Knives and Stones’ brewed in-house knives is now joined with a new member, compared to its predecessors, this new White #2 cleaver would offer better usability, fit and finish and construction quality, only at a small cost on the price.

This chinese cleaver we newly developed employs laminated billet produced by Sanyo Riki - a factory specialised in laminating steel to produce Sanmai(Three-piece) billets. The stainless cladding warps around the rust-prone White #2 core steel, minimising the biggest issue of the high carbon steel - maintenance. As long as the strip of exposed steel near the edge is looked after, the knife can deliver excellent cutting feel and ease of sharpening at the same time. 

Build quality would be the highlight of this new item. When I first received it, the solid feel in my hand was truly impressive. This isn’t about simply being heavy, it’s more about having every single part properly assembled together tightly, offering you a confidence as you know you can command the blade to go exactly where you want it to be. The secret is the integral handle construction, where the handle is cut out of the same piece of steel as the blade. The bolster and handle scale are then tightly attached to the blade using glue and pins, which is then polished to finish off the handle.

The difference between integral handle and Through-tang handle is essentially the same difference between the “western” and “Japanese” handle. In the world of Japanese kitchen knives, the western or integral handle is often less favoured as it is heavier and leads to a backward balanced knife. But as Chinese cleavers have larger blades, a heavier integral handle can make the knife feel less tip heavy. It is harder to service and replace than the Japanese through-tang handle, but it is usually stronger, lasts much longer and feels more solid as all parts are connected through solid pins instead of glues.

The finish of this knife is rather fascinating. Taking a closer look at the grey surface and you would find a fabric-like texture, and it’s hard to define it as Nashiji or tsuchime. This surface offers some friction for a tighter grip, while not being too deep that it would hold dirt and grease, at the same time, this roughness also makes it more resistant to scratches. This fit and finish is at a pretty high level: highly polished core steel contrasting with the cloudy cladding, rounded choil and polished spine allows a gentle feel when warping your fingers onto this knife, then, when looking closely at where the handle meets the blade, that flawlessly satin finished bolster complement the organic texture on the blade, completes the knife with a premium look. Just by visual, I can still give this knife a pretty high score.

The sharpening is held up to Knives and Stones’ standard. The thin, slightly convexing bevel can create very thin slices effortlessly, when the slice gets thicker, the food would also fall off naturally instead of building up on the side. Although there is an  impression that chinese cleaver is designed for heavy chopping and splitting, I think it is a wrong perception misguided by the cleaver in the name. This knife, as well as most of other cleavers developed by us are designed for and excels at fine slicing, they are not to be used on dealing with hard items. If you treat them properly, you can enjoy the fun dicing, chopping, and food transfer experience offered by the chinese cleaver.

For many people, the weight of the chinese cleaver is the major barrier of entry. If you are a carbon steel lover and can overcome that weight, I would say this cleaver would deliver an excellent user experience.