Gear Heads | Hack Through Anything With the Best Cleavers



Cleavers aren’t 100% necessary for your knife collection, but their brute force makes tougher kitchen tasks a breeze. Hannah and Lisa put them to the test and found that cleavers with longer handles and thinner blades made the cut.

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35 Comments

  1. Cleavers are usually set by hand and then driven through with a mallet or a baton. This gives much more control and power. An over hand swing works but is kind of wild.

    Asian cleaver shaped blades are thin fine blades for slicing and light chopping not for bone.

    Arm tired already? Really?

  2. Absolutely no mention of the fact that there are two types of cleavers: vegetable and meat. They are not designed the same and do not do the same jobs. Seriously lame video. Chris Kimble would never have allowed this. Now that ATK has turned into a Three-Chicks-Cooking show, the quality of the material has steadily eroded. They are even selling their books on QVC now and discounting their material by as much as 80%. They are just another discount, low-budget media company now and won't last much longer.

  3. The biggest problem with a meat cleaver is that it doesn't just cut through the bone, it shatters the bone into tiny splinters. Also, you will need a chopping block and a file to sharpen the heaver cleavers. It is a big pain, and even the experts use them as a last resort.

  4. own a Case carbon steel cleaver, it is big, heavy, and can cut a whole frozen chicken in half as it continues down thru the plate and into the counter top. I know this because a friend of mine borrowed it and did just that. said has the blade started down he realized with was about to happen and tried to stop it but wasn't able more then slow it down. I find my old case carbon steel knifes work fine for most things I want to cut except for the boning knife, I could never get it as sharp as I felt it should be.

  5. As a butcher I can tell you we still use cleavers. the reason the first 1 is so thick and heavy is to cut and smash through big bones it's not good for the job you are testing it on. Those thin cleavers would chip and the sharpness would go straight away they are not good for real bone cutting

  6. Japanese videos on cooking have different kinds of cleavers depending on what they’re cutting. There is a very specific meat cleaver. And a different kind for vegetables. Then there is a third all purpose one that they use for cutting those soft vegetables and any sort of chopping that we would use a chef knife for. I wondered if you could do a review on the different types of Japanese cleavers or knives.

  7. There is a difference between Chinese-style (or any style of) cleaver and the similar-appearing Chinese chef knife. The latter, with it's thinner, lighter blade is intended for cutting and chopping in the same fashion as a western chef knife; it is not intended for cleaving.

  8. You guys always choose the high end products, regardless of the facts. I have the Victorinox, which is brilliant, and an inexpensive Chinese cleaver for heavier work. Your test is only valid for people who share your lack of muscle. Not a worthwhile test from where I sit.

  9. Heavy cleavers are usually made of poor steel that dulls easily. Light cleavers seem to be made of better stuff but are really best for chopping vegetables. My 12 inch 1960s style butcher knife outperforms any of these choices. Heavy enough to cut anything, light enough to not be tiring (12 ounces). With this knife, we do not need to chop. We slice. I got my rust covered one cheap at the local flea market but they're still made of high quality carbon steel in the USA for ~$60. Blade shape is an isosceles triangle with tapering thickness – very thin at the tip. If you've ever seen a butcher at work, you've seen this style of knife.

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