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12-01-2008, 08:51 AM
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#1
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Chef Extraordinaire
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: NW PA
Posts: 18,751
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Cleaver Question
I see some folks mention using a cleaver for breaking down poultry. How? Are you actually taking whacks at the bird? Are you aiming for joints (and hitting them)? Don't pieces go flying?
I'm not looking to try this out myself, I can't stand handling poultry to begin with and when I buy a whole chicken, that's how it gets cooked, but I'm curious why a cleaver is used (or better) instead of a sharp knife.
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12-01-2008, 09:09 AM
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#2
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Master Chef
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Texas
Posts: 5,296
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Yep, whack the bird near joint points and also very good for splitting the back/breast. I don't use it as much now that I got a decent boning knife, but a cleaver does have it's advantages!
I have not had to many pieces go flying....
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12-01-2008, 09:22 AM
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#3
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Chef Extraordinaire
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: NW PA
Posts: 18,751
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You really use it like.... well, like a cleaver? I have no problem hitting a nail with a hammer, but I can just see bone fragments go flying if I tried to use a cleaver like I had a hunch they were used. Interesting.
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12-01-2008, 09:23 AM
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#4
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Chief Eating Officer
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: USA,Massachusetts
Posts: 25,509
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If it is sharp then things generally do not go flying. You get a nice clean cut. You also do not need to swing like you are going for a home run. It does not take a ton of force to get through chicken bones.
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12-01-2008, 09:27 AM
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#5
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Chef Extraordinaire
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: NW PA
Posts: 18,751
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Do you do everything you need to do with the cleaver, or do you have another knife on hand as well? For the more intricate work?
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12-01-2008, 09:48 AM
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#6
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Chief Eating Officer
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: USA,Massachusetts
Posts: 25,509
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You can do everything with the cleaver.
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12-01-2008, 10:09 AM
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#7
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Chef Extraordinaire
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: NW PA
Posts: 18,751
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Thanks.
I suppose a trip to youtube is in order ;^)
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12-01-2008, 11:24 AM
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#8
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Sous Chef
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Naples, FL & Wausau, WI
Posts: 608
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Quote:
Originally Posted by pacanis
Thanks.
I suppose a trip to youtube is in order ;^)
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Check out (C_Dawg) on youtube. He's the best I've seen with a vegetable cleaver - Chuckabocho
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Buzz
"There are only two kinds of people that understand Marines: Marines and those who have met them in battle. Everyone else has a second-hand opinion." Unknown
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12-01-2008, 12:03 PM
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#9
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Chef Extraordinaire
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: NW PA
Posts: 18,751
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Yeah, that's all cool, Buzz, but I want to see someone spinning the cleaver around over their head like Bobby Chouinard used to twirl his drumsticks, then coming down in lightspeed and whacking a chicken wing from the carcass.
Thanks for the vid, really, but I would like to see someone using a cleaver on a bird. It just seems to me a sharp knife could work just as easily, unless you expect to cut through bones and not the joints.
So how is using a cleaver different from a using Chinese knife? They are certainly pretty similar (to me).
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12-01-2008, 12:17 PM
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#10
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Master Chef
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: E. Pa.
Posts: 8,281
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my favorite is Martin Yan
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12-01-2008, 12:23 PM
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#11
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Chef Extraordinaire
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: NW PA
Posts: 18,751
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Yeah, there ya go. Thanks for the vid, LC.
So what I saw was someone basically using it like a knife. Maybe the extra weight made slicing through the joints easier, but he wasn't really chopping/whacking with it.
Not like what you see in the movies, which seems more for dramatic effect.
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12-01-2008, 12:26 PM
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#12
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Certified Pretend Chef
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Massachusetts
Posts: 45,798
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The Martin Yan video is cool. His knife skills are great.
He is using a Chinese cleaver style knife as a knife. You could accomplish the same thing with a chef's knife. Using a meat cleaver as a chopping tool is different. A meat cleaver is a much heavier tool. Its weight contributes to its use.
I have used a cleaver to cut up a chicken but prefer a boning knife. Chicken is so easy a cleaver isn't necessary.
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12-01-2008, 12:30 PM
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#13
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Chief Eating Officer
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: USA,Massachusetts
Posts: 25,509
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I use my cleaver to break the bones open when making chicken stock. I am more comfortable with a chef knife though so for just breaking down a chicken without cutting through bones I use my chefs knife.
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12-01-2008, 01:20 PM
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#14
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Chef Extraordinaire
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: NW PA
Posts: 18,751
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I appreciate the replies.
I just broke out my Chinese knife. (Boy that thing needs sharpened.) Anyway, I prepped some carrots, potatoes, onions, garlic and cut a chuck roast into three pieces. Even though it was a little on the dull side I found myself not "worrying" as much about my left hand (I'm right handed). You simply have more bulk to work with and a much larger surface for your fingers to guide. The edge in a lot of instances is further away from your guide hand, at least it appears that way. I can see preferring one over another when using it as a knife and not with a "cleaver action".
I think I'm paying a lot more attention to knives and what they can do than I used to.....
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12-01-2008, 02:24 PM
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#15
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Cook
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Chicago suburb
Posts: 63
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I actually shave with my cleaver. Saves money on razor blades, but I am still trying to finess my technique.
Headless Dan
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12-01-2008, 02:57 PM
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#16
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Executive Chef
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Eastern Long Island, New York
Posts: 4,206
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Are poultry shears passe?
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12-01-2008, 03:06 PM
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#17
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Chef Extraordinaire
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: NW PA
Posts: 18,751
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Quote:
Originally Posted by justplainbill
Are poultry shears passe?
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I seem to remember Ask a Butcher using kitchen shears when separating a chicken. He might have also used them when spatchcocking a turkey.... I think. Maybe he used a cleaver. He didn't show that part in his vid, but it wasn't too long ago if you search for his past posts.
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12-01-2008, 03:13 PM
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#18
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Senior Cook
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Brisbane, Qld, Australia
Posts: 208
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For poultry you don't need a cleaver, just the heel of a chef's knife will do the job. Although I do get a certain enjoyment from pulling out "Monsieur Grand Boucher" out of the knife case and applying 2 pounds of steel against poor defenseless duck bones.
*PS I call my cleaver "Monsieur Grand Boucher" because it's the same type as the one featured in this clip:
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01-04-2009, 05:57 AM
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#19
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Senior Cook
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Metro Detroit
Posts: 473
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Sorry for the delayed response.
While I've not yet had to cut through any bones with my little cleaver, it does power readily through frozen chicken breasts.
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