• We welcome content that is not political, divisive, or offensive. If we feel your content leans this way or has the potential to, it may be removed at any time. A hot pepper forum is not the place for such content. Thank you for respecting the community!

attention chefs

I love my cleaver. Never really use it, but it is a cool addition to the kitchen knife set.
 
 
I'm pretty heavily invested in JA Henkles, so naturally, I got theirs.
 
219.jpg

 
 
 
 
The Hot Pepper said:
The man wants a cleaver. If you have sturdy counters and a thick cutting board, no reason to not have one. They help relieve stress while cooking. :)
Click to expand...
 
 
Sturdy counter. Check.
Thick cutting board. Check.
 
 
Any reason to actually use one: nope.. But I still don't regret the purchase. It is bad ass.
 
you will be surprised how much you will use a cleaver if you give it some time and adjust to it. I've put a really sharp edge on mine and I can slice a tomato in the thinnest slices where they look transparent. it just takes some time getting use to a cleaver.
 
There's a reason the Chinese chef uses it more than any other tool. Many people think it's just for whacking.
 
Qie (cutting), zhan (chopping), pian (horizintal cutting), and chu (pummeling) are the 4 main techniques. In Sichuan there is a 5th technique for making shapes.
 
Watch a Chinese chef. They rarely use anything else.

Definitely a good tool to have.
 
Heah THP, I have watched them. They are so good with those things, they probably shave with them too, (the sixth technique LOL).
Seriously tho, using them as a "chef's knife" with the rocking action keeping the tip on the cutting board is no problem. I love using mine for celery that way, or speedy small chops (tiny whacks LOL), mushrooms, and cutting corn off the cob. As long as it has a good edge on it... Use that sumbitch!
 
werd
 
They are masters with them, granted, they have different sizes.
 
I was thinking of himmmmmmmmmmm!
 
Yes!
 
I know I might catch some flack, but I think the Chinese knives are crap. Maybe years ago they were halfway decent, but I have never seen any Chinese blade recently come close to the German, Italian, and American blades. I had a Chinese blade soak in some water for several weeks, took it out and the so called stainless steel was only a coating that started flaking off revealing the shit metal underneath. It was not solid stainless steel, and the manufacture thought they were slick. Just crap imo. Also, many companies that use steel will only buy from two countries: Germany and the US. Siemens is such a company that uses steel in their manufacturing of turbines, and they won't touch Chinese steel, because it is inferior despite the fact that it is cheaper. Blades that last a lifetime are not cheap, but in the long run factoring in irritation, inflation and shipping and such make it well worth the investment. If you don't care about that, then buy the cheap blade. If you don't want to have to ever buy it again, spend more and buy quality. I personally detest Chinese goods because of the quality. I once bought a charger for a Lithium Ion Phosphate battery, and I noticed it failed after several months. Suspicious, I opened the back and discovered something that efing pissed me off. The bastards who made it created a part where two metals prongs combined to create a circuit. In between the two metal prongs was a brittle metal composite designed to deteriorate in time, resulting in it cracking and falling away, therefore interrupting the circuit. I simply removed that part, then wired both prongs together, and bam! it worked again. So they thought they were slick, and that people would just buy another one. Efing crooks.
 
* forgot to mention that they only had a  month warranty, but offered a discount if you returned the old one for a brand new one. Something tells me that they would just open up the used one, put more of that crappy composite and resell it to the next generation of suckers.
 
The Chinese crap at Wal-Mart is not the same as at a Chinese restaurant supply store. One is for Americans, one is for Chinese restaurants. You may want to ask your local Chinese joint where they get their knives. They are known for well made cleavers.

And I agree about Chinese metal for the most part. I would not trust the cast iron, and I've heard of SS grills rusting.
 
There may be some vintage ones on eBay.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top