopping machine. But the truth is, they are capable of a lot of finesse.
 
thank you for the advices.

but I have to find a "cleaver knife + sharper stone" not too much expensive in Europe. what could I buy?
 
Anyone have experience with the F.Dick "Red Spirit" Chinese style cleavers? One light slicer and one slightly heavier chopper. From some company called "Mad Cow" that I don't know anything about.
 
I have an old stainless Chinese cleaver with a metal handle that I bought in Chinatown in San Francisco in 1977 with my carbon steel woks. It holds a great edge and I can make the thinnest slices on a tomato with this cleaver. The blade is 9 inch by 4 inch and weighs 16.5 oz. I can do almost anything with this cleaver when it comes to slicing,chopping and mincing.
 
Cleavers get sharper than any of my knives I don't know why?
 
I don't know the brand but it looks like a lot of the lower end cleavers in China. The one piece all metal knives are not as common as the various wood handle models but you do see a fair number of them in the markets. I was recently in a Wal-Mart type business in Chengdu looking at their cutlery election. It was kind of like looking at the display here only ever model was a cleaver. Flashy stainless steel blades and fancy synthetic handles of various materials. Prices were mostly in the $10-$15 U.S. range which is high in that part of the world.
 
Oops, I found my way back here it seems. And I have been converted to the church of Cleaver. The chinese one that Josh (brainsausage) sent me ages ago has been lovingly used and sharpened. I use it for everything except for bread (although it can do that as well). Onions making people cry doesn't make any sense to me anymore. It feels like everyone has been lying to me. I can't believe my cooking class teacher advised us to use a cheese slicer for making thin cuts of cucumber! She also had other bits of wisdom like serrated blades being essential for cutting tomatoes. Or "you need a small knife in order to make precise cuts". Lies. Lies, all of them! My cleaver is more handsome than your tiny serrated knife.

But my question is this: Is a cleaver good for preparing fish? I know how to filet a fish, but that is using a "normal" western fillet knife. I haven't yet put the cleaver to the test, but now that summer is coming and the amount and selection of fish increases, I have the perfect chance to try it out. I am kind of in a way maybe planning to buy a knife entirely for fish... but don't mention that to the cleaver.
luko said:
thank you for the advices.

but I have to find a "cleaver knife + sharper stone" not too much expensive in Europe. what could I buy?
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I can't help you with the cleaver, but I ordered my 1000/6000 whetstone from here: http://www.fine-tools.com/kombischleifstein.html Fast shipping and friendly service, no complaints. The prices have risen a little since I placed my order, but I don't think they are too steep.
 
birdeye said:
Oops, I found my way back here it seems. And I have been converted to the church of Cleaver. The chinese one that Josh (brainsausage) sent me ages ago has been lovingly used and sharpened. I use it for everything except for bread (although it can do that as well). Onions making people cry doesn't make any sense to me anymore. It feels like everyone has been lying to me. I can't believe my cooking class teacher advised us to use a cheese slicer for making thin cuts of cucumber! She also had other bits of wisdom like serrated blades being essential for cutting tomatoes. Or "you need a small knife in order to make precise cuts". Lies. Lies, all of them! My cleaver is more handsome than your tiny serrated knife.

But my question is this: Is a cleaver good for preparing fish? I know how to filet a fish, but that is using a "normal" western fillet knife. I haven't yet put the cleaver to the test, but now that summer is coming and the amount and selection of fish increases, I have the perfect chance to try it out. I am kind of in a way maybe planning to buy a knife entirely for fish... but don't mention that to the cleaver.


I can't help you with the cleaver, but I ordered my 1000/6000 whetstone from here: http://www.fine-tools.com/kombischleifstein.html Fast shipping and friendly service, no complaints. The prices have risen a little since I placed my order, but I don't think they are too steep.
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Woah, I was just thinking about this the other day and wondering how you'd got along with the old girl. Glad it worked out for you:doublethumbsup:
 
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