Before you buy a Chan Chi Kee, CCK 2021 Edition
Before you buy a CCK Cleaver, you must know that CCK has changed the logo design. The version in this article is the old stamped logo that contains all the information about their shop. The new batches for 2021 have been replaced with a new lasered logo instead of stamped. Everything else is the same. So make sure you contact the seller and ask which batch you get before ordering.Â
Dual Purpose Cleaver (Chopper)
Chan Chi Kee has many variations and types of knives, the version I’m reviewing in this video is a Chopper or known as an all-purpose or dual-purpose knife. It is thicker and heavier than a Chinese vegetable cleaver.
CCK KF1802 & KF1902 Differences
The blade of both versions are identical, the only difference is the handle. The KF1802 has a stainless steel handle where the blade is welded onto the handle. The KF1902 has a wired full-tang wooden handle.
Stainless steel or Wooden handle?
The stainless steel handle is maintenance-free but it can become a bit slippery if you have wet or oily hands.
The wooden handle needs some care, you only have to add a bit of mineral oil once the handle feels dry.
The wooden handle adds extra grip even if you have wet or oily hands because of the wooden properties.
Knife handle
Both handles are comfortable to hold however, the wooden handle has some slight openings around the brass bolster. So make sure the handle is dry before storing.
Chan Chi Kee Choil and Slicing Performance
Both knives have a thick choil because of the smaller bone-cutting ability at the heel area. The Choil on the wooden handle is slightly thinner but in terms of performance, they are identical. Both knives are fairly thick which can cause some splitting effects on some vegetables.
Food Release
Food with high water content will stick to your blade because of the knife grind. Over time the food release will be better since you will build natural scratch patterns on the blade. Another option is to add scratch patterns with some sandpaper or whetstone.
Edge durability & sharpened angle
Both knives are sharpened at around a 20 degrees angle per side across the entire profile. This is very interesting since they did not use a higher angle on the heel area for the bone-chopping ability of these knives.
Edge retention
While the CCK knives do not indicate their Rockwell hardness, the knives feel like a Rockwell of 58 or slightly higher. But due to the added weight and thickness, you will notice a faster edge degradation on vegetables. Therefore the edge can last around 2 to 3 months with regular honing sessions. But at the same time, the added weight helps a lot when you cut meat, especially with a lot of fat.
Weight and Spine tapering
Each knife will differ a bit in terms of weight and spine thickness. the knives come with a weight of around 450 grams. There is no distal spine taper and the thickness across the spine is 2.8mm on both knives.
Knife balance point
The balance point of both knives is at the front, which assists you in the up and down motion.
Blade profile
The blade profile is on the flat side, but the heel and the front have a slight curve to prevent you from digging into your cutting board.
Conclusion and recommendation
Both Choppers are very durable and excellent with what they are designed to do and that is going through meat and small bones, great for breaking a crab shell or going through a lobster.
However, the vegetable cleaver will give you a smoother performance in cutting vegetables and a bone cleaver will do excellent on small and large bones. This dual-purpose cleaver does both decently but the cutting performance won’t be as smooth as the vegetable cleaver and the knife won’t do great on bones larger than a chicken bone. Unless you go through a lot of meat, crab, or lobsters, and need the small bone-cutting ability then this knife is excellent. If not, you may want to look at the Vegetable cleavers that CCK also offers. The added weight helps a lot with going through thick chunks of meat, crab shell, or lobsters. It is also great to tenderize meat with the spine or with the cutting edge.
🛒S H O P:
I highly recommend buying from your local Asian supermarket (some of them already increased the price) as they tend to be a lot cheaper there than ordering online.
Chan Chi Kee NO.2 (CCK) KF1902 (Wooden handle, Chopper)
KF1802 (Stainless Steel, Chopper)
N O T E S:
1. Chinese ”Vegetable” Cleaver or also called the ”slicer.” – to slice vegetables and boneless meat
2. ”Dual purpose” Cleaver, sometimes called ”all-purpose”Cleaver or Multi-purpose Cleaver. (Chopper) – the front part is for slicing the 1/3th heel area and is designed to go through smaller bones not larger than a chicken or duck bones/carcass.
3. ”Bone” Cleaver – to cut harder/bigger bones like a pork rib. Not ideal for cutting vegetables as they will split rather than cut.
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