Discourse on why I love Chinese Cleavers re-post

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purplemutant said:
I just came across this video on Chinese culinary knife skills. It shows some really impressive cleaver skills as well as footage of the cleavers being made.
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So that's where the idea for the Turducken came from? :laugh:


Just wanted to say thanks for this great thread! I'm currently waiting for my CCK 1303 to arrive after seeing what macmiddlebrooks did with his here :ubersexy:
I've only just been getting into cooking and slowly working on my knife skills off and on over the last 8 months (admittedly, more off then on), and I've never used a chinese cleaver, so finding this thread has been very useful :thumbsup:
 
kavik79 said:
So that's where the idea for the Turducken came from? :laugh:


Just wanted to say thanks for this great thread! I'm currently waiting for my CCK 1303 to arrive after seeing what macmiddlebrooks did with his here :ubersexy:
I've only just been getting into cooking and slowly working on my knife skills off and on over the last 8 months (admittedly, more off then on), and I've never used a chinese cleaver, so finding this thread has been very useful :thumbsup:
Click to expand...

Yea it was pretty impressive to see the guy debone the birds and stuff them into each other. Chinese cleavers are pretty awesome. I am amazed at what you can do with them. Since I got mine I haven't bothered with the Zwilling J.A. Henckels chefs knife. For me the cleaver works much better than any other knife I have used. At some point I want to get another cleaver (or 10 :laugh:). I think my next purchase may be a CCK. Since I live in the bay area, I may just swing over to SF China town to see what they have there. In addition to a CCK it might be worth getting some cheaper to let people use. Just in case someone missuses it. It would suck if someone took a chip out of a nice CCK. Thankfully no one has abused my Dexter Russel cleaver.
 
A few months ago I picked up a cheap metal handled Shibazi cleaver at my local 99 Ranch Market store. The Discover Chinese Cuisine video I posted on this thread shows some footage from the Shibazi factory. The first bit of footage showing the stamped blades and handle grinding are the knife I picked up. So I am really impressed with this knife for the price. If I remember right it was $10 or there abouts. I think this would make a good travel knife. Given the price I wouldn't be that worried if something happened to it. I am thinking of making a leather sheath for it to facilitate traveling with it. I think my next cleaver will be a nice CCK. Here some pictures of the Shibazi.

Box

24893523742_fc01b96310_b.jpg


On the cutting board with some freshly cut tomato

24643938269_749fc37dd2_b.jpg


Next to my Dexter Russell

25011560385_bd221c2be3_b.jpg
 
I'm building a custom knife block that just holds cleavers. That takes care of home storage.

How do you guys transport cleavers? I have an ultimate edge knife bag, but a cleaver takes up like a whole pocket blocking out many knives. AFAIK it's the only bag that would even fit cleavers. Any others out there?
 
XooMG said:
I wish makers were a bit more transparent about their stuff sometimes, but it can be fun to find crude but potentially excellent cleavers.

I was picking up another knife when I saw this sucker in a cardboard sleeve. Rough finish (think angle grinder scratches) and "pure carbon steel" label with no hardness indication. Still, less than US$15 for the thing, and it seems pretty thin with decent geometry:

ruHu74f.jpg


0HzUStd.jpg
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Hi Berko, this one is my veggie cleaver. Pretty thin with only little belly, about 0.8mm at 1cm. Sorry for being late and on the wrong forum.

XooMG, thank you for posting.
 
I have one of those (left) though not with Shabazi branding. Comes out about 2x per year. So nice to have when you don't want to mess up a good knife. I hacked apart a frozen block of squid with it this week and was surprised afterward when there was no rolling to the edge. Really good value.

purplemutant said:
A few months ago I picked up a cheap metal handled Shibazi cleaver at my local 99 Ranch Market store. The Discover Chinese Cuisine video I posted on this thread shows some footage from the Shibazi factory. The first bit of footage showing the stamped blades and handle grinding are the knife I picked up. So I am really impressed with this knife for the price. If I remember right it was $10 or there abouts. I think this would make a good travel knife. Given the price I wouldn't be that worried if something happened to it. I am thinking of making a leather sheath for it to facilitate traveling with it. I think my next cleaver will be a nice CCK. Here some pictures of the Shibazi.

Box

24893523742_fc01b96310_b.jpg


On the cutting board with some freshly cut tomato

24643938269_749fc37dd2_b.jpg


Next to my Dexter Russell

25011560385_bd221c2be3_b.jpg
Click to expand...
 
IndoorOutdoorCook said:
I'm building a custom knife block that just holds cleavers. That takes care of home storage.

How do you guys transport cleavers? I have an ultimate edge knife bag, but a cleaver takes up like a whole pocket blocking out many knives. AFAIK it's the only bag that would even fit cleavers. Any others out there?
Click to expand...

At work had a drawer at my workstation Cardboard saya. At home have a mag bloc dedicated to cleavers.
 
Hey there, new here. I’m kinda looking into trying out a Chinese-style kitchen knife. Just a hobbyist…so not looking to spend a lot.

Held the Zwilling Henckels Twin Signature/Pollux and the Pro Chinese kitchen knife in my hands recently. I kinda like the looks of the Twin Signature handle (other than the logo), much more than those of other Chinese chef’s knives. I can get it for ~50 USD here in Germany.

The Pro costs about twice as much as the Twin Signature. It’s also very noticeably heavier than the Twin Signature…which is what my main question is about.

How heavy should a Chinese chef’s knife be? I’d be mainly using it for cutting vegetables etc. The Twin Signature weighs 532 g according to Zwilling’s website. Dunno how much of that’s in the handle. The weight of the Pro isn’t listed.
 
finch said:
Hey there, new here. I’m kinda looking into trying out a Chinese-style kitchen knife. Just a hobbyist…so not looking to spend a lot.

Held the Zwilling Henckels Twin Signature/Pollux and the Pro Chinese kitchen knife in my hands recently. I kinda like the looks of the Twin Signature handle (other than the logo), much more than those of other Chinese chef’s knives. I can get it for ~50 USD here in Germany.

The Pro costs about twice as much as the Twin Signature. It’s also very noticeably heavier than the Twin Signature…which is what my main question is about.

How heavy should a Chinese chef’s knife be? I’d be mainly using it for cutting vegetables etc. The Twin Signature weighs 532 g according to Zwilling’s website. Dunno how much of that’s in the handle. The weight of the Pro isn’t listed.
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I don't think there's a rule, much like there isn't one with other types of knives. Some like their Gyutos super light, others want some heft. Some want it in the handle, others in the blade. I would say: if you can, try different ones. You will find out pretty fast what you like and what you don't like...

Viel Erfolg, und viel Spaß. Der Weg ist das Ziel [emoji6]
 
I have a small slicing cleaver that's 184g, but most normal Chinese ones I've used are 300-400g, though "all-purpose" models can be chunkier. Bigger Japanese versions are also heavier and often have denser handles pinned on bigger tangs.
 
Hey, thanks for the answers. I was a bit worried that it’d be uncharacteristically light. Guess I’ll just have to try things out.
 
You don't have to worry about uncharacteristically light when it's 532g.

I'd avoid it for being too heavy. YMMV.
 
Funnily, Amazon lists it at 358 g :scratchhead: which seems more likely – it didn’t really feel exceedingly heavy.

I had just been wondering because their other Chinese knife felt so much heavier.
 
That's a much more reasonable weight. 532g might be the shipping weight (knife + packaging, possibly even a volumetric weight equivalent). I'd still avoid it because of the handle, but again YMMV.

My main Chinese knife is 325g.
 
Is that because you don’t like the handle visually or is there something about the shape/length that impairs common ways of using such a knife?
 
"Ergonomic" handles are usually only ergonomic for a single grip - that is, holding the knife in a particular way with it in a particular spot in the hand. These can be uncomfortable/awkward to hold in different grips. With the usual straight round Chinese handle, the knife would sit with my bottom three fingers and base of the thumb pretty much the same way around the handle, from having the butt of the handle against the heel of my palm if I want to push hard along the handle for some reason (not that I'm likely to want to do that), with 4 fingers on the grip ("normal" grip, like I'd be forced to hold most "ergonomic" handles), through to pinch grip (which I certainly want to be able to use comfortably).

The gentle barrel shape (rather than completely straight cylindrical) doesn't interfere with this flexibility of grip, nor does the gentle taper on a typical Japanese handle. Also, I prefer rounded handles rather than handles with corners (so I'd choose a D-handle or oval handle (or Chinese handle) over an octagonal handle). I think my knives reflect my handle preferences:
http://www.kitchenknifeforums.com/showthread.php/23289-Currently-in-the-kitchen

I don't particularly like it visually, but I'd forgive that if I like it functionally. I'd probably like it visually if I liked it functionally.
 
Thanks for your input, I’ll keep it in mind when I try knives.
 
Great and informative thread!

It seems to me that the Japanese Chinese Cleavers (for example Suien or Gesshin Ginga) often have a little more belly than the original Chinese (CCK). What difference does that make and are people favouring one or the other?
 
in china ，the cooking chef only one knife（chinese cleaver）！they use it do everything！chopping slicing .......it is a multipurpose knife！
 
katana110 said:
in china ，the cooking chef only one knife（chinese cleaver）！they use it do everything！chopping slicing .......it is a multipurpose knife！
Click to expand...
In some parts of China. In many areas, there are multiple knives for more specialized purposes.
 
Brought my Wok Shop cleaver to work to try her out. Found out i'm quite a fan of cleavers, but the edge retention is god awful, by the end of the day it had dulled a crazy amount, where as my ginga and tanaka can usually last me a week before being unusable.
 
Keep using and sharpening/thinning it. If this is a carbon steel wokshop cleaver, the edge retention may seem to get better the more steel you remove.
 
My Wok Shop cleaver was 10 bucks. Well worth it and it did seem to get better over time.

Certainly would not have the same expectations of it than more expensive cleavers.
 
daveb said:
My Wok Shop cleaver was 10 bucks. Well worth it and it did seem to get better over time.

Certainly would not have the same expectations of it than more expensive cleavers.
Click to expand...

Of course, was mainly to see if I should buy a more expensive cleaver, and now i'm looking at a dalman :D
 
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