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Chinese Cleaver Suggestions - what is there to know about them?
Pretty novice when it comes to asian knives, only used western knives before, but I feel an impulse to pick up a Chinese Vegetable Cleaver... Only I know nothing about them, never used one.... but I want one :) So hard to tell the junk from the gems tho.
I know I want a well-crafted knife with thin blade, and preferably moderate price tag. I prefer stainless (i think) as I dont want to have to worry about rust... I'm not sure if the ones from Hong Kong are better or if I should look at an example from Japan.
Does anybody have any suggestions or pointers? What do I need to know?
Questionnaire:
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Style? Vegetable Cleaver
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Steel? VG10 or similar stainless
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Handle? any
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Grip? any
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Length? 6-8"
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Use Case? cleaving vegetables
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Care? I'm lazy. I need stainless
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Budget? under 150
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Region? Prefer Asia
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Knives owned/have tried? mostly use Zwilling, have a made-in santoku i really like, but I feel is too thick even though it is only 2.5mm.
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Knives Considered? I have difficulty with asian manufacturers.
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https://www.japaneseknifeimports.com/collections/cleavers/products/gesshin-220mm-chinese-cleaver
A whopping 480g
Not a recommendation but a point of clarification: I'm pretty sure "region" is meant to indicate where you are wanting the knife shipped to more so than where it is manufactured as availability varies by region.
For example, recommending a Gesshin Stainless as a budget knife for someone in the UK wouldn't make much sense due to shipping and import fees. So knowing the region the knife will be purchased in is important.
Ah, I'm in the US, thanks
People have already been talking up CCK, which is a solid option, but I'll throw the Masahiro TS-103 into the ring, too. It's made out of a steel that's a very close cousin of VG-10, will perform very well, and the fit/finish is much better than CCK. Most Japanese cleavers might be thicker/heaver than you want if a 2.5mm spine is too thick (make sure to pay attention to spine measurements and weights if you want a thin blade), but the 1-model Masahiros are very, very thin. Plus, I've seen them selling for less than what CCKs go for now.
I’ve tried lots of Chinese cleavers, and here are my faves for stainless:
I strongly prefer traditional barrel handles. They are very sturdy and will outlast you with minimal care. Just don’t dishwash, and oil occasionally.
Cck stainless slicer is good, steel is okay. Prob a bit harder than western steel. About $80
Shibazi 208. Thicker than the cck. And heavier. I feel it has better core steel, but I prefer the geometry of cck. About $40 on Amazon.
Deng stainless line have decent reviews, I haven’t personally tried.
Dexter stainless is a good choice well loved by many chefs.
Sugimoto4030 is a Japanese stainless. It’s a bit shorter than traditional, and has a thicker, convex edge. Not the super thin cck style. It’s good too. About $230
I haven’t tried masahiro. Lots of other Japanese cleavers are much heavier, or have more belly than Chinese styles.
The thinnest knife is probably the cck. It’s def the most popular among Chinese pro chefs. (They mostly like carbon though).
My recs would be cck. Shibazi for budget. Sugimoto if you want a convex grind, with known steel quality.
I dont use them myself but I'll save you some time and suggest the CCK brand. They have tons of options and are relatively affordable. They have a cult following on here and more than likely for a good reason.
I have definitely heard them mentioned (milk), particularly their #3... thanks for the advice!
I would recommend checking out chopper king from Taiwan, which I feel is a middle ground between chinese and Japanese cleavers. They make knives out of white 2, blue 2, vg10, aus10 and skd12. I usually buy them from this shop http://www.xn--ebrr13f8fl.tw/products/index.php?title_id=6380#page and use a proxy shipping service (I recommend Ezstar Taiwan).
Just note the profile of these knives are curvier than the SBZ or CCKs, I usually regrind them to be flatter and follow the SBZ profile.