A cleaver story: I was garage sale shopping and saw a gleam in a pile of silverware/kitchen stuff. It was a cleaver with a paper wrapping around most of the blade. I asked the lady how much it was and was told that she was "afraid of a knife that big" and I could have it for fifty cents. I figured at that price I could take a chance (yes, I do toss nickels around like manhole covers) and bought it.It turned out to be a Henckels. I love my cleaver, and named it Beaver.

marlingardener, that is really cool, I wish I had been there 1 minute before you, LOL.
Reality, some of these old cleavers are worth a "LOT" of money to collectors, so check out what you have and be careful about someone making quick offers.
I really like the name you gave it, it's one of my favorite names also!
Change

I also have a Henckles Chinese Cleaver....but wasn't clever enough to name is....maybe I'll call it Wally?
Anyhow, I rarely use it...I forget about it....the chef's knife is what is the extension of my hand.
Maybe I need to practise...maybe I need to find some friends and invite them in for stir fry....
Linda C

I don't have one..and have never used one..and probably wont..
Love my 8" chefs knife though.

Maybe you are right, Wally sounds like a nice name.
It seems you are very upset with me and I have no idea why.

As I said in the above I can't imagine anyone not having a Chinese cleaver. I thought I gave a lot of information that would give everyone a new perspective on a kitchen tool that has been used longer than any other since they stopped chipping the edge off of pieces of rock to be able to cut something!
If you don't use yours, that is a shame in my opinion. It is a very versatile tool that has served the Asian community well for century's if not longer. For whatever reason if you feel that I have offended you please contact me with an explanation, because right now I don't have a clue.

Change, I've never had one. I guess I just don't know what I'm missing out on. I think it scares me a little..it's a weapon..a mini machette.
I use my chefs knife for everything I need a big knife for.

Chinese chef's knives or cleavers (two names for the same thing) have had a small but enthusiastic following among non-Chinese cooks for a number of years. In recent years they have been eclipsed in popularity by the Santoku, which some say combines the best qualities of the French and Chinese knives. I'm not convinced.

I grew up using French chef's knives in my mother's kitchen. I bought a good one when I first set up housekeeping in the early 60's and used it happily for several years until I spent a summer working in a camp kitchen with a Chinese head chef. His knife skills were amazing and he used just two knives for everything - a light cleaver and a heavy cleaver. I watched and learned, and when I got back to the city at the end of the summer I went to Chinatown and bought myself a Chinese chef's knife.

Forty years later, DW and I have just six knives in our kitchen: a carbon steel heavy cleaver, a Dexter light cleaver, a Dexter Chinese vegetable knife (a smaller lighter cleaver - sort of a square ended Santoku), and three paring knives. I use the light cleaver for 95% of my knife work. DW uses the vegetable knife and a tiny razor sharp paring knife for everything.

One feature of the cleaver that changeling didn't mention is that once you've cut up your meat or vegetables or whatever you scoop it right up with the broad blade and pop it into the pan (or the wok - which is another topic). Watching Jacques Pin cutting his ingredients and then setting down his knife and picking up a scraper gadget to move it to the pan made me wonder if he's ever tried a Chinese knife for any length of time. I suspect not.

I am cautiously optimistic that the current enthusiasm for the Santoku will interest more people in Asian knives and that some of them will take another look at the Chinese cleaver.

Well, I don't have a Chinese cleaver, but I do have a Santoku. I bought an 8 " Santoku a couple months ago and I love it. It is the most versatile knife I have ever owned. I love the fact the I can easily cut a whole winter squash (usually butternut or acorn) in half with almost no effort. When I used my old favorite 7" chef's knife it took several whacks and a bit of pounding to cut the squash, now I just line it up and press down and presto! two halves. Maybe I'll try a Chinese cleaver sometime, after I'm sure I won't chop off my fingers with it! The Santoku is also wide enough to pick up chopped vegetables and move them, I always do this with chopped onion so I get less nasty onion smell on my hands.

Change.....what makes you think I am upset with you????
I don't use "Wally" because I use my chef's knife....and I forget I have that cleaver in the drawer....and frankly, I have small hands and have abused them for a lot of years and the "Wally" makes my wrist ache if I use it for any length of time...
Not upset with you.......yet!!! LOL!
Linda C

This is kind of weird. I have a Henkel cleaver that I don't have a clue to the history of. I didn't even use it for many years until I watched my Chinese buddy Frank chop up a duck in about 30 seconds. It sold me on chopping poultry crossways and I've used it ever since.

Nope, not me, won't have one in the house... I value my fingers too much... Besides that I'd be tempted to use it on someone thing other than food... lol

Rita

I don't use my cleaver much because like Linda my chef's knife seems a part of my hand. But I ALWAYS grab it when I start prepping a winter squash. I have no idea how anyone else manages to get those babies into manageable pieces, I'm not talking wimpy acorn squashes here, but I take my cleaver and get it wedged into the squash. Then I lift it up and whack it down on the cutting board. The squash breaks apart and I continue. I qwould never do this with my lovely and delicate chef's knife. And I use the flat broad blade for smacking boneless breasts and pork tenderloins to suitable thinness. But day to day it's not what I grab.

Exactly Rita..LOL

It's nice to have something from China that is usable.
Can't say much for all the other Crap they are pushing on us. I should say "the US ".
Guess it is something like "Share the wealth " sure wish we could share some.

I had a few cleavers a while back . I sold the last one in my collectible place.
I think the name was Beatty. It had a large curved top with a hole in the end.
The butchers hung the cleaver on a meat hook, above their work area, using that hole.
Didn't really have any use for it, besides saying " I have an old Cleaver"
I could have held on to it to chop firewood.

Mostly everything is cut up now, in the markets.

I didn't have a heavy work top, that I have now.
Wouldn't have any use for a Cleaver anyway.

I think a normal person, can make due now, with just a few knives .
A chefs knife and a couple smaller ones.

I'll sacrifice not cutting up a chicken in 4 seconds.

I try to buy good tools but " made in the USA "
If I had a farm and raised live stock a Cleaver, would be great.
Don't do that anymore, either.
Depressing ain't I.

Everybody to their own taste, If you like it, do it,use it.
I do have a Chef's Knife, made in Japan !!!
LOU

Here are mine, all no-name but I really like them. I rarely use the big ones anymore since we are quasi on-again, off-again vegetarians, but my main go-to knife is the quarter cleaver (third from left). The little one came with a cheese board.

I was wondering if anyone really uses the funny shaped one (second from the left), and then I saw a photo in National Geographic of a family in a yurt in remote Mongolia and in the father's hand was my cleaver!

Lou, just curious, but what do you mean by "in my collectible place"?

Being as santokus are being compared to Chinese cleavers here, I guess I don't know what a Chinese cleaver is. Maybe it's time to look into that. Although I must say, I love my santoku but for me it could never replace my chef's knife.

I do have Wusthof cleaver that I don't use very often. It's weighty but not particularly sharp. I'll use it for cutting up chicken pieces that go into a stock, and I've been know to use it in concert with a mallet to split a frozen bird. But I can't imagine this is the same tool that Changeling is using daily.

The cleaver 2nd from the left is a Chinese cleaver that started this whole conversation.
Linda C

Jimtex: I think your Chinese buddy is Italian in disguise.
I never heard of one named " Frank ". Did he ever say.
" Yoah! Jimmy !!! Cum on over, an get some Spaghetti wit Gravy " an Meatballs?

I cut all my vegetables on a Cutting board, that's on a worktable 4" thick.
Then I just pick it up and push them into a pot or whatever.
Everyone was just talking about, all the great cutting boards , they have.
Now Cleavers are in and you can scoop up the food, with them.
Sorry folks ,I'm not Chinese, I'll have to suffer, with my Chef's knife & cutting board.

LindaC:
The younguns will know what you are talking about, as they get older.

Adopted:
Were you really adopted by Greyhounds ???

" the Collectible Place ", was a Booth, in a building, that housed many Dealers.
They all sold Antiques and Collectibles. I had to close it when my wife got too sick.

Rita:
I think you may be able to take it on a Plane, in you luggage.
Good protection! You could keep it on your keychain.No one would even notice.

I'm gettting flakey again. I'm gone.
LOU

I have a Wusthof Chinese cleaver, and what I like best about it is that it has a hole for hanging - and so I have it hanging on the wall rack beside the stove. I very seldom use it, however, because I prefer a Chef's knife. When I am preparing vegetable for a stir fry (or other dishes), I chop everything up and arrange them mise en place in small bowls. Therefore I do not need to use the knife to transfer the vegetables - I use my square dough scraper, which I keep on a magnetic strip for easier access. I love the dough scraper more than I do the cleaver. I bought the cleaver for whacking through bones, but I only need to do that when I buy turkey, which again is seldom. The cleaver does have an extremely sharp edge, however.

Lars

Well, you see this is exactly what I was trying to convey in the information I provided in the beginning. There is a "Tremendous" misconception of what a Chinese cleaver is!
First off there is "NO hole" in a cleaver sold or designed by Wusthof that is designated as a Chinese chefs knife/cleaver.
They do make several Chinese cleavers (with holes) to be used for chopping through bones and animal carcasses. They are labeled as to there use on there web site if you care to look. One of those in the average atmosphere of a normal home would be rather strange, unless used as some type of decoration.
I don't know what you have hanging but if you provide the numbers imprinted on the side it would easily clear up the discussion you have about a Chinese Chefs Cleaver/knife.

I provided the actual numbers to the tool I was referring to above. It is however a "Henckels" model and not a "Wusthof". I really think it would serve you well to go to there web site (with your numbers) so you can read and see what it is that you own.
See how polite I am.

A Chinese cleaver is like a fat chef's knife...but the way you hold it is different...you sort of choke up on the blade and put your pinky finger on the handle and your thumb and fore finger on the blade....sort of the way you grip a golf club!!!
And I lied, mine is a Wustoff....
But I still don't like it...it's too heavy for my hand...I like a 10 inch chef's knife.
I keep the cleaver around for the times when someone else is cooking in my kitchen and asks..."
Don't you have a Chinese cleaver"....and I can whip that puppy out and hand it to him!
Linda C

Here is a link that might be useful: How to use a Chinese cleaver

Linda C - I just watched that video, and now I'm wondering how "normal people" hold a chef's knife? I pinch the blade between my index finger and thumb, rest of the fingers wrap around the blade from the bolster back. Is that not correct? Seems like what the guy is doing with the cleaver.

Watching the video has led me to guess one positive and one negative to that cleaver: Positive is the broad blade means you don't have to wipe off the slices as often as they ride up the blade. Negative is the flat edge, which is exactly what I dislike about the santoku versus chefs knife.

I must say I'm intrigued though, and I might try to find a $20 jobber (as referenced in the other video) and try it out for size.

Parting thought - as interested as I am, the "served the Asian community well for century's if not longer" argument in and of itself does nothing for me - they're also happy with their 3000 year old chopsticks, but I'll outeat the best of them with my thousand year old fork. LOL!!!