Cleaver
A cleaver is a large knife that varies in its shape but usually resembles a rectangular-bladed hatchet. It is largely used as a kitchen or butcher knife and is mostly intended for splitting up large pieces of soft bones and slashing through thick pieces of meat. The knife's broad side can also be used for crushing in food preparation (such as garlic) and can also be used to scoop up chopped items.
Design
In contrast to other
In use, it is swung like a meat tenderizer or hammer – the knife's design relies on sheer momentum to cut efficiently; to chop straight through rather than slicing in a sawing motion. Part of the momentum derives from how hard the user swings the cleaver, and the other part from how heavy the cleaver is. Because of this, the edge of a meat cleaver does not need to be particularly sharp – in fact, a knife-sharp edge on a cleaver is undesirable. The grind for a meat cleaver, at approximately 25°, is much blunter than for other kitchen knives.[2]
The tough metal and thick blade of a cleaver also make it a suitable tool for crushing with the side of the blade, whereas some hard, thin slicing knives could crack under such repeated stress.
Some cleavers have a small hole, at the top front corner, for hanging them on a wall. A butcher does not typically lay them flat, as the blade may dull or get damaged.[3]
Use
Cleavers are primarily used for cutting through thin or soft bones and sinew. With a chicken, for example, it can be used to chop through the bird's thin bones or to separate ribs. Cleavers can also be used in preparation of hard vegetables and other foods, such as
Cleavers are not used for cutting through solid, thick and hard bones – instead a
Cultural references
Cleavers occur with some frequency in traditional Chinese thought.
A story from the Zhuangzi on the proper use of a cleaver tells of a butcher who effortlessly cut ox carcasses apart, without ever needing to sharpen his cleaver. When asked how he did so, he replied that he did not cut through the bones, but rather in the space between the bones.[4]
In explaining his ideal of
East Asia
Chinese "cleaver"
The
For butchering tasks and to prepare boned meats, there is a heavier Chinese "cleaver", used in similar fashion to the Western one.
Japan
In
See also
- Side knife, a woodworking tool resembling a cleaver.
References
- PMID 27298475.
- ^ Eastern Asian kitchen knives have a grind of 15–18 degrees, while most Western kitchen knives have 20–22°
- ^ CooksInfo. "Cleaver". CooksInfo. Retrieved 2020-12-09.
- ^ Zhuangzi, chapter 3
- S2CID 144620752.
- ^ CooksInfo. "Chinese Cleaver". CooksInfo. Retrieved 2020-12-09.