Forschner Chinese Cleaver

[Noshtero]

LOVE this thing. It's my favorite kitchen knife.

This is an oversized chinese cleaver. It's really thin, and is meant for vegetables, not chopping. I will be honest though... I push this thing right through frozen meat with no problems. It is super comfortable in hand. You can use the traditional pinch grip, which is what I normally do. The handle, however, is quite a bit larger than a normal chinese cleaver handle so you can hold it like a regular cleaver if you want.

This thing is cheap as all get out, and can be had for less than $30. I've used some hundred+ dollar chinese cleavers, and I wouldn't hesitate to put my Forschner up against them.

If you've never used a chinese cleaver, I recommend trying the Forschner. The chinese cleaver, along with a small paring knife, can quickly become your do-it-all kitchen knife. It cuts, chops, scoops, spreads, etc...

Here's some pictures:

 

[tholiver]

Neat!
I have one of those big Lee Valley Chinese Cleavers.
I must confess i haven't really used it much yet.
Its so frickin huge it stays in its box most of the time.
One of my winter projects will be to make a custom knife block to house the oddball collection of kitchen knives i have.

 

[Lycosa]

They are awezum. But---it is a knife, not a cleaver. Cho doh.

 

[Rockywolf]

Nice. So what's for dinner? Chicken and....?

 

[Noshtero]

Nice. So what's for dinner? Chicken and....?

chicken, broccoli, and mushroom alfredo.

 

[wildmike]

I have a lighter weight japanese version of the same tool. They are indeed great. The chinese ones are carbon steel and are very inexpensive at the local restaurant suppliers.

 

[Noshtero]

I have a lighter weight japanese version of the same tool. They are indeed great. The chinese ones are carbon steel and are very inexpensive at the local restaurant suppliers.

Some day I'd like to get a high end either Hatori or Shun...

But until then. It's my Forschner with genuine chinese writing on it

 

[hillst1]

I have one just like you have and it is an excellent value.

 

[myright]

Sweet lord - that's one heck of a blade.

I've been thinking of adding a cleaver to my arsenal of kitchen knives since I don't currently own one, but I haven't done it yet.

I tend to rock the blade a lot when I cut vegetables and I don't think the blade would get much use in my kitchen. Nonetheless I think they are way cool and I want to buy one

Do you end up using it for most things or just veggies/meat ?

 

[Noshtero]

Do you end up using it for most things or just veggies/meat ?

I use this knife for almost everything in the kitchen. The only things it doesn't do for me is really fine small cutting, or super heavy duty chopping. For small cutting I have the little guy you can see in the picture. For heavy chopping I'll generally use a full-weight meat cleaver.