Description
A short, heavy Chinese-style cleaver in black-coated 440C, cut for vegetables and boneless meat rather than bone.
| Overall length | 12 inches |
| Blade length | 7 inches |
| Handle length | 5 inches |
| Handle | White bone with a turquoise band and reddish wood |
| Steel | 440C stainless steel |
| Weight | 16.5 oz |
| Included | Hand-stitched leather sheath |
Best at: high-volume prep. Onions, cabbage, ginger, garlic, boneless chicken and beef for stir fry. The broad face doubles as a bench scraper, which is half the reason cooks who own one stop reaching for anything else.
What the shape rewards
Seven inches of nearly straight edge means the blade meets the board along its whole length. That suits push cuts and a chopping rhythm, not the rocking motion a French chef knife encourages. The tall face lets you scoop a pile of diced shallot straight into the pan. What it will not do is fine tip work: there is barely a point to speak of, so keep a paring knife nearby for hulling and scoring.
Sixteen and a half ounces on the board
This is a caidao, not a bone cleaver, and the difference matters. The weight lets it fall through dense root vegetables with almost no push from you, and after an hour of prep that saved effort is real. The same weight punishes a poor grip. Pinch the blade rather than gripping the handle, keep your guiding knuckles high, and let the knife drop. If your hands are small or your board is thin, this will feel like a lot of knife.
The coating and the handle
The black finish is a surface coating over the steel, not a property of it. It resists staining and looks striking, and it will develop bright wear lines along the edge bevel with use. That is normal and cannot be polished back. The handle stacks rosewood, pale bone, a turquoise band and thin dark spacers behind a brass pin, so every one of them is slightly different.
Keeping it in order: 440C is a true stainless and asks for no oiling routine at all. Wash it by hand in warm water, dry it before it goes away, and keep it out of the dishwasher, where heat and detergent will ruin the wood and bone long before they touch the steel. A little food-safe mineral oil rubbed into the handle once or twice a year keeps the wood from drying. Details on the alloy are in our 440C steel guide.
Questions about this cleaver
Can I chop through chicken bone? No. Use it as a vegetable and slicing cleaver. Bone will chip a hard stainless edge.
How is it sharpened? On a stone at a moderate angle, working the full length. See how chef knife bevels work for the angle question.
Is there a Damascus version? Yes, the African Buffalo Damascus cleaver is the same size in pattern-welded steel.
Model: Bmk-705
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