Your Expert Guide to Knives, Sharpening & Kitchen Blades in the UK
Stand in a knife aisle long enough and the vegetable cleaver starts to look like an identity crisis with a handle. Cai dao, Chinese chef’s knife, vegetable chopper, Chinese cleaver — different names, same rectangular blade, all of them doing a job that a standard chef’s knife frankly struggles with: turning a mountain of onions, … Read more
There’s a moment every home cook has, standing over a chopping board with a pile of spring onions, ginger and a chicken thigh that needs boning, wondering why their Western chef’s knife feels wrong for the job. That moment is usually the start of a love affair with the Chinese cleaver knife. It looks intimidating … Read more
Somewhere between “I’ll just use my chef’s knife” and “why is there bone dust on my ceiling” lies the exact moment most home cooks realise they need a proper bone chopping cleaver. It’s not a dramatic realisation. It usually happens mid-stew, wrist aching, standard kitchen knife wedged sideways in a lamb shank like Excalibur in … Read more
A meat cleaver is a heavy, rectangular-bladed kitchen knife designed to split bone, break down whole cuts of meat, and crush or flatten ingredients using the weight of the blade rather than sawing pressure. Unlike a chef’s knife, its job isn’t finesse — it’s controlled force, delivered through a thick spine and a broad edge. … Read more