Meat Cleaver, Hand Forged Carbon Steel with Rosewood Handle

A meat cleaver is the knife you reach for when the job wants weight behind the edge. The blade is tall and rectangular with a straight edge, so it comes down through a cut under its own mass rather than being drawn back and forth. It is a 7 inch blade in 1095 high carbon steel, 12 inches overall, with rosewood scales over a full tang and a hand tooled leather cover.

Specification

The blade

The steel is 1095 high carbon, which takes a keen edge and comes back on a stone quickly. The flat is left dark gray from the forge with faint hammer marks reading across it, and the wide bevel is polished mirror bright against that darker face. The blade stands about 4 inches tall, and that height carries the weight out over the work. A hanging hole is punched near the top rear corner. The honest trade with 1095 is rust, so it will spot if it is left wet.

The handle

Rosewood is dense and naturally oily, so it holds an oil finish and keeps a deep brown with darker lines through the grain. The scales are rounded where your fingers wrap and stay grippy rather than slick when a hand is damp. Behind them the tang runs the whole length of the handle and shows as a line of steel all round the outside, with three brass pins through it. Every chop sends the load back into that handle.

What it is for

This is a chopping knife. It portions meat, works a chicken down into pieces, takes the top off a squash, and flattens a cut with the side of the blade. The wide face also moves chopped onion from the board to the pan. Let the weight fall and guide it rather than forcing it. It does not suit fine work, since it is too heavy for peeling or trimming.

The leather

Cleavers get a broad blade cover rather than a sheath, cut to the outline of this blade so it sits close over the edge. The leather is vegetable tanned. A welt is sewn into the edge so the stitching stays clear of the steel, the seam is closed with cream thread by hand, a belt loop is stitched to the back, and a snap strap holds it shut. The face is hand tooled with a carved rope border around a plain center field, cut and shaded into damp leather.

Who it suits

This is the cleaver people buy when they want one that will still be in the kitchen in twenty years, and the rosewood keeps it out on the block rather than shut in a drawer.

• Home cooks who break down whole chickens
• Hunters portioning meat at home
• Anyone buying a first serious cleaver
• People who prefer carbon steel over stainless

What comes in the box

• The 1095 meat cleaver
• The tooled leather blade cover
• A care card

Every piece is different

Each cleaver is forged, ground and finished by hand, so runs stay small and no two come out identical. The hammer marks, the color of the rosewood and the depth of the tooling vary from the photographs. Yours will be its own piece.

Looking after it

Hand wash it in warm water and dry it straight away. Never leave it in the sink and never put it in a dishwasher. The gray patina that builds on carbon steel is normal and protects the surface. Wipe on a light coat of food safe mineral oil before storage, sharpen on a stone following the existing bevel, and use wood or plastic boards. More in our knife care and sharpening page.

Put a name on it

Laser engraving is 20 dollars per piece and you add it here on the product page. Around 30 characters fits on the blade or the handle, and clean line art engraves better than a photograph. We send a proof image before the laser runs, and it adds 3 to 5 business days. See the engraving page.

Questions buyers ask

What is a meat cleaver used for? It chops meat and heavy vegetables with the weight of a tall straight edge.

What is the hanging hole for? It lets the cleaver hang on a hook or a rail.

What does full tang mean? The steel runs the whole length of the handle and shows all round the scales.

Will 1095 steel rust? It can. Dry it after washing and oil it before storage.

Can it go in the dishwasher? No. Hand wash it and dry it straight away.

How sharp is it out of the box? It is sharpened by hand and ready to use on arrival.

In Damascus there is the Damascus meat cleaver in olive wood, and for a heavier spine the bone cleaver in hickory. More sits in cleavers and butcher knives, in high carbon 1095, and in rosewood handle knives.