Before you buy a CCK Cleaver, you must know that CCK has changed the logo design. The new batches for 2021 have been replaced with a lasered logo instead of stamped.
I like the old stamped logo as it adds characteristics.
But the lasered logo makes the Chan Chi Kee less unique.
Everything else is the same. So make sure you contact the seller to make sure which batch you get before ordering. CCK also has changed the packaging. The old batch has a paper wrap around the knife, and they replaced it with a carton box.
Where to buy a CCK (Local Asian supermarket)
The price of the CCK has been going up a lot. The prices online are pretty pricey. If you can, I highly recommend visiting an Asian supermarket. The lowest price I got at my local Asian supermarket was around $70. In comparison, online prices were ranging around 90 dollars.
Bad Translation – Vegetable Cleaver or Dual-Purpose Cleaver? (Chopper)
You can read the description when you order online, but you don’t have a description when you visit an Asian supermarket, and the knives all look similar. However, the cleavers are different in usage.
For example, most Asian supermarkets have knives behind a locked display cabinet. In addition, the translated title on the price tag of the knife is sometimes wrong. In this example, they have the wrong translation as this is a slicer or also known as a vegetable cleaver.
But the dutch translation tells me that this is a meat cleaver, but the Chinese characters on the package say that it is a slicer. And with the new packaging, it will be even harder to differentiate them if you can not read Chinese.
The only indication of the version is in Chinese at the bottom of the box.
Vegetable Cleaver or Dual-Purpose Cleaver
It is hard to differentiate a Chopper from a vegetable cleaver by just looking. The first thing you notice when you compare them is that the Chopper is thicker and heavier. The vegetable cleaver is thinner and lighter.
Unless you intend to go through a lot of meat and small bones or you need to crack open a crab shell with the back of the knife, then the thicker Chopper is your preferred choice.
Therefore the Chopper is usually used by a cook or chef that works in a restaurant.
For everything else, the thinner vegetable cleaver is most likely the best suitable knife for home use, as you can ask your butcher to chop your meat with bones to your required size.
Summary
If you order online, make sure you choose the correct knife for your task. For example, do you need a thicker Chopper or a thinner Vegetable Cleaver? If you care about the characteristics, make sure you get an old batch since the new CCK 2021 version has a changed logo that is lasered instead of stamped, the new logo removes the characteristics that make a CCK knife a bit more special. I hope that CCK reverts to the old stamped logo as I’m not too fond of the lasered ones.
🛒S H O P:
I highly recommend buying from your local Asian supermarket as they tend to be a lot cheaper there than ordering online.
Knives used in this article:
Chan Chi Kee NO.2 (CCK)
KF1902 (Wooden handle, Chopper)
KF1912 (Wooden handle Vegetable Cleaver, Slicer)
KF1802 (Stainless Steel, Chopper)
KF1812 (Stainless Steel Vegetable Cleaver, Slicer)
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