ISO Help selecting a chef's knife as a gift

[Cheryl J]

I use my kitchen shears to cut wings.

Me, too. I don't trust my aim well enough to hack them up.

 

[Andy M.]

Me, too. I don't trust my aim well enough to hack them up.

As with most things, you get better with practice.

 

[Cheryl J]

Very true.

 

[FrankZ]

You have to be able to hit what you aim at with one of those... too dangerous for me. I find it easy to cut right through the joint.

I dismembered enough in about 10 minutes to completely fill 2 half sheet pans the other day, cutting the tips to save for stock, then separating the drumettes from the good part.

A cleaver would be used like a knife. You don't swing and chop, you slide it in the joint and push down.

 

[chiklitmanfan]

I guess I'm "old-school" again. My Chef knife is a 10" Chicago Cutlery carbon steel blade with a full-length tang and wooden handles. It has just the right amount of "rock" on a cutting board and good balance. A few passes with a sharpening steel keeps it razor sharp. It is 20 years old and still shows no wear. Like me, my kitchen tools are simple and basic.

 

[RPCookin]

A cleaver would be used like a knife. You don't swing and chop, you slide it in the joint and push down.

If that's the case, then I don't see the point. I know that I have more control over a chefs knife than I do over a cleaver. I have a nice Chinese cleaver that I haven't used in 10 years because it just doesn't have the good feel of my Wusthof chef.

 

[chiklitmanfan]

Talk about using the wrong knife for the neatest results: I use a thin-bladed flexible serrated vegetable knife to easily maneuver and slice through the various joints when I'm parting up fowl for cooking. I've never owned a cleaver of any kind and don't think my cutting style would suit a cleaver. I lean more toward the surgeon than the butcher.

 

[RPCookin]

Talk about using the wrong knife for the neatest results: I use a thin-bladed flexible serrated vegetable knife to easily maneuver and slice through the various joints when I'm parting up fowl for cooking. I've never owned a cleaver of any kind and don't think my cutting style would suit a cleaver. I lean more toward the surgeon than the butcher.

If I'm disjointing a chicken, I'll use my Wusthof boning knife. Just enough flexibility to feel your way through a joint, but sharp and sturdy enough to cut the tough fibers.