This "Chinese Cleaver" (as per Amazon's INCORRECT description, see below for explanation) popped up in the search for "meat clever" the type I wanted to get. I saw 5/5 rating based on 10 reviews. One review actually describes this as 'a heavier "meat" type cleaver, not a veggie one'. I guess this is why it popped up in my search. So I went ahead and ordered it.
Now I am creating this review to spare others this mistake: the packaging says "Traditional Chinese Chef's Knife", not "Chinese Cleaver". There is actually a label on the blade that says "this is a traditional style Chinese chef's knife! do not use as a cleaver! Avoid hitting hard materials and surfaces or the blade will chip and nick".
This is actually true: this knife is the type that has the blade that is about 2-3 mm on the spine, that is narrowed with straight sides to razor sharp edge. Due to this, it will be an excellent knife for slicing, but it is not for chopping chicken bones!!! If you want a meat cleaver, look elsewhere. If you know, master, and enjoy traditional Chinese slicing/dicing techniques, this is a great chef's knife choice!
Again, this is not a veggie cleaver (although can be used as one), this is not a meat cleaver, this is a Chinese style CHEF'S KNIFE it is a replacement for your normal chef's knife, a primary knife for those who know how to use it.
A review is not a review without some feedback about the product. :) So here goes some more.
The knife is GREAT razor sharp, high quality, precision-crafted, and it looks great. It is made in the USA! I am contemplating keeping it as a spare chef's knife and veggie cleaver.
This cleaver IS as good as they say. Sharp, but steady. If you cook Chinese and cut things in the Chinese way this is the best! But a lot of Chinese don't know about it. After a chef friend tried mine, she ordered 4 for herself and friends. I'm ordering 3 or more for family and friends!
Buy Dexter-Russell Chinese Cleaver (8" x 3 1/4) Now
NOTE: these are original reviews
haven't tried cooking with it yet but as soon as i took it out of packaging (which consists of two pieces of brown cardboards by the way, kudos for the environment), I saw the problem with the handle. first off it's quite a small handle for a chinese cleaver, and it is also hollow. the blade seems to join the handle with a little metal clamp, and does not seem to extend into the handle. (If you're even half serious about cooking Chinese you should at least get a full-tang knife!)
this handle design not only creates an unbalanced weight, marginal handling, but also could prove fragile in the long run. the blade itself looks really sharp, albeit a bit longer and narrower than traditional chinese cleavers. i'll test it out later and conclude whether it's worth the 35 bucks I paid.
UPDATE: I'm sad to report that the steel is subpar as well. After two weeks of very moderate use (no cleaving) the edge went into jagged shape. Expect to whet it a lot if you're buying this.
Conclusion: those who rated this 5 stars know nothing about a proper Chinese cleaver. The unbalanced handle issue itself renders it useless for fast chopping because you're working your wrist than your arm. I am suspicious if some of them work for the sellers.
Thanks Tofu Jones from MV Trading for reminding me putting up an update
Read Best Reviews of Dexter-Russell Chinese Cleaver (8" x 3 1/4) Here
My husband has been looking for a Chinese cleaver for a while. I found this one on Amazon & we decided to purchase it based on the good reviews & the price. My husband loves it. He's very picky about quality so for him to be impressed is a good thing. We were also pleasantly surprised to find out it is made in the USA since that was not mentioned in the description. I have used the knife too. It was a little intimidating at first because of the size & weight, but my fears washed away as I realized how easily it chopped up the vegetables compared to my Wusthof santuko knife. I paid 3 times the amount for that knife! I highly recommend this knife to anyone on the fence about it.
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This knife is big and heavy, which is a good thing when you're cutting all sorts of prep for a busy restaurant day or a large banquet. The knife is fairly inexpensive, so when it wears out, I'll just replace with another one or something similar; you can put a real good edge on it if you know what you're doing with sharpening and the weight allows me to carry on with a momentum and rhythm while prepping; you let the knife do most of the work and you just guide it along as you cut stuff up.
So yeah, I was using really light Japanese knives for a while, but they're expensive and, well, light, so I keep them at home and bring big honker knives like this Dexter cleaver to work; the added plus is that you aren't nearly as worried about them being stolen because they aren't all that pricey. Some people might have problems with the handle, but if you hold it in a proper pinch-grip, there should be no issues.
So yeah, this is my go-to knife. It also seems to make the servers more polite, which is a huge plus. Just kidding.
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I purchased this cheese grater to add to my collestion, i also have the pizza cutter and the dish scrubber. This one is so cute i hate using it, but when i do it serves its purpose. I also use it as a deorative piece on my kitchen shelf its that cute, and its a great coversation piece when people see it.
