My wife bought it for me for christmas, as I needed a cleaver, and we use all Shun knives.

I thought it looked very silly, and not at all what I wanted in a cleaver, and took it back to the store. But the more I tried other cleavers and held them and worked with them, etc., the more I kept picking up the Ken Onion.

I ended up following my instinct and keeping it, and I love it. To each their own, but I had to mention that I am a serious chef, doing real work, and absolutely loving the (admittedly strange) Ken Onion cleaver.

ZWILLING J.A. HENCKELS, Inc.
Att: Consumer Service
171 Saw Mill River Road
Hawthorne, New York 10532

June 1, 2010
To whom it may concern,

I purchased the cleaver enclosed in this envelope within the last five years. However, I have very rarely needed to use it. When used, it is almost always used for the purpose of cutting up chicken and other common meats. It has never been used for any other purpose than that for which it was intended. Imagine my surprise the last time I went to cleave a chicken breast in half only to have the entire blade section of the cleaver break off from its handle and spin towards my face. Needless to say, the blade never made contact that day with flesh other than that of the avian species. Were this not the case, this letter would not be from me but rather a professional who would require a retainer.

It has not been my experience with my other Henckel knives to have their fine German engineering compromised to this extent. It is my hope that your company in its estimable examination will see fit to replace my “Professional S Friodur Ice Hardened Cleaver” with another not having the propensity for metal shearing that might cause it to break into flying blood letting projectiles.

I hope that this letter is not too verbose. I felt that it was better than my first letter which contained other than the description of the knife, the following one word sentence, “Really?”. Although, I am quite sure you would have been able to discern my intent, I did not want to leave anything to the imagination.

Very Sincerely Yours,
Your Humble Consumer,

within 4 weeks I received a replacement cleaver, that of course, to this day, I shudder to use.

Yes, y’all, I know I need a real job!

I gave away my good chef’s knife, because I hardly ever used it. I’m used to that damn cleaver.

The only really good kitchen knife I own is a 1 1/2″ paring knife. Hard to find them that short. But it’s a wonder. It is the cutlery equivalent of a miata. It turns on a dime.

i’ve been cooking professionally for ten years, and ive used both types in many different variations/brands/colors etcblabla. both styles have their place (when sharp!) as far as versatility id almost take a chinese cleaver over the german or french style chef knife, the big dexter has no chance in that arena..

-do you need to smash things in half with aplomb, while drinking quail’s blood after service on a saturday night? with the chieftans blasting?
dexter. henckels. wusthof. that no-name scary thing in your crazy uncle’s attic.

-do you need to prep a salad line, several meats, and clean 14 chickens? while scaring coworkers with your arm shaving skills? with the chieftans blasting?
CCK. shun. moritaka. sugimoto. takeda.

to be honest youll have to pry my gyuto from my cold dead hands.. but the chinese cleaver certainly has it’s place.

That knife is well balanced and sharpens nicely with a steel or ceramic sharpening stones.

I loved it so much, that I threw down some ungodly amount on a Henkel meat cleaver that I never use. I tried again with what they call a vegetable cleaver I also don’t use.

I look forward to buying a Chinese cleaver in the market. Arcadia, here I come.

tough on the chickens though….

Wonder if it may have been any sort of inspiration for character naming.

But every blade needs to be sharpened, and I have a lot of love for the SpyderCo sharpener touted on BoingBoing a couple years ago, still $75. A knife steel to keep your edges honest, and you’re pretty much set.

I get disgusted when I see someone with a $200 Shun knife that’s dull and no steel or sharpener in sight. Seems like money down the drain at best, and a likely missing fingertip at worst.

Out of 455 customer reviews, 378 people give it 5 stars. Only 21 people give it 3 stars or fewer. That’s impressive for anything, let alone an inexpensive chef’s knife.

A hobbyist who doesn’t have to share can shoot a little higher into the range of diminishing returns.

Or rather, I should say I bought mine there 7 years ago, and it’s still in great shape.

Other knives I usually get from restaurant supply stores.

From the asian markets I have a sashimi and veggie cleaver. From the RS shops I have a mezzaluna, a chef’s knife, a small chef’s knife, a bread knife and a paring knife. All tastefully (and intimidatingly) displayed on magnetic strips in my kitchen.

I don’t know who spends the money on frou-frou knifes. And the celeb knives just suck . . . I actually bought the new giada dilaurentiis chef knife when my old one separated from its handle (shoulda bought full tang . . . ) and it had a crack and rust on it after only a couple days of use.